Why Business Processes Are Inefficient

Last week I was watching the classic movie "Office Space". I love the line where he owns up and tells the consultants "I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work."

Now, my personal belief is that most people put in more effort than that at work but I'd be very skeptical if the general population works a full 7 hour day. Granted they might be there for 7 or more, but are they really working and producing something of value?

Part of my role as a business consultant is to review operational processes and cut or modify unnecessary steps that consume time and therefore dollars, but don't add value. I've worked on countless projects where I've asked an employee why they perform certain steps in a process and received the response "That's the way I was trained to do it when I started".

In fact, I'd boldly state that this is likely the number 1 reason inefficiency creeps into business processes. Over time systems, requirements and staffing changes, but instead of reviewing the business process and updating it, process owners simply add in the extra steps to achieve the final result without questioning the validity of existing activities.

If you can find an employee who takes initiative, questions the validity of what they're doing and strives to improve their daily activity in order to feel good about the work they produce, you've found a superstar.

Sadly, many people at some point have tried to create change, but found themselves beaten down by a bureaucratic corporate culture or a boss that couldn't afford the time to listen and "sign off" on proposed changes. Do you remember those days? Is that part of the reason you became an entrepreneur, so you can think for yourself and enjoy your work? To feel like you're producing something of value? And yet, being an entrepreneur brings a bigger challenge. The responsibility and accountability for not just the work you produce for clients, but the way in which you conduct yourself every day and how you spend your time.

Are you busy doing a lot of things but not really getting anywhere? The problem is, unlike the employee performing valueless steps, no one trained you to do that when you started your business. You didn't inherit a system that (albeit includes a few useless steps) produces results overall. No, you started from scratch and created your own systems and methods for getting things done.

So, my question to you is this, are you producing results in the most efficient way possible? Are you going about your business like a pro or an amateur?

Business Process Outsourcing Best Way to Promote Your Business Interests

You may have heard about the merits of business process outsourcing, but chances are that you may still be not all that sure about it. Initially, you may find it difficult to take a decision in favor of outsourcing obviously because the stakes are high. However, you need not worry unnecessarily because if the right business process outsourcing service provider is selected, it would have negligible risks, well below the 1% mark. However, if doubts still persist in your mind, here are some simple questions that you need to ask yourself...

* As a business owner or manager, do you have aspirations to make it big in the corporate world?

* Do you often think that lack of professional expertise is creating barriers to your success?

* Do you think you need to concentrate more on your core processes such as production, advertising & marketing, business expansion etc?

* Do you think you can deliver more to your customers through expert business process outsourcing services?

* Do you think your business interests, both short-term and long-term, can be promoted more effectively with outsourcing services?

Well if you answer these questions without any prejudices, you will realize that most of your answers will be in the affirmative. It's obviously because over the last two decades, business outsourcing has proved itself as the most effective tool for deriving wide-ranging benefits such as cost savings, process improvements, and increased customer satisfaction. Worldwide, the outsourcing market is currently pegged at around $150 billion and growing continuously, something that provides hard evidence to the ever-increasing popularity of outsourcing services.

The best part is that being new to the world of outsourcing is not a problem at all. All you have to do is contact as many service providers as possible and see what all offers they have, what is their expertise, what is their domain experience, and of course the rates that they charge for their services. When you have considerable amount of information with you, you just need to compare the advantages and disadvantages to zero in on the most cost-effective service provider. After that, you can just go ahead and compete the formalities.

But how to ensure that the targeted goals and objectives are achieved in the desired manner? Well, here are some proven strategies that will help you in your endeavors -

* Constantly monitor progress and provide regular feedbacks so that necessary changes can be made ASAP

* Launch incentive schemes so that motivation and morale can be kept high at the outsourcing end

* Commit only to "payment after delivery" contracts to avoid unnecessary risks and complacency

* Undertake initiatives for improved integration of outsourced services and core business processes in order to improve overall organizational efficiency

* Identify more non-core processes that can be outsourced to create a win-win for your business as well as your service provider

If you manage to do all this in the prescribed manner, you will easily be able to derive the full potential of business process outsourcing services. Success will then just be a step away.