If the thought of re-engineering one of your mission-critical business processes sends chills down your spine, you are not alone. Whether you are reading an industry journal, responding to marketing calls or reading in the newspaper how ABC Corp. was recently fined for non-compliance, you are no doubt bombarded by people telling you that there are efficiencies to gain, risks to be abated and money to be saved by changing the way you do things.
So then, why aren’t we all updating our processes with the latest and greatest tools and technologies? Because it isn’t easy.
I’ll say it again, "It isn’t easy!" But could it be? Or, at least, it could be easier.
Start by agreeing that the change is worth having. Convince yourself and key stakeholders that the change may just be exciting. Show them the return on investment; show them the improved customer service; show them the employee morale to be gained by revamping a tired process.
Now that everyone is pumped up and ready to get started, you’re all ready to start changing things, right? Wrong. First, you need to establish a methodology for implementing change in your organization. You don’t need to create one from scratch, as there are many good methodologies out there. But you should pick one. It should minimally define the following tasks:
- Define the scope and goal of the change.
- Business analysis and requirements gathering.
- Design and document the changes to be made.
- Implement the changes in a test group.
- Revise, refine the changes.
- Train staff.
- Implement the changes throughout organization.
- Celebrate the new process.
Taking the time to establish the process for implementing change is well-spent time. It provides a roadmap that all key players can refer to and understand. This isn’t a methodology or approach that is necessary only for large organizations. In fact, taking a strategic, well thought-out approach to implementing change is more critical when the stakes are higher – like in your small business.
The key is the process. When you review it, include all that are affected. Make them believers by making them contributors. Integrate their feedback so that they can feel that the process is theirs.
So, forget about "who" moved your cheese and start worrying about "how" your cheese needs to be moved.
Chris Maertz is director of technology and ECM services at Security MicroImaging in Milwaukee. Additional information is available at www.securitymicro.com.
