Workflow Reviews Help Improve Business Processes
Diagrammatic Representation of Operations Can Spot Inefficiencies
Aug 27, 2009 Gopinathan Thachappilly
The business processes can be carried out by a single person, a group or several groups, or a global enterprise with operations all over the world. The workflow diagram can span the work of enterprise wide operations or represent a limited operation such as shop floor production at a particular facility.
Process and Work Flow
A process has a defined input, processing algorithm and output. Work flows are more general, typically covering several processes, sometimes covering the operations across a global enterprise. Naturally, workflows will lack the kind of precision possible with process flow charts.
Workflow overviews can help us identify redundancies, inefficiencies, bottlenecks and other problems. They can thus help initiate business process re-engineering campaigns. The diagrammatic representation can ensure that all participants are able to get a clear idea of the situation. It also makes possible to assess the impact of proposed changes.
Information Flows and Workflow
Well-designed information flows can support dramatic improvements in the effectiveness of work flows. Performance improvement practices such as just-in-time ordering will be impracticable without continuing availability of information about materials requirements and current stock levels, for example.
Workflow is a term that is frequently used in document management systems, where it signifies the flow of documents. Business processes typically involve document movements from person to person. Such a movement might be needed to complete the business process as when a sales order received by a salesperson moves to shipping section and then to the accounting section.
Document flows might also be necessitated by the need for decision support information. For example, the marketing manager might access certain reports and other documents to decide whether a particular channel partner should be retained or not.
Workflow Software
Workflow software can help automate routing of documents, and even their processing, to a lesser or greater extent. As documents are created, they are attached to pre-defined or customized workflows. The system can then alert all persons involved about documents pending their actions, and also let managers see the current status of the process.
Such automation can improve both the speed and quality of business processes. In addition to automation, the software can also provide interfaces between different applications to integrate the work flows.
Workflow Improvement Campaigns
Business Process Re-engineering, Total Quality Management, Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma are examples of modern practices that seek to improve work flows. Approaches like these can significantly improve business process management to create competitive advantages to the organizations successfully implementing them.
Successful implementation starts with a clear understanding of the business, its processes and human resources. The campaign then has to proceed with the involvement of all people concerned. Such involvement not only helps understand current problems and generate ideas for improvements but also helps to create a sense of commitment to implement changes.
Change management typically becomes difficult when people involved have no clear idea of its impact and are fearful that they will lose something in the process.
Workflow diagrams can help a business look critically at existing business processes and identify possibilities for improvement. Work flows can cover limited functional areas or functions across an enterprise. The insights gained from workflow reviews can lead to business process re-engineering campaigns that can produce distinct competitive advantages. Successful BPE campaigns require the involvement of all the people affected.
Work Flow
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