What is a business process? To put it simply, a process is a series of required steps that are clearly defined to complete a business task. A successful process clearly defines who is responsible for the completion of each step, when it must be done and how it should be done.
Having a clear defined process can mean the difference between a company that performs great work consistently and a company that has occasional great work.
How does a company benefit from having processes in place?
Competitiveness
In order to stay competitive you must constantly increase your customer satisfaction levels. If you have a process in place you can constantly evaluate, monitor and identify where the areas are that need improvement and make the necessary changes.
Growth
If there is a process in place, then there is a template for new employees to come in and easily train and understand their roles in the business. An effective process also grants ease in cross training multiple employees in different roles so the company isn’t left in a bind at the exit of an employee or when someone is out sick.
Profitability
Having a process in place allows managers and supervisors to easily identify areas of inefficiency and areas that are being overlooked. Inefficiencies are most often steps that are being duplicated by different departments or employees unnecessarily and can be eliminated without sacrificing quality. When employees or departments overlook or skip steps in the process they directly decrease profits.
Agility
With clearly defined processes a company can quickly modify according to their growth level or when there are changes in the market.
Companies who have their processes in place know when they are doing things right and when they are doing things wrong. Once a weak area is identified it can quickly be redirected back on track when a good process is in place. With great processes comes great consistency. This ultimately promotes growth and saves time and money.
