Consulting, Project management, Process optimization, Transformation

Process optimization – why?

May 9, 2022 by Anja Fritsch No Comments

In a lot of companies, the question: "Should we optimize our processes?" Arises. “Why? We're doing great” – many have heard this response before. However, not all structures and processes remain consistently productive and beneficial to the company.

In addition to several discussions with (potential) customers, the blog post on productivity in the workplace was decisive for this article. One of the reasons for the lack of productivity in the workplace is inefficient processes, which account for 57% of the problem. In other words, poor processes are to blame for a lot of wasted working time. To prevent this, it makes sense to look at processes from an external perspective and thus analyze, question, and, ideally, optimize structures and systems. This does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with the digitization of processes. After all, if a poor process is digitized, it is a poor digitized process. We know from experience that employees can be supported by digital tools, especially when writing quotes, issuing invoices, or processing invoices, giving them more time for more productive activities.

Digitizing a poor process is a digitized poor process

Another aspect is the search for documents. Many employees have time to search, but not to tidy up and file documents in a structured manner. It is in such circumstances that the notion "order is the cornerstone of life” becomes especially relevant.

Before processes are optimized, everyone within the company should agree that a transformation makes sense. Only then can process optimization be successful. Experience has shown that it makes sense to start with motivated employees who want to drive positive developments through constructive input. Without input, optimization is very difficult to achieve. Administration is a special area in this regard. Digital transformation is increasingly finding its way into this area to support or even replace existing processes. This goes hand in hand with cost reduction and improved data quality. One example we like to cite here is the recording of incoming invoices. By reading the data instead of typing it in, errors are minimized and both time and costs are saved. Depending on the system used, automations can be set up here. This means that an invoice from customer x can be automatically assigned to project xy / cost center xxxx. Workflows for approvals and reminders should be an important component.