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How to Streamline your Business using Work Flow Maps
Many of us run our businesses the way we do simply because we have always done it in this way. Is it possible that there is a better way? Can we extract efficiencies by taking a fresh look at the way we do things? Many of the things we do on day-to-day basis are simply a habit. Can we make a financial difference to our business by doing things differently?
Once in a while, it is useful to pause and re-examine the way we do business and to dig down deep into our current work practices. Many of the things we do are often wasteful or add a layer of unnecessary costs to the business. So how do we actually discover what is value added and what is adding cost? The first step involves carving up the business into many different components. This makes the analysis phase easier. It can be done on a functional area basis or maybe by looking at everybody’s job description. Any business is simply the sum of its processes and its people.
Once we have created the silos for analysing what people do, it is useful to map out each step a person takes while carrying out a task and each decision point they reach in this process. This can be done with pen and paper or using a simple computer based tool like Microsoft Visio. Set it down in a series of steps using rectangles to represent each step and a diamond shape to represent each decision point. Use a flipchart if it makes it easier for you.
In each rectangle, write down the details of the step being taken. Link each step or rectangle with an arrow showing the direction of the flow. In each diamond shape, write in the decision that must be taken. Try not to leave any step or decision point out. Each decision point will have a positive or a negative outcome, each of which will lead to another step or a closing of the flow altogether because there are no further steps to be taken.
What you now have is a workflow of what actually happens in any given process. Upon examination of the process in this visual way, it is easy to identify redundant steps or bottlenecks that can be eradicated. It will also present you with ideas for changing the process entirely. This is where you can eradicate inefficiencies and save your business thousands of dollars.
With a systematic approach, you can gradually examine every single process in your business and make changes where they are needed. If it works fine, then there is no need to fix it.
About the Author
Niall Strickland is an MBA with more than 20 years of business and management consulting experience working with entrepreneurs in small and medium companies. He offers lots of business tips and tools at
http://www.kkmembers.com
His expertise includes carrying out Business Health Checks and guiding businesses through the complexities of writing Winning Business Plans. Visit KKMembers now to get a free copy of a Winning Business Plan.
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