I once mapped out multiple severe bottlenecks and mind-boggling money wasting processes throughout the entire procurement organization in a pharmaceutical company. The Procurement manager became so upset over our discoveries, he shut done the whole project out of embarrassment and fright of losing his job.
That is just one example. The issue at heart is that you don’t need fancy consultants or individuals that believe they have all the answers. What you DO need is an excellent facilitator that can extract the best ideas from your executives and thought leaders. You also need someone that understands cutting edge technology and what benefits it can bring. Here is what needs to be done.
Find a great facilitator. A great facilitator has the ability to inspire, motivate and referee a group of thought leaders and keep them under control. Almost like a lion tamer huh? The result will be a consensus that is great for the company AND your clients not for a particular persons ego.
Start from the top. Improving a future process should always start by reviewing the big picture before going into any sort of details. Don’t climb up the ladder of Procurement if your problem is in Forecasting. It’s essential that the team is very clear what departments are underperforming before improving the wrong one.
Keep it simple. Mapping out a process and identifying problem areas isn’t hard. It’s the people that get in the way. Everyone has a sob story about their own problems. The key is to identify which department has the worse process (which affects your clients) and concentrate on that one.
Use big data. With so much data at our fingertips, always use data to back up your arguments. Data does not lie, facts don’t lie. Extract the facts. Wow them with graphs, pie charts and vibrant colours. Make it – In Your Face.
IT is a great tool. I keep hearing how IT is too expensive or too complicated. Information Technology used the right way will improve your processes so drastically it will make your head spin. Just take a look at how Apple or Google use IT solutions to make billions of dollars. They aren’t afraid of IT. Why are you?
Embrace Change Management. People are at the very core of process improvements. You need a leader that has a vision and can communicate that vision in an inspirational way. It isn’t always HOW or WHAT you are going to do, it’s WHY. If you can communicate WHY, people will buy in. Apple is in the business to fight against the status quo and also create products oozing beauty and simplicity for their customers. Teams get behind those kinds of words. How can you inspire your team using WHY the next time?
So there you have it. Six major steps to taking your company from good to superb. There is no excuse to not starting today.