Business Process Redesign - Best practices, VSM, employee empowerment, obstacles removal, Focus on Results

JWI 555 Organization Change & Culture, week5 summary, 5/12/13

Improving an organization's capability must first begin with reviewing what already works best ie the best practices. Second, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) can  be applied to methodically to identify waste - time delays and increased expenses, redundancy, bottlenecks, reworks and communication misses. Alternatively, fundamental redesign of processes from a clean slate can also be attempted. Third, employees need to be empowered to generate good ideas and act on their wisdom. Fourth, dis-empowering obstacles such as obstructing  formal structures, misaligned middle-management bosses, skills deficit, thankless compensation systems need to be addressed. Finally, the change agents need to be focused on results, not activities.

This five step framework is already valuable in helping me drive positive change through the organizations I work with. The Team project allowed us to apply and internalize these concepts. I have enjoyed working with my TeamB colleagues Alexandra, Shalonda and Michael - they taught me what shared leadership experience can do in a team, with each one contributing differently but equally.

Another great week of learning and sweating in the process. Great to know we are at half-way mark in the marathon. Onward and ahead !
Dr DP

JWI 555 Organizational Change & Culture, week5
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(I) Best Practices
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Identify and share best practices (W5 L1)

(II) Process redesign (VSM)
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(1) Map the process end to end to create a shared view
 - document key activities, decision points, timing, interdependencies, and players
(2) look for problems like bottlenecks, delays, unnecessary waste, redundancies, communication misses, and rework
(3) Eliminate the problems

Fundamental Redesign of process
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Begin with performance goals to achieve breakthrough in performance
Get stakeholders together from different stages of process
Create new process from a blank slate

(III) Empower Employees
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Candid dialog, open-ended discovery
empowered participants can implement good ideas they generate

(IV) Address Disempowering Obstacles
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Formal structures make it difficult to act
Bosses discourage implementaton of process and practice changes
Employees lack skills to take action successfully
HR evaluation, compensation, promotion systems block needed action or changes

(V) Focus on Results from beginning, not on activities
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Be Results-driven vs Activity-Driven - Robert Schaffer, Harvey Thomson (1991)
Successful change programs begin with results, not activities
1. Identify crucial business challenges - provide context with a vision
2. Translate vision into sharp and compelling expectations for short term performance achievements
Ask each unit to set and achieve a few ambitious short-term performance goals.
3. Review progress periodically, capture essential learning and reformulate strategy
4. Institutionalize changes that work, discard rest