Neomind

Author: Rodrigo Abrantes

  • Process Mapping: Lower Costs and Increased Efficiency

    Process Mapping: Lower Costs and Increased Efficiency

    Every business administration aims to optimize its resources, foster innovation and creativity, all while maintaining high-quality customer service. Following this line of thinking, process mapping and optimization have gained significant importance, whether for small or large companies.

    Recognizing the relevance of this topic, we have already published several articles about it on our blog. In this post, we aim to further the discussion. Check it out!

    The Importance of Process Mapping

    Companies manage their activities and achieve their goals through processes. Mapping these processes in an agile and effective manner facilitates a better understanding of how companies operate.

    Process mapping demonstrates, in a graphical and descriptive way, the set of activities and the paths they follow. As a result, it optimizes resources, reduces waste, eliminates duplicate or unnecessary tasks, and adds value.

    Furthermore, process mapping offers the following benefits to companies:

    Key Points for Process Mapping in Companies

    In this article, we explained how process modeling works in practice, and in another one, we showed how to get started with process mapping. Here, we list some important points to consider:

    • Observe and measure the actions performed by employees in all areas of the company.
    • Strive to simplify existing processes and consequently reduce the time spent on activities. Employee motivation and engagement are crucial at this stage.
    • Design process flowcharts and their activities, including internal and external relationships.
    • Evaluate the mapping results and take corrective measures to improve it. Employee input is valuable in providing suggestions for improvement.

    For process mapping, it is important to ask the following questions:

    • What is the objective of each activity in the mapped process?
    • Who are the people involved, and which area or department does each person belong to?
    • Who is responsible for the mapped process?
    • What are the activities that need to be performed in the process?
    • Are there any constraints within these tracked activities? If so, what are they?

    By executing these actions, it becomes easier to view processes as a whole and find alternative changes and standardization methods to ensure the quality of the final product.

    For more content like this, we recommend the following posts:

  • Indicators: Do they help or hinder you?

    Indicators: Do they help or hinder you?

    According to Peter Drucker, “what gets measured gets improved.” Many business owners follow this statement when making decisions within their companies, using indicators.

    Periodically, our managers request indicators to analyze the performance of their teams and verify if they are on the right track according to the planned strategy. It is during these analyses that corrective actions arise based on the alignment.

    The problem is that organizations often accumulate many indicators that simply won’t bring them any benefits. To better understand this issue, check out this article. And enjoy your reading!

    Process Performance Indicators

    We can divide indicators, or more specifically “process performance indicators,” into 4 main types:

    • Strategic: related to critical success factors and the company’s vision.
    • Productivity: the relationship between resources consumed and process outputs.
    • Quality: verify if the process’s customer is receiving the expected value.
    • Capacity: show how many outcomes a process delivers in a specific period of time.

    There are several advantages to having process performance indicators, such as:

    • Providing data and information about each of the process stages.
    • Supporting managers’ decision-making.
    • Increasing process efficiency.
    • Facilitating the communication of results to external and internal clients.
    • Measuring the company’s results in a tangible way.

    To benefit from these advantages, the manager has to identify which ones make the most sense, strategically speaking, for their business. Avoiding an excess of indicators is crucial because our desire to “monitor” all operations often complicates analysis and directly interferes with decision-making.

    So, what is the ideal number of indicators within a company? Each manager will have to evaluate this by analyzing their process and conducting necessary tests to determine the ideal quantity.

    At the very least, it is necessary to have an indicator that provides reliable data on the efficiency of the processes being executed.

    How should we create our indicators?

    The first step when creating an indicator is to identify what exactly needs to be “measured.” To do this, we must be fully familiar with the processes or information that will be analyzed.

    The second step is to relate the indicator to the processes that are directly linked to its management. This allows for prioritizing what needs to be measured and monitored.

    The third step is to measure the indicators periodically. In case any corrective action is needed based on the information presented in the indicator, action plans can be linked to address the necessary corrections.

    In conclusion

    Indicators help monitor actions within companies. However, it is important to know the correct and necessary quantity of indicators to avoid wasting time on irrelevant information for monitoring.

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