Make Process Changes for the Right Reason
Organizations initiate process change initiatives for various reasons, and unfortunately, not all the reasons observed are valid. Some see trends and innovation taking place in their industry and immediately jump on the bandwagon without really reflecting on the appropriateness of those trends and innovation to the business. Some perform legitimate analysis on business areas suffering the most, come up with a laundry list of processes to fix, and set in motion financial and human resources to address all those areas without considering the proper prioritization of improvements to pursue. And there are those firms that radically think out-of-the-box, come up with really bright ideas, and implement just for the sake of being considered cutting and leading edge.
Process changes need to be made for the right reasons. The promise of business value should drive the need for change, and in selecting what process changes to make, organizations need to understand which specific process innovation can be linked to a source of improvement to shareholder value. At Infosys, we utilize a thinking tool called the Value Diagram that illustrates the link between value levers to operational levers and metrics to corresponding process-focused change initiatives. This approach ensures that each identified process-focused change initiative has an explicit link to delivering business value through an observable impact on the performance metrics used to measure each operational lever. An identified process change may be inherently good and innovative but if it has no direct link to delivering value where the organization needs it the most, then making that process change should not be considered a priority or even critical at this particular point in time. The Value Diagram helps organizations avoid the commonly observed "shotgun approach" to enabling process changes by forcing hard thinking around what changes really need to take place.
Want to learn more about the Value Diagram and how it can help your organization? Let's discuss.
Author: Jon Brizzi, Partner, Core Process Excellence, Infosys Consulting
