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Process Management
The most consistently successful organizations are those that work continuously on managing their processes. That's right! Process Management is about the work that occurs on a day to day basis. All the fancy Quality Management approaches, Six Sigma, and Lean mean nothing if the commitment to day to day management of a process is not first and foremost in the eyes of an organizations leadership when they consider fixing their processes.
Why is this important? Processes are designed to accomplish very specific things. They use procedures that are developed considering the current supporting structures and capabilities. Over time things change. We replace programs, develop new capabilities and are expected to produce a product faster, better and cheaper. Yet we don't provide the structures that ensure our processes keep up with the changing times. Consequently, our workforce tries the best they can to deal with the changes through unauthorized work arounds.
Interventions around processes can take on several increasingly complex approaches depending on the need. The need is basically defined by how the processes function.
- Is there a current map of the process?
- Is there consistency in how the processes are operated?
- Is the process stable? Does the output vary significantly?
- Is the process capable of meeting the customers needs? Does the output (product or service) consistently fall within the customers specifications?
The approach is chosen based on several factors. These include designing to meet the needs of the customer, updating (simplification or improvement) to meet customer specifications, improve cost to profit ratio, and reengineering to improve your competitive advantage.
Consequently we offer several approaches related to process design including:
Process Design: This is the initial design of a process. It can be incredibly difficult because of the wide range of design considerations. It starts with specifications and design requirements gathering. It may include a search for best practices in logistics and workflow management, metrics, data collection, and presentation.
Process Mapping: It is surprising how many processes today are not mapped. DLCG has developed the “Effective Mapping Technology” method of process mapping. This model has the potential for defining process maps, procedures, business rules, SOPs, check sheets, process and system policies, metrics, and identifying opportunities for improvement and refinements.
Process Improvement: This is recommended following process mapping in every case. It is our belief that this should be a routine and critical ongoing part of process management. In fact without it you can not manage your processes. As we go through this with your team we teach them how to use this model and our worksheets to manage and improve their process with limited outside assistance.
Business Process Reengineering: This is a radical change process that may be required every 3 to 5 years because of technology changes or any time a process is determined to be incapable of meeting the customer’s specification. It begins with process mapping where we review of the way the process is currently done to ensure we learn from the hard knocks you’ve already taken and design a new process to incorporate new technology and capabilities you require to establish and maintain your competitive advantage. | 
