<p>Done correctly, business process reengineering gives your team or company energy by reducing the number of meetings, the volume of processes you team faces. &nbsp;These changes increase your team&rsquo;s productivity, and could result in schedule or cost savings.&nbsp; These results are not something to sneeze at.&nbsp;</p> <p>I caveat my statement because business process reengineering misapplied could leave your company feeling like it consumed too many calories at Thanksgiving; sluggish and with no motivation.</p> <p>However, some ways exist to avoid that bloated feeling:</p> <p><strong>Capture Easy Fixes</strong></p> <p>Most teams can find some easy fixes that build momentum because the stakeholders start seeing progress soon after implementation.&nbsp; Tackle the easy fixes that are also readily reversible, and only pick one or two to start with.&nbsp; (easy + reversible = good)&nbsp; Especially starting out the process, the primary goal should be to build commitment, and in case some unintended consequence arise making the change detrimental, the ability to reverse course is required.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Prioritize the Problems</strong></p> <p>Develop a Pareto chart of the problems.&nbsp; A Pareto chart breaks down the issues that the team faces.&nbsp; The issues are identified along the bottom (x-axis) with the issue generating the most impact on the left to the least on the right.&nbsp; The left vertical column shows the frequency of the problems, and the right side identifies the percentage that the issue contributes to the issue.&nbsp; The sum of the percentages equals 100%.</p> <p>This chart demonstrates the Pareto rule, which is 80% of the problems arise from 20% of the causes.&nbsp; So pick the big issues to hit first and the improvements should be dramatic.&nbsp; As the critical causes are addressed, the team will experience diminishing returns, as they tackle subsequent causes.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Communicate the Goals</strong></p> <p>Business process reengineering can meet with a lot of resistance.&nbsp; Two reasons typically drive this response, the first is the assumption that leadership seeks to reduce headcount, and the second is that management has a bad habit of forcing these ideas on the team but failing to adopt them for themselves.&nbsp; If the team senses that either reason is present, the desired goal will not be achieved, so management has to buy in and show that they are changing as a result, and they have to identify what the desired outcome will be.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Have a Plan B</strong></p> <p>We&rsquo;ve all heard stories about the best made plans, and can certainly speak to examples in our own lives where good intentions went awry.&nbsp; The same situation can arise during business process reengineering, a proposed fix leads to unintended and unacceptable consequences.&nbsp; The team must have a plan to reverse the changes, so they can revise their approach.</p> <p>Business process reengineering when done right offers tremendous rewards for companies, but they must commit to process and not taking short cuts.&nbsp; They will be rewarded with the results.</p> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 2009-02-28T02:37:37Z -10.909 308 3362 true 5 25264 is-business-process-reengineering-the-red-bull-of-management-practices 0 2009-03-04T00:51:32Z 2009-03-04T00:51:32Z

Done correctly, business process reengineering gives your team or company energy by reducing the number of meetings, the volume of processes you team faces. These changes increase your team’s productivity, and could result in schedule or cost savings.

0 2009-03-04T00:51:32Z