Case Studies

Business Process Improvement / Process Mapping

One of eight key action strategies centered on the CEO’s deep passion to develop "best practices" for the business in all divisions. The CEO was not sure how or where to begin. Past efforts had focused on documenting existing practices rather than defining and implementing "best" practices.

Executive Management Systems presented an approach to the planning team which was unanimously endorsed. Working with a senior manager to select and define core business processes and identify key process stakeholders, teams of key leaders were taken through intensive, four- to five-day working sessions – one for each core process – to develop best practice solutions.

Results:

Focus shifted from "who" was the problem to "what" was the problem, resulting in elimination of personal attacks and defensiveness, and the creation of a collaborative, problem-solving environment, with much-improved teamwork.

In addressing one core process, the solution developed by the team required a total investment of approximately $150,000. The resulting savings are expected to be $1.5 million annually.

Senior management comments:

"Thanks for your help and drive.  You care about our improvement."

"People who have been a part of the process mapping / cycle time reduction effort now look at things differently. It’s a pattern that ‘sticks’. This shift in thinking came very early in the team session, on the first day, but it still persists, months later. The team focus has shifted from ‘people’ as the problem to ‘process’ as the problem."

"This process changes the way that people think, act and interact. Participants are now looking outside their work area to see the broader picture. They are more sensitive on their day-to-day impacts on others. Silos are slowly coming down. There is a much clearer understanding of workloads and work processes. Team members have much more insight into how many steps go into a process. This, in turn, increases understanding."