Business process improvement requires good business process visibility, or the ability to accurately and completely view the processes, transactions and other activities operating within an enterprise.
In particular, it ensures that the business has a complete and accurate picture of IT operations, and vice versa. Organizations can also quickly identify process problems and get processes that don’t map to overall business objectives back on track – increasing value and efficiency.
But business process visibility is not just a nice-to-have, it’s essential in order to improve business processes and overall operational efficiency. Here are eight unfortunate things that happen when visibility isn’t up to par.
Silos and Manual Solutions
When information isn’t stored and shared in a central location, each team must develop its own process and solution. Obviously, these are inconsistent and unreliable, and “reinventing the wheel” always takes longer that sticking with a single plan that everyone knows works. Also, while project managers may share schedules with sponsors and other leaders at the start of a project, executives may lose the trail if documents are updated but not shared in real time, or worse, via emails and spreadsheets.
Insufficient Resources
When leaders can’t see individual tasks and team capacity, they are likely to assume that their people can do more with less and may go overboard with project planning and assignment. Project managers may be aware that team members are overloaded, but without process visibility, they lack the means to prove it to executives. And with no reprieve in sight, top talent is likely to seek other opportunities.
Incomplete Communication
Email is the biggest culprit here. This resource is frequently used to communicate about projects, but what happens when a new team member joins and doesn’t have access to the project’s documented history, and what happens if a team member forgets to cc another on an important piece of communication? And what about the common scenario of the executive who feels kept in the dark because he or she isn’t receiving regular updates? Then, you have team members wasting time frantically searching their inboxes.
Lower Quality Outputs
Fragmented processes lead to poor project quality because it’s easy for details to be missed during handoffs and things to slip through the cracks. A small problem may easily become a larger one. The result? Anything from a cost overrun to a defective product.
Inaccurate Reporting
Even when businesses have the right business intelligence information available to them, it may be inaccessible or erroneously reported due to lack of process visibility. Leaders who don’t have the most relevant insights at their fingertips are less likely to make smart choices.
For more pitfalls, head over to QuickBase's Fast Track blog.
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