I've produced a couple of slides to summarise the common types of waste in business processes, the warning signs, and the effective actions you can take to remove it. I hope you find them useful. Please check out my Linked article on process improvement - inspired by Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/business-transformation-dont-get-your-processes-knot-jon-stephenson

1. Business Transformation – don’t get your processes in a knot!
Look out for the warning signs and the different types of waste – described on the next slide
Review and document your end-to-end processes – focus on journeys happening 80% of the time
Include volumes & timings for each step – so you can quantify the impact and prioritise your actions
Remove the low-hanging fruit as quick wins – but you will still need to manage the cultural change
Assess the remaining waste in your processes – if it’s been designed in, you’ll need to design it out
Determine if it’s a legal or a regulatory requirement – address the ‘how’ and influence the ‘why’
Don’t just automate a poor process
– make it efficient first with fewer knots!
Ensure all the benefits are realised
– lower costs, increased capacity, enhanced
…customer experience, and job enrichment
Log the waste that you’re retaining
– record the reasons and review them regularly
Celebrate and share your successes
– show everyone it wasn’t a waste of time!
Jon Stephenson
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephensonjon

2. Business Transformation – don’t get your processes in a knot!
Warning signs
Growing Customer Service/Support team
Departments working in silos
Changes that cause work for other teams
Poor error rates and lots of rework
High levels of customer dissatisfaction
Focus is on quality control, not assurance
“We’ve always done it like that!”
Processes out of sync with values & goals
No work instructions or process maps
Lack of end-to-end process measures
People creating their own spreadsheets
Under or over-utilisation of resources
High people turnover and absence
Types of waste
Structure
– handovers, queuing, delays
Workflow
– logging, sorting, batching, allocating, filing
Quality Control
– checking and rework
Design
– over-specification, data input onto multiple
IT systems, and duplication of work
Jon Stephenson
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephensonjon