Business process change? Understand how to change them faultlessly

Agility, change, and innovation are the watchwords in today’s world. But when it comes to process management, is business process change? Karen Tricomi – an expert in process management with 25 years of experience in the field – in the article called; Change – Too Much of a Good Thing?; goes beyond just changing.

She warns that in times of exponentially renewed processes, it is necessary that real.

“There’s nothing wrong with experimenting, trying new things. However, sometimes it seems that changes are made for the wrong reasons and not driven by the proactive move, intentional, toward goals”, she said.

For her, the result of this movement in the ‘against’, if we can say, is that many companies end up wasting time on fixing the first errors.

And if your organization is interested in implementing a change in an assertive process and the right direction, Karen Tricomi indicates that managers ask basic questions that, as she mentioned, do not take time, ensure that renovations go in the right direction and will generate a movement to drive the business forward. It’s a set of questions that Tricomi systematized as the ‘5W and 1H’. Let us, then, provide the questions that can guide your company toward good change.

The first is ‘Who will be affected?’ In this matter, it encompasses the analysis of who will be involved and how will the new processes as well as the specific monitoring needs and communication be affected.

“After all, it is important to know when the world is about to turn upside down, and to what extent,” says Tricomi. 

Ask yourself about the precise definition of what problem is being solved and the change process effectively implemented as a solution is crucial for it as well. ‘What is the problem?’ Is the question that equates the following point brought by the expert:

“We are changing X because it is solving the problem Y”

If this answer is not clear, it may be that the new process represents just someone’s cool idea and will cost more than it’s worth to the organization.

Another important point is to understand why to choose a particular way and not another. And the guarantee of a right decision is that it meet and respond positively to the demands that led to that change process. It is the question that our expert calls, ‘Why this and not that?’

‘When do we start?’ It is the next question in the script indicated by Tricomi. At this point, it is essential to draw a timeline, understanding the time for the beginning and development of the various stages.

Another issue that needs to be clear is that any change requires planning, a process that will allow all involved to buy the idea and engage in the process effectively. So, the question ‘Where is the plan?’ Must also be asked by those who manage the business process change.

The fifth and final question to be answered for business process change without error is ‘How was this decided?’ Tricomi reminds us to understand and communicate clearly and to correct change processes is guaranteed to win the confidence of people in the process; causing people not to feel it’s a imposed renewal.

So if your company is beginning a business process change and can adequately answer the questions posed, go ahead. You are on the way to gaining a change of process, solved and aligned with your business management needs.