A business owner can enhance the efficiency of their company by competently managing business processes. This can be achieved through regulation and implementing changes in employee activities. Each business process requires its own approach, thus it's crucial to select the right management tools that will improve the company's operations.

What is a business process?

A business process is a specific sequence of employee actions that leads to a desired outcome for the company, such as generating profit or creating a product. Business processes always involve a team of several people. For example, even if a person is working alone, like a writer, others such as an editor and designer are involved in the book creation process.

Why is it necessary to regulate business processes?

A business process regulation is a document that describes how a particular process occurs. When describing a business process, it's specified who should do what at each stage. Each function is assigned a responsible employee who is expected to produce the desired product and pass the result on for further processing until it reaches the customer.

For instance, a printing house receives an order to print 100 catalogs. The business process then consists of the following steps:

- The client assigns the task;

- The company calculates the cost of the order;

- The client signs the contract;

- The contract goes to the accounting department where payment is confirmed;

- The order then goes to the pre-printing department, where the client specifies requirements, and specialists edit and format everything;

- The order is sent to the printing shop;

- The products are shipped and delivered to the client.

How to determine if a business process will work?

A business process needs to be tested. When evaluating the quality of a developed business process, first ask, «What problems will this process help to solve?» Once implemented, check if it has managed to do so. Suppose your company is currently not fulfilling orders on time. With the modified business process, you aim to rectify this to provide products strictly by the deadline. Write in the regulations the actions required to correct the error, implement them, and if the issue with delivering orders is resolved, the business process works.

To assess the quality of something, you need a reference point. For example, I'm going to check the quality of a Caesar salad in a restaurant. To do this, I need some idea of what this salad should be like: what it should contain and what's superfluous. Clearly define what product you want to receive at each stage of the business process. This way, you can assess if everything is going according to plan.

Approaches to Business Process Management

Managing business efficiency can be done in various ways, and we will look at several methods below. Their common feature is that they all aim to meet customer needs through the product provided by the company.

Standardization

Standards are descriptions of benchmarks for goods or services, detailing how products or services should be delivered to customers. If these benchmarks are documented, then:

- Employees will know exactly what they should achieve as a result of their actions;

- New employees can adapt more quickly and understand the company's workflow;

- Production risks will decrease.

Improving Business Processes

The business process management system should be continuously refined and changed. This will help reduce costs, shorten the production cycle, and minimize errors.

There are two ways to improve business processes:

- Reengineering – completely changing the existing system all at once;

- Kaizen – continuous improvement of management mechanisms.

Information Technology

Information technology must be integrated into an organization's business processes. Without it, managing a company in modern conditions is impossible. It's necessary to constantly collect, process, store, and protect data. Additionally, information technology can independently generate management decisions through built-in systems, thereby automating many management processes.

Business Process Groups

• Management

This includes processes aimed at ensuring the company's survival: development, expansion, ability to compete in the market, and goal realization. A company can be managed through planning, accounting, control, organization, and adjustment of actions.

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• Production

These are the processes that generate income for the company through the sale of goods and services. This includes raw material procurement, receiving customer orders, manufacturing, etc.

• Support

These processes aid in product production: hiring staff, accounting, technical maintenance of equipment, etc.

An employee should be assigned to each of these processes. They will be responsible for the result produced within each function. If all employees perform their work efficiently and on time, the company's clients will be satisfied. They will return for more services and recommend the company to others.

Conclusions

Effective management of business processes enhances business efficiency. There are three approaches to managing business processes:

- Standardization;

- Improvement;

- Information technology.

These approaches are geared towards satisfying customer needs through the product provided by the company.

Business processes are differentiated into three groups: management, production, and support. Regulations are meant to describe each business process in a company. The regulations detail the responsibilities of employees at each stage of work. If something needs to be changed to improve the company's operations, the regulation is supplemented or rewritten, and the business process is restructured. If the existing problem is resolved after restructuring the process, it means it works.