You may be asking yourself, “What does 'defrag' my business processes mean? That’s something I do to my computer.” For those of you who are more than occasional computer users, you know that every time you open and close a program, fragments of that program are scattered about the hard drive. As additional programs are opened, more fragmentation occurs. Eventually, there is so much fragmentation that your computer slows down, and can possibly crash. The remedy is to optimize, or defrag, the hard drive to reconstruct the programs for greater efficiency.

Business processes operate in a similar manner. Each time an employee performs his or her job, they “open and close” a process. Process flow is altered resulting in fragments of the process becoming “lost” in the fog of getting the job done at any cost. In addition, process flow can be influenced or altered by such roadblocks as poor documentation, time constraints, insufficient training, or a lack of communication. Over time, an employee frustrated by a slow or unworkable process will create a work-around to facilitate his or her job. Other employees may, and often do, create their own work-arounds. Inevitably, this will have a ripple effect throughout a company to the extent that the entire organization will slow down, and eventually break down. The usual response is to have employees work harder. If that doesn’t solve the problem, more people are added, as if things will improve through sheer numbers. The results, however, are higher costs, a bloated organization and dissatisfied customers and employees.

The solution - defrag your business processes as you would your computer in order to optimize their efficiency. This often overlooked and underutilized solution to business problems is the key to improved product and service delivery, increased customer satisfaction and greater financial strength.

For more information on how Breakthrough Strategies can help your company change for the better, please contact us .