Business processes bottlenecks: 7 deadly sins

Operational efficiency is heavily affected by bottlenecks. Bottlenecks, constraints, disturbances, bottlenecks in business processes that restrict or disturb it, significantly, no matter how great the efforts of professionals to avoid it. Be it capacity – when resources cannot ensure the desired production or its level of delivery. Be it process, inadequate operational flows, and wrongly structured process design. Either in terms of decision, due to significant delays resulting therefrom.

They are, in the first phase, challenges that need to be overcome; even if temporary or circumstantial – but quickly – at another time – they can become, structurally, potentially insurmountable obstacles. 

Among the most recognizable bottlenecks that teams and organizations face on a day-to-day basis, we would have to consider: the scarcity of resources – whether of professionals or available technology; the manuality of processes (as I like to call it); inadequate technology or support systems used or decision support (as is so characteristic of a slow or unreliable ERP); the poor quality of the 'good routine' or efficient daily operations –  due to the lack of standardization of processes, for example, resulting in inconsistencies and inefficiencies; inefficient communication and/or inadequate or excessive flows of approvals and validations – from which derives significant corporate bureaucracy. If we add to these, the absence of properly reliable and fully active monitoring and supervision metrics, we have the perfect framework (or imperfect, in this case).

In theory, we have significant constraints in business processes when there are notorious failures in productivity and effectiveness that, in other circumstances, could be overcome – either by unmet service levels, underutilized resources and/or accumulated work.

Performing a root cause analysis (RCA) is always a first step to understand the actual dimension of the problem and its framework. Although a poorly carried out analysis may lead to inappropriate measures  a posteriori – not doing so implies, from the outset, total ignorance of the whole situation and its implications. There are several potential solutions and/or practices that we can use, for each bottleneck or associated causes.

We highlight some starting points, for a more productive dialogue, in cases of:

Scarcity of resources:

• Plan and monitor capacities
• Investing in training and automation
• Ensure systems upgrade
• Promote preventive maintenance
• Diversify suppliers or supply chains

Manuality of processes:

• Automate processes
• RPA, ERP and BPM adoption
• Document and process digitization
• Adoption of Chatbots and AI, where applicable
• Clear standardization, with the creation of SOPs
• Integrate Kanban, Lean, or Six Sigma practices
• Integrate systems, with connected APIs and workflows

Inadequate technology or decision support systems:

• Adequate prior diagnoses and subsequent process mapping, with impact analysis
• Modernization of systems, on a recurring basis, by successive updating and corrective and preventive maintenance
• Automation with RPA and AI
• Systems integration, with adoption of BI support tools

Insufficient standardization:

• Map and model relevant and critical processes
• Adoption of tools such as BPMN and BPM
• Include SOPs in daily professional life, in routine
• Use project management tools
• Empowering professionals and cultural transformation
• Ensure regular quality assurance/internal audits

Inefficient communication:

• Standardize communication, creating applicability protocols, if necessary, defining appropriate communication channels.
• Use own and shareable platforms for this purpose, encouraging constructive feedback, in the context of a transparent communication policy

Inadequate technology or decision support systems, inappropriate approvals/corporate bureaucracy flows:

• Understand and identify processes in detail, with their mapping of approvals and validations, adopting a clean/lean culture.
• Adopt and automate approvals and workflows, using the new universe of digital tools available.

Companies such as Izertis, leaders in digital transformation, can become reliable and fundamental partners in the promotion of good practices that, in the conjunctural context, mitigate business processes bottlenecks; and, at the same time, promote structural developments that eliminate them in the medium/long term. To this end, it will be essential, for the success of such a desideratum, to ensure a governance model  for project management and intervention that includes monitoring and evaluation metrics of what operational and business constraints may exist, what are their causes and objective possibilities of resolution. Relying naturally – and always – on the binomial people – technology. And the passion for them.