Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Ever consider that the goal of improving processes is really to improve the value that is delivered to stakeholders? So why do we call it process improvement? What if we improve the process and reduce the value - HMMMMM. Give it some thought. Are your PI projects properly defined in terms of the tangible value that will be delivered to stakeholders? What are your views? Saving Changes...
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Rich KaySenior Program Manager| Department of Veterans Affairs Woodbridge, Va, United States
Process Improvement should be synonymous with increasing value/Value Improvement. PI efforts must be aligned w/overall organizational objectives lest we traverse in the muddy waters of suboptimization of the enterprise while seemingly doing a bunch of activity resulting in no or misdirected accomplishment, reducing value, but keeping us busy. It is easy to overlook the "why are we here and what is the value-add of this project" questions unless we move from wandering generalities (broad statements-improve timeliness) to meaningful specifics (reduce processing of transactions by x minutes) as defined by the needs of the stakeholders/customers. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Rich, hopefully everyone understands PI as you do. Saving Changes...
I am sure that there are PI models for many common business needs/problems that could be applied to many organizations. It would be nice to have some PI/ROI templates that help quantify and measure specific models. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
I am not sure that we can quantify value so simply. Of course the whole purpose of PI is to drive value into the organization, but how do you define value??
In some cases, it's easy - less time, resources etc, but what about PI initiatives designed to reduce risk, increase corporate governance etc, the value is a lot harder to quantify, especially as they may drive an increase in short term costs (opportunity or real) - but they are still PI in the broader sense.
Of course the flip side is that you might only appreciate the value if you don't pursue the initiave and get burned!! Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Value is indeed difficult to quantify at times. However, without such quantification success cannot be devined. Every PI initiative worth pursuing must add value to at least one stakeholder group. Even in the corporate governance area the driving stakeholder is primarily the government. While there is no ROI in spending the monies and time to improve this area the cost of not improving could be sever fines and sanctions. I tend to think of PI initiatives falling into some basic areas - Improvements that are cost savings / income enhancing (easy to quantify) ... improvements that are compliance related (no choice) ... improvements that are enterprise sustaining (Y2K for example - risk of major disruption).
BPI is primarily concerned with the first area; finding ways to improve the value an organization delivers to its customers, employees and owners. These have the most day to day impact on the lives of those engaged in the enterprise. The other two come along from time to time and are mostly non negotiable in nature and much more a Do or Die proposition.
Either way, the methodologies, models and engagement of the workforce is very much the same across all three. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Agreed. Of course the challenge is that 'value' becomes subjective very quickly if organizations are not careful. Assuming that people are working with the best intent an initiative is not taken on unless a potential value is perceived, and because no one like failure, that value is often realized, even if a more objective measure of success might suggest a different outcome. To come back to your original point, approaching something from the value improvement standpoint may well help to improve the benefit - treating the problem (less than optimal efficiency) rather than prescribing the treatment (PI) and trying to find a symptom to treat. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Well said, but it does require a bit of objective detachment to navigate clearly through agendas and politics. Saving Changes...
