How to Improve Your Processes

Looking for a way to make your business, department or team more efficient? Take a look at its processes. Find out where things tend to get bogged down, holding back important projects or initiatives.A “process” is a set of steps or actions that can be replicated. They don’t just apply to assembly lines. Other examples include providing emergency care at a hospital, following a purchasing or procurement checklist at a plant or factory, scheduling retail employees or opening new accounts at a bank.The problem with processes is that they can become outdated as equipment, technology or even the way people work gets more efficient. They can also cause you to stagnate, as people tend to think of them as “the way we’ve always done things.”It’s worth it to periodically review your processes, looking for ways to improve them. Here’s what leaders can do.

Foster Creativity

In an open, creative culture, it’s clear that company leaders want to hear about better solutions from employees at every level. Managers should react positively when employees come to them with new ideas about how to do things, and should openly reward or express appreciation for creativity. This even goes for ideas that leaders don’t pick for implementation, or for ideas that are picked but don’t get the outcomes people hoped for.Fostering creativity helps build a culture of innovation at your organization, making it more likely that everyone will feel like they have a stake in improving processes. Some of the most innovative process improvements are likely to come from front-line employees — after all, they’re the ones doing the same job every day. Listen to what they have to say.

Clear the Way

There’s plenty standing in the way of innovation. These barriers may be formal, such as regulations or a budget issue that makes it difficult to purchase new equipment. They may be informal, such as gatekeepers who guard a process or resistors who aren’t interested in change.Organizational hierarchies can be difficult for employees to navigate — they need leaders and managers to go to bat for them. Look for ways to bring the best ideas forward, and to help make them happen. Savvy leaders are always looking for ways to build strong relationships and cultivate a network of useful contacts across the organization; this will help them clear the way for improvements when the time comes.

Keep Improving

Of course, there’s a process for improving processes:

• Analyze
• Plan
• Design
• Implement
• Measure
• Transform

These steps move from the spark of an idea to a process transformation — but it’s important to understand that you don’t stop there. Process improvement is a cycle, and once you’ve made changes to a process, there’s probably still more to be done. Are there efficiencies to be found on the front end or back end? Will advancements in technology require another change in five years, or two? Will new people in positions speed things up?Good leaders are always looking for ways to improve the processes in their organization or departments. Encourage creativity and look for solutions to get others involved as well.Looking for ways to improve your processes? Contact us to learn about our leadership development and coaching offerings.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.