When people talk about business innovation, they often discuss creating new product or service offerings in their company.  However, innovation in business can also focus on improving internal business procedures.  Here’s a system I use when analyzing a business procedure.

  1. Determine whether the procedure is necessary.  You would be surprised how often internal procedures are followed because “that’s the way we’ve always done things” or “that’s what the ‘policies and procedures manual’ says”.  Before you attempt to improve an existing process, make sure it needs to be performed.  Look at the end result of the process and determine how that end result benefits the business.
  2. Diagram the procedure – I draw each step of the procedure in a box, then add arrows indicating the “flow” of the procedure from one step to the next.
  3. For each step determine whether the step is necessary or whether it can be simplified.  Also, look for ways to combine multiple steps into a single step.  If multiple steps require interaction by multiple people, consider whether the procedure can be simplified by having one person perform the multiple steps at one time.
  4. Look for alternate ways to perform specific steps.  If certain steps in the procedure are time consuming or difficult, consider how you can change that step while maintaining the desired outcome of the procedure.
  5. Rearrange the steps.  Consider how the steps can be rearranged to improve efficiency.  For example, rather than having a document move back and forth between two people, rearrange the steps to minimize “handing off” of the document between multiple people or multiple departments.

Apply this system to all of your business procedures to improve the operation of your business.  Please share your thoughts and experiences below.