Process Optimization

Whether you realize it or not, you and your staff are constantly engaged in process.

The pre-shop talk, the door being rolled up, the cup of coffee before your daily tasks - process.

Onboarding of your latest client - process.

Budget planning for this quarter (or week) - process.

These are the backbone of your business and what determines your growth and success, or endless stress and failure.

In short, a business’ set of processes dictate what they do, why they do it, and how so. Process optimization is improving these processes by determining answers to these fundamental questions in your daily business and optimizing them for everyone involved.

Solutions that this process (pun intended) oftentimes leads to are things like call tracking and CRM software for managing the sales pipeline more effectively, digitizing files and forms rather than continuing to rely on paper, and even creating organizational charts. Perhaps the most requested offering we have had is for writing out a business’ procedures and protocols, a handbook to describe to new hires or independent contractors the methods they are to use while working for your company.

Using Six Sigma methodology, LOCALS ADVOCATE will observe your business operations and processes, identify the bottlenecks, and create a complete set of solutions for you to incorporate for maximum efficiency. We then write out those processes for you to file and make available to any new staff that come in. By leaving your processes un-reviewed and un-measured, competitors are gaining the edge.

Process, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.” For example, even the morning cup of coffee starts with boiling water, and eventually ends with your enjoyable/needed pick-me-up to get the day started.

These are not one-size-fits-all solutions. Two businesses within the same trade have very different processes based on how you, as the business owner, may want things organized. After observing your current processes and hearing what you would like your business to improve upon, LOCALS ADVOCATE then put forward a solution-kit. Once we have this in-hand, we will work with your team side-by-side to roll out the new processes and make sure that the follow-through is there from necessary parties.

The biggest hesitation or barrier to instituting this sort of thing is the comfort. We are creatures of habit and we like building routines that bring us comfort- not necessarily income or success. Instead of trying to bolster and encourage your staff to have the same drive as you do, we come in and offer a fresh pair of eyes to the current routine, and work with them to make the new, more efficient routine-process ‘comfortable.’ The stage right after implementing new processes is the hardest time because you basically have to sell to your team that rocking their boat and changing some things is in the best interest of the company.

We have identified 5 core benefits of process optimization, and as long as there is commitment to stick things out past the whining of ‘this is new/different and I hate it’ stage, you will open up your business to a host of world-changing benefits.

1. Increased Productivity - Your employees won’t just complete their tasks faster, but what they produce will yield stronger results. Removing bottlenecks allows your team to run with a clear path forward and jump straight into doing great work - which you then reap the financial benefits of!

2. Reduced Mistakes - You know the saying ‘Practice makes perfect?’ It’s a lie. If you’re practicing something incorrectly, you are just ingraining a bad habit which, if left unchecked, is irreversible. By instituting a concrete process, and continually reviewing, updating and optimizing, the inconsistencies and inaccuracies that lead to error will be removed.

3. Culture Change - In the way that art or music impacts us, exposure to consistent processes will change your business. When every interaction that your staff or your customers have is consistent and well-defined, your company culture’s mindset shifts to a streamlined orientation of productivity.

4. Increased Agility - Why do athletes train so hard? So that when they are put into conditions where they need to push, they have the ability to do so. Establishing this culture of efficiency opens you up to opportunities you didn’t have before. Ever wonder why your competitors are able to bid the jobs you do and take on bigger contracts at the same time? Instituting the practice of regular process optimization is your company’s fitness for future success.

5. Boosted Bottom Line - Let’s be real, this is what you care about. If you are paying for anything it has to have a positive impact here on your bottom line. Well, as an example, the tech giant Motorola saved $16 Billion in costs thanks to process optimization. Even though they had hundreds of billions in revenue, reviewing their processes was able to retain more for their shareholders. While numbers may get you interested in process optimization, the driving force for you pulling the trigger should be that by NOT taking care of your processes causes damage. Wasted time and effort for your team can (and eventually will) drag your whole business down.

If nothing else, we hope that reading through this has at least motivated you to seriously look at your own operations.

Please give us a call so we can get to know you and be your advocate in process optimization!