Your current business requirements provide the baseline
on which to formulate a plan for streamlining integration of your
business components and thus improving functionality. Having a vision
for the future of your business provides a guideline that can assist
in making decisions that will work not only today but also as your
business grows.
Before you begin
You need to know how your product or service is created and
delivered.
About this task
As part of the planning process, you need to analyze how
your business works. These steps provide a framework for this analysis.
Procedure
- Plot the course of your product or service
from beginning to end.
The process might be strictly
linear, or might contain loops, detours and workarounds. Draw a rough
diagram and indicate connections and interactions. For each section
of your product life-cycle, analyze the procedures used to move the
product forward.
- Does the procedure use paper forms and notations, is it computerized
or both?
- If it is computerized, what software is used? What hardware?
- Are there any logjams in the process? Is there any confusion?
For example, handwriting may be difficult and time-consuming to decipher;
staff may have difficulty in mastering required computer skills.
- What areas in this process are running smoothly? What are the
strengths?
- Determine how the sections of the diagram you created in
step 1 perform their tasks.
- Do any of the sections use the same software? Hardware? Forms?
- If sections use different software, how well do the applications
communicate with each other, if at all?
- Does each section interact only with the sections immediately
preceding and following it, or does it also detour to a section in
a different stage of the cycle? If so, why? Does this cause confusion
or delay?
- If there is an existing intranet that sections use for communication,
do some sections bypass this intranet? If so, why? Does the intranet
have a history of delays or downtime that impacts other processes?
- What areas of interaction are running smoothly? In which areas
are the bottlenecks? How serious are they?
- Consider processes that interact with outside sources.
- What comments do you get from customers, both positive and negative?
Are there any patterns to complaints? Are particular areas consistently
making customers happy?
- How do other business entities interact with your company? With
which departments do they communicate? How does this communication
occur – in writing, or web-based? Add these sources to your diagram.
Note areas that work smoothly, and areas that might be causing delays
or errors.
- Plan for the future.
- Where would you like to see your business in one year? In five
years? Ten years?
- Will you be opening new outlets? Increasing advertising? Increasing
your customer base?
- Is there a possibility of acquiring competitors and incorporating
their products and services into your own? Is there a possibility
of venturing into new avenues of products or services?
What to do next
Identify your available resources.