How to optimize the company's current activities? Development of proposals for optimizing the work of the organization’s personnel management service using the example of Optima LLC. In order to optimize the work process and efficiency

There is a common misconception that everything in life comes down to timing. We use these phrases every day:

"If only I had more time"
"I need a few more minutes"
“A couple of hours of work, that’s all.”

We believe that everything could be achieved if we had a little more time. We mistakenly believe that it's all about the quantity, but our working day is already too long. How to manage everything without “burning out at work” - read our article today.

The shackles of freedom

From childhood, we are taught the importance of time-based routines. The school day lasts 8 hours, and the structure of the lesson is governed by time, not by how much is to be learned. We are taught that it is more important to meet the deadline than to finish the job.

However, we are now increasingly moving away from this generally accepted practice. More and more people are working remotely, part-time, on contract or on a rotational basis. The eight-hour workday is disappearing, but is it the end to time constraints we were hoping for?

The freedom to perform our professional duties wherever and whenever we want gives us the opportunity to work according to any convenient schedule. This means we can meet short deadlines or spend a lot of time on tasks - as long as the work gets done. However, research shows that those whose schedules allow them to work less end up working significantly longer.

A study on working time and productivity by the International Labor Organization found that the average flexible worker works 54 hours a week, compared with just 37 hours per week for those subject to a rigid schedule. These 17 extra hours are a consequence of the "freedom" to set one's own schedule. schedule, but what’s even worse is that these hours do not affect the quality and productivity of work.

When the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development studied the impact of working hours on productivity in 18 European countries over a 60-year period, it found that productivity per hour always decreased as working hours increased. In addition, it was noticed that the result deteriorates in proportion to the increase in working time.

After a certain point, things only get worse, because the next day hours will be spent trying to find and correct the mistakes made the day before.

Why does this happen?

We are all familiar with the situation when, feeling very tired and mentally exhausted, we continue to do work - just to redo most of it with a fresh mind. Perhaps it’s pride or a sense of responsibility, although Parkinson’s law seems more correct: “Work takes exactly as much time as it’s allotted.”

This “law” was voiced by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay in The Economist magazine. Parkinson gives this example:

“An old lady with plenty of time on her hands could spend a whole day writing and sending a card to her niece in Bognor Regis. One hour will be spent looking for a postcard, another hour looking for glasses, half an hour trying to remember the address, an hour and a quarter writing, and twenty minutes deciding whether to take an umbrella to walk to the mailbox on the next street. All the work that would take no more than three minutes for a busy man may cause another to drop dead after a whole day of doubt, worry and toil.”

The more time we spend on a task, the more time we spend on it, and the more time we spend, the worse we end up doing the task itself. It is impossible to work at full capacity for several hours at a time. Motivation, willpower, and focus are limited resources that must be used sparingly throughout the day. Spending more time only kills motivation and makes the work done worse.

So, if you work less, you can be more productive?

It often feels like we don't have enough time to spend with friends, maintain relationships, and all the things that make us happy.

Even though relationships with family and friends are fundamental values, this issue is still relevant for most.

Being able to work less gives you time to socialize and do all the things you need for personal well-being. Sounds perfect, right? Spend less time working, and you will have more time for leisure and meeting with those you love.

However, it is not.

A study by Cristobal Yang and Shayun Lim of Stanford University found that out of 500,000 workers, the majority's happiness levels depend on the length of the workweek. We feel absolutely happy on the weekend and least happy on Monday and Tuesday. Obvious, right?

Surprisingly, the same trend exists among the unemployed: even those who did not need to be present at work during the week still felt less happy on weekdays. Yang and Lim attribute this to the fact that connecting with other people is more important to our well-being than just free time: you won't fully enjoy your day off if you spend the day just on yourself.

Spend time only on work that is important

So, we won't perform better if we spend more time at work, and we won't be happier if we have more free time.

Focusing on productivity rather than the end result is our goal.

By justifying work by the resources and time spent, we fall into the trap: for example, “I spent 60 hours/4 months/8 years on this. I deserve success."

A modern saying goes that it's not the time, but the work itself. For many remote or flexible workers, this means getting it done at all costs, but being happy with x amount of time spent instead of much more is just ridiculous. If we only think about what's done, without thinking about how much time was spent on a task and how productive it was, we won't see the full picture.

As Lynn Wu of the Wharton School of Business explains, measuring productivity by its results is pointless. Productivity is not just about what gets done, but also about how effectively you worked on a task.

A recent study by Julian Birkinshaw of London Business School found that most knowledge workers—engineers, writers, and those who “think for a living”—spend an average of 41% of their time doing work that could easily be done by others.

We instinctively stick to tasks that keep us “busy” (and therefore important). We feel good when our schedule is scheduled minute by minute and we have to wait for it to get easier and have time for our life needs. Paradoxically, we all want more free time and yet hold on to things that take it away.

The desire to work more efficiently is very difficult to track. Investing in skills, planning, or training others to free yourself frees up time for the work that really matters—not just the things that keep us “busy.”

Rethinking work and life

In all aspects of life - both work and personal - it's not about the amount of time. We have no control over this: there is no way to add hours to the day. The compounding effect of long work days and sleepless nights is that you almost always perform poorly.

It's about quality, efficiency, the ability to determine how much time to spend on work and decide how to use this time more effectively. When we think this way, we stop perceiving time as a unit of measurement for our day.

There are several ways to decide how to be more productive with your time—each of which can be used as an indicator of your effectiveness.

1. Plan tasks, not time.

In his essay, Paul Graham suggests that the unit of time for professionals such as writers and programmers is at least half a day, rather than the hourly or half-hour intervals of the standard schedule.

Work works best when it doesn't require strict deadlines and schedules. Reading, writing, editing - all these activities are better if you don't have to stretch out time or, conversely, rush to meet deadlines.

Working for results gives you a feeling of success and helps answer the question of whether you are working effectively.

2. Once the meaning is found, keep working.

Motivation and energy are limited resources; wasting them ruins our chances and makes work meaningless.

Dr. Steele's experiments on motivation and procrastination showed that significance is the most important aspect for maintaining motivation. When the work we do feels important, we are most motivated to complete it. So why stop? Meetings can be rescheduled, but the excitement of work is not so easy to restore.

3. Get Better, Faster, Stronger

As Henry David Thoreau said, “It is not enough to be busy: so are ants. The question is what are you doing."

We need to learn to focus on something significant every day, this will make us feel accomplished.

Don't go to work just to get through the day and pat yourself on the back—focus on doing your job and feeling satisfaction from it, and only then leave.

We can only change the way we work if we change the way we think.

4. Ask for help

We often get so immersed in our work that we forget about the opportunity to ask for help. Especially in small companies, where it seems that every employee is loaded with work to the maximum, the very idea of ​​​​interrupting someone's work process with your request seems strange.

However, one small question or small conversation can determine whether you spend 5 minutes or an hour on a task.

Use the knowledge of those around you so that you can work together effectively.

Instead of a conclusion

You don't need more time - you need time spent wisely.
This comes only with the understanding that long hours spent on work does not make it good.

As Seth Godin so clearly stated, “You don’t need more time…you just need to learn how to make good decisions.” Time is almost always a matter of quality, not quantity, so set goals and achieve them.

Optimization of an organization's business processes is the improvement of sequential actions that are aimed at achieving the goals set for the enterprise by choosing the best option for their implementation. This is an inevitable process for the effective operation of a modern company.

A business process is a set of actions that leads to a certain result. Each process has a specific goal, its own sequence of key actions and a predicted result. The number and goals of these processes that take place in different enterprises are different and are directly dependent on the type of business, the size of the company, the personal qualities of the owners and management. All this must be taken into account in order for the optimization of business processes to become effective.

To create an effective business, it is important to coordinate the marketing strategy with the implementation of the methodology for its implementation. However, it also happens that there is an adequate strategy, measures for its implementation have been developed, but there are no results: it is not possible to achieve planned indicators. Perhaps these are problems at the lower, procedural level of the management system. Let's try to understand the phenomenon of business process optimization, its description and modeling.

Up to a certain level of development, an enterprise can completely do without optimization. However, there are a number of factors that signal “it’s time to get down to business processes,” and, without a doubt, they bring this moment closer:

• increase in staff;
• the number of management levels is growing;
• the number of divisions is growing;
• divisions are geographically separated;
• there is no or underdeveloped unified information system.

So, one day you discover that in the company:

• decisions are made very slowly;
• decisions are implemented very slowly and poorly;
• it turns out that periodically certain aspects of activity remain uncontrolled;
• notice an increase in psychological tension among personnel associated with unregulated rights, duties and responsibilities;
• Basic work operations require a lot of time, effort, approvals, memos and phone calls.

The presence of these symptoms is a serious reason for restructuring; optimization of business processes is necessary. It is worth noting that in some cases it is advisable to carry out this work without waiting for such prerequisites to occur (with a significant change in the management structure, the use of a new IS, etc.)

The choice of this tool for business processes is considered to be very important and almost decisive. However, the program for description is important only if the development is carried out for their further implementation in a specific information system (IS). Most modern information systems have their own tools for developing business processes, so discussing software to describe them makes no sense.

Note that business processes are needed for participants, not for developers, and the most important criterion for choosing a software description tool is its accessibility to all participants at the stage of approval, optimization, execution and modernization.

Business process models “AS IS” and “TO BE”

Standard modeling schemes include, at the first stage, a description of the current “AS IS” (“as is”), followed by optimization to “TO BE” (“as it should be”). Some customers do not understand the usefulness of describing the first stage. It is enough for them that the performers bring new, correct business processes, and the “AS IS” model is perceived as an attempt to increase the budget.

Please note that such an implementation technique, which is not based on existing business processes, is called reengineering, which has only a vague resemblance to the concept of “optimization of business processes”. The description of “AS IS” makes it possible to identify a number of existing contradictions and make initial optimization of processes. It must be discussed by all participants and agreed upon by signature.

Optimization process

You can optimize something according to certain criteria. For business processes, such criteria are cost, duration, number of transactions, etc. These criteria are “external” to the processes and arise from a more general management framework. Let's try to figure it out.

For example, optimizing a business process such as customer service in a store. What to choose as an optimization criterion – price or quality? If this is a store with discounts for the middle class, we choose the first criterion; if it is an elite boutique, then the second. It turns out that by choosing an optimization criterion, we determine the strategy and position the store.

This is how, with the help of the optimization criterion, the level of control systems begins to obey a higher level - strategy.

Implementation

The implementation procedure is the most difficult stage of working with business processes. It is much more successful if it is supported by the enterprise information system. However, such opportunities are not always available or in full. Implementation and keeping business processes up to date requires:

• communicating to personnel information that work should be performed on the basis of business processes created at the enterprise;
• exercising control over staff compliance with established business processes;
• conducting periodic analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of business processes;
• optimization of business processes based on constant analysis of data on their efficiency and effectiveness.

Modification

Over time, any optimized business processes will require adjustments or replacement. On the one hand, business processes must correspond to reality, and on the other hand, they must not interfere with the normal development of the enterprise. Therefore, they need timely modification. The new edition will be agreed upon by all participants and communicated to all interested persons.

In this case, business process systems become real tools that increase the efficiency of doing business at the procedural level.

Types of business processes of an organization

• the main one is meeting the needs of the client and making a profit for the enterprise;
• auxiliary – necessary for the normal operation of the enterprise, has no value for the client;
• managerial – sets goals and objectives for the enterprise, its divisions and management.

Optimization of business processes, goals and objectives:

• increase enterprise manageability;
• increase the quality indicators of manufactured products;
• improve the quality of services provided;
• reduce the enterprise’s dependence on the human factor;
• implement a performance monitoring system;
• reduce costs;
• rationally distribute powers and responsibilities between departments;
• eliminate duplicative functions among departments;
• reduce production cycle time;
• implement a quality management program;
• eliminate internal contradictions;
• regulate the activities of the enterprise;
• replicate the business/create a franchise network;
• automate the activities of the enterprise;
• meet consumer requirements;
• meet state requirements;
• comply with international standards;
• reduce the amount of time to achieve assigned tasks;
• establish interaction between main departments and support services;
• increase customer satisfaction;
• improve financial performance through proper allocation of resources;
• get the opportunity to scale your business;
• reduce budget expenditures;
• plan more accurately;
• increase the manageability of the enterprise;
• eliminate duplication of functions of departments;
• find new resources for business development.

Effect of optimization:

• reduction of time to achieve assigned tasks;
• establishing interaction between main departments and support services;
• increasing customer satisfaction;
• improving financial performance through proper allocation of resources;
• the ability to scale the business;
• reduction of budget expenditures;
• more accurate planning;
• increasing enterprise manageability;
• elimination of duplication of functions of departments;
• emergence of new resources for business development.

Business processes and information system

One of the ways to increase the efficiency of an enterprise is to optimize business processes. Efficiency is the ratio of the result to the effort expended. Optimization of business processes is, in turn, a set of measures aimed at increasing their efficiency. Despite the variety of optimization techniques, it is not always possible to achieve the desired result.

Does the company need optimization of business processes?

In any organization, there is a certain number of business processes that its employees perform. These include purchasing and sales, management and production processes, office work and others. If a company is already automating existing processes, this helps it become more efficient. When a company has implemented a quality management system according to the ISO 9001 standard, this is an indicator of a high business culture. It carries an approach to the organization as a large number of processes and implies that all business processes in it are highlighted and described.

Special companies have automation specialists who take part in identifying processes, characterizing them and optimizing them. After a certain amount of time, any perfectly structured process needs reorganization. It is necessary to take into account changes in working conditions, new jobs and new processes, and any patterns. Without optimization, conflicts may arise that prevent certain parts of the enterprise from functioning normally, which will affect the amount of money earned.

In order to find out whether a company needs to optimize business processes, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the classification of problems in current business processes:

1. Duplication of job responsibilities. The functions of not only employees of the organization, but also departments of the enterprise overlap or are repeated, creating chaos, unreasonable competition and unnecessary financial costs for unnecessary work.
2. Managers have experience in the field of management, but do not have basic economic knowledge, as well as competencies in the field of marketing and management.
3. The system of systematic professional development of employees has not been developed. Typically, staff do not want to come up with anything to optimize business processes.
4. Sometimes the owners and management remember that they need to work more efficiently, and the company urgently begins to implement an IT system for managing finances, sales, employees (the list is endless). But it is introduced either in complete isolation from current business processes, adjusting it to “best practice” (and driving the organization even deeper into the hole), or thoughtlessly copying it, resulting in a useless system on which millions of rubles and a large amount of money were spent man-hours, but there is practically no economic effect.

What changes does business process optimization bring:

• Reduces operating and time costs.
• Increases the quality of customer service.
• Increases the company's manageability.
• Allows you to achieve target indicators.

In turn, this has a positive effect on reducing the cost of services or products, as well as increasing the company’s attractiveness to customers. Additionally, the enterprise will become more mobile in its decisions, which increases the sustainability and competitiveness of the organization.

It is necessary to realize that in every company all business processes are interconnected. In this regard, business process optimization technology can affect the flow of other work processes of the organization. It is better to start with a process that is not particularly significant, which will not require large financial and time expenditures. Then gradually optimize other processes. If you try to optimize everything at once, this can lead to dire consequences and a negative attitude towards all process adjustments in the future.

In this case, it is recommended to first rationalize document management. It is an indisputable fact that optimizing documentation within a company significantly improves the quality of processes. Also, after you learn to spot potential improvements in document flow, you can relay your experience to other areas of the organization.

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Where should the optimization of a company's business processes begin?

Almost all organizations (the only exceptions are state corporations) need to optimize business processes, because there is no limit to perfection, and given that the market is a rather unstable phenomenon, in constant dynamics, in which the rules are formed exclusively by the participating parties, there is a need to quickly respond to changes. A company that is in continuous striving and development must necessarily have a department in its structure that is involved in optimizing business processes. The more successful company will be the one that does not regret spending financial resources on the implementation of modern technologies, as it understands that the future lies behind them.

How to select the most important ones for optimizing business processes? To do this, it is necessary to select priority criteria. A list of such criteria has already been compiled and is actively used in practice:

Criterion 1. The importance of the business process.

It is logical that in order to optimize business processes it is necessary to select key processes, since improving them will allow achieving the most effective results. What is the importance of the process? This criterion for a company is determined by the share of contribution of this business process to achieving the key objectives of the organization. However, if this business process is the most important, but at the same time effective, then no matter how you optimize it, it will not be better. In some situations, it is possible to optimize a key business process, but why do it, why waste financial resources and employee time, if it is already effective? To identify these business processes, the problem criterion is used.

Criterion 2. Problematic business process.

We need to find out what exactly we mean and understand by the word “problem”. By this term we mean the standard interpretation, i.e. a problem is the difference between the desired and actual state of business processes. Thus, the criteria of importance and problematic characterize what kind of result we will get after optimizing the business process.

Criterion 3. Ability to implement business process changes.

It is necessary to select those business processes in which optimization will be most simple. In this situation, we are considering the cost aspect: how much financial resources will have to be spent on optimizing business processes, how much labor resources, personal time will be required, etc. Here it is necessary to think about the negative factors for the company as a whole that may arise when optimizing business processes. process.

Having found out the degree/assessment of the criteria for the importance, problematic nature and reality of optimizing business processes, we will be able to select the most effective of them. It is logical that the company’s main business processes will become the highest priority, since they are, as a rule, the most costly and problematic.

Expert opinion

It is impossible to optimize all business processes

Sergey Pankin,

trainer-consultant of the company "Center Orgprom", Yekaterinburg

It is impossible to optimize business processes and reduce losses to zero - this is a utopia. But processes need to be adjusted if they entail large losses of value for the client. You cannot put up with chaos in the workshops, underproduction, consumer problems, and a queue of orders.

Thanks to intensive work, many processes can be significantly optimized in a fairly short time. As a rule, such improvements are the result of assault breakthroughs. For example, at one Yekaterinburg enterprise that produces auto components, this method made it possible to reduce the manufacturing time of a part by 1,447 times. This, of course, did not make it possible to speed up the production of the entire product as much; however, it was determined that the organization's tradition of locating processing equipment based on functional relationships was resulting in significant time wastage. Based on the results of the analysis, the production process was revised. Now the location of the machines is determined by the sequence of operations. This significantly reduced the duration of the technological cycle.

Here's another example. In a fairly simple process - packaging paint - it was possible to increase labor productivity by 50% (previously the line was serviced by four workers, now - two). This result was achieved through a detailed calculation of the operators’ actions. The compiled process map identified points of loss. It turned out that a lot of time was spent on preparing packaging, rearranging, and unnecessary movements. Losses are also caused by inconsistency in the actions of operators, due to which they are forced to wait for each other. Optimization took four days. To eliminate losses, we had to arrange the equipment differently, apply markings, increase lighting in the work area, set up rhythmic music, etc.

Optimizing more complex processes requires not only mapping and identifying problems, but also experimentation, which requires stopping production for a time. Testing usually takes one to two days.

• Document flow in an organization: when everything is in its place

Expert opinion

Three parameters for assessing the optimality of a business process

Mikhail Gordeev,

Director of Technology at Euromanagement, Moscow

You can understand the degree of relevance of a certain business process using the following criteria:

1. The quality level of the final product. They examine the size of official claims of customers, dissatisfaction of company managers and claims of the performing party.

2. Work process of each employee when performing a certain operation. The process works well if:

• the employee performs a minimum list of actions (from three to five) with specifically discussed execution regulations and extremely simple content. If any operation is an exception to the rule, then it is best to write a specific description of it;
• the time gap between the execution of actions differs by no more than 2-3 times. If the operation requires from 10 minutes to 2 hours, then this action must be prescribed as an exception to the rules;
• the period intended for performing the operation exceeds the actual working time by no more than one working day.

3. Simplicity and discussion of the business process system. The following indicators are used for assessment:

• the number of so-called “entry” and “exit” processes. The fewer there are, the better for the company’s work;
• the number of actions to complete one process, ideally from seven to eleven;
• the number of possible exceptions, since each of them is a danger to process management;
• number of employees involved, departments of the organization.

Main principles of business process optimization

Principle 1. Optimization of business processes must have a basis.

The meaning of this principle is that before starting to optimize business processes, it is necessary to specifically isolate each business process of the company. Improving chaos can only be accomplished by higher powers. A mere mortal first needs to understand how business processes take place, that is, consider them in the format of an “as is” diagram. If it is not possible to describe the business processes that occur in the company today, then there will simply be nothing to optimize.

Principle 2. When optimizing business processes, “clean the fish from the tail.”

This principle lies in the fact that it is necessary to assess optimality according to the scheme from the particular to the general, finding individual errors and shortcomings, combining them into groups and promptly eliminating them.

Principle 3. Solutions to optimize business processes are controversial.

In other words, there is a high probability that the elimination of suboptimality in one indicator will lead to a decrease in the efficiency of another process. In addition, it is not enough to simply understand this; you also need to have the ability to find such consequences, evaluate the positive aspects and identify shortcomings, and then make a reasoned choice.

Principle 4. Company specialists do not like optimal business processes.

An inevitable consequence of perfect optimization of business processes will be increased exploitation of the performing party, and in this regard, resistance from the company’s employees will appear. It can be either explicit or unconscious.

How to optimize costs

The editors of the “Commercial Director” magazine tell you what methods exist to optimize production costs and which are best to use. Find out about them from the article at the link ↓

What does the optimization of an organization’s business processes depend on?

Factors that influence the efficiency of business processes and their agility can be completely different. There are whole groups of parameters that are useful to understand, most of which are usually controlled by the business with software support. However, some factors can be controlled and monitored with reliable measurement and interpretation of actions. These include:

• Ecosystem of a business project.

The ecosystem of a business project is a network of organizations, including partners, suppliers, customers, government agencies, distributors, that are engaged in the supply of products or services through both the process of competition and partnership, where each party is involved to a certain extent. The ecosystem includes policies, regulations, and legislation that regulate the relationship between providers and clients.

• Business context.

Business context is the position of a business project within its ecosystem: the context in which a significant business event has completed or is still taking place, an event that guarantees the creation of a background and maintenance of conditions. These conditions are used when assessing business policies and business rules as a basis for taking corrective actions for business processes. This is a set of factors and 8 systems: process, information, events, rules, content, analytics, collaboration and monitoring, which are influenced by the optimization of business processes. In this regard, adjustments can be made intelligently and on the way of a business project to adapt to innovations and achieve its goals in a consistent and predictable manner, even in situations where the conditions of the circumstances are not entirely predictable.

• Business options and changes.

There are a large number of adjustments that occur systematically in a business context or are introduced unpredictably. However, only some of them are truly significant for optimizing business processes.

• Business status.

Business condition is the result of fundamental transformations of business processes that affect the parameters and structure of the efficiency of agility and productivity of innovations. State changes indicate that business results may differ as a transition occurs from one operating state to another.

• Business results.

Vision and shaping of desired business outcomes ensures transparency of initiatives and work process. This gives each party a chance to fully participate and cooperate with the goals set and discussed. The measurable outcome of a business project is considered to be a central focus on projects, and not on the conditions of the work process.

• Business goals.

A business goal is the aspirations of a business project. It contains information about how its leaders want to see the business. This can be discussed at the highest level, starting with the company's structure and its strategy, or specified at a lower level - actionable and measurable goals. As a rule, goals are set so that there is an exact date for their achievement.

• Key performance indicators.

KPI is a performance indicator, in other words, a measure of achieving the goals of a business project. For example, for the KPI “Increase the average revenue per customer by 10%,” the business goal could be “Increase the average revenue per customer.”

• Business policies and rules.

Business policies are declarations or statements containing information about the principles for achieving set goals. For example, “funds for a hotel room booked in advance will not be returned.” Business rules are declarative in nature, thus limiting a number of aspects of a business project. They describe how a business project will behave under a certain set of circumstances.

• Business solutions.

Business decisions establish and reinforce the decisions a company makes within a business process.

• Business sensors.

Business KPI sensors and monitoring and tracking mechanisms modulate and regulate business change, just as KPIs monitor events and phenomena in a business context.

• Business events.

Business events are phenomena that represent an important change in business processes. They are usually unintentional, non-specialized, and not part of a group of systematic business workflow sequences.

• Business monitoring.

Monitoring activities based on a set of key indicators. It involves looking at business events and comparing them to thresholds using rudimentary algorithms and reporting forms.

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At what levels is optimization of enterprise business processes carried out?

All business processes have different levels of impact on the organization's bottom line. They are called the drivers of the company's revenue and profit. For example, administrative and management business processes are responsible for making competent decisions and actions of management, collecting data about the enterprise’s workflow that is involved in the main business processes. In this regard, with a reduction in financial costs, various levels of efficiency can be achieved. Which of them your company will reach directly depends on the goal (to save money or achieve important results in the strategy), as well as on how business processes are optimized:

• First level.

At this stage, you are dealing with financial costs that are generated within each department/department of the enterprise. The upside: this is the fastest method to reduce material costs; such a decision will not affect the interests of other divisions of the organization, thus no additional approvals will be required. The negative point is that global savings are not observed at this stage: as a rule, they are up to 10%, ideally up to 20%. Do not forget also that some expenses incurred by a structural unit of the company arise from the needs of other departments as a result of their work process. For example, one department orders another to provide information on analytical activities in the form of reports and calculations. In this situation, all costs will be borne by the executing department.

• Second level.

In order to achieve cost reduction of this type, it is necessary to rise to the second stage, which involves a joint work process between “customers” and “performers” during the optimization of business processes. The activity of only one side is impossible. Cost reduction can only be achieved when all parties involved in business process optimization have discussed how they want to change business processes and how they will work together. At this level, it is possible to achieve savings of more than 20% and optimize business processes that support different functions, but have the same interest in achieving the final result.

• Third level.

This stage is considered the most effective - you can achieve 30% savings. At this stage, some difficulties arise: working with expenses is based on an understanding of the entire system of business processes of the organization; optimization of business processes concerns a large number of activities.

Applied methods for optimizing business processes

Let's briefly discuss the most popular methods that are used to optimize business processes:

Method 1.SWOT analysis(studying the weak and strong sides of a business process).

SWOT analysis is a method of planning strategies that is used to assess factors and phenomena that affect a business project or company. All existing parameters can be divided into four groups: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The key principle of this method is the search and elimination of the most vulnerable spots and the minimization of theoretical threats and risks.

Method 2.Cause-Effect Method(Ishikawa diagram – Cause and Effect Diagram).

Ishikawa diagram - so-called. a “Fishbone Diagram” or a “Cause and Effect Diagram”, as well as a “Root Cause Analysis” diagram.

One of the 7 most famous tools for measuring, assessing, controlling and improving the quality level of production processes:

• control card;
• Pareto chart;
• bar chart;
• check sheet;
• Ishikawa diagram;
• stratification (stratification);
• scatter plot.

Using this method, you can find the main relationships between parameters and explore the required business process as accurately as possible. The diagram helps to identify the main factors that have the most significant impact on the development of the problem being studied.

Method 3.Benchmarking.

Benchmarking is a method of analyzing the advantages and assessing the advantages of competitive partners and competitors in the same or related field in order to identify the most productive factors. To some extent, this can be called industrial espionage, but there is a significant difference - this method is implemented using superficial observations.

Method 4.Analysis and optimization of business processes based on indicators (KPI).

Key performance analysis method. This is the principle of setting final goals for a business process, with the achievement of which the goal is either increased, or, if it was not possible to approach it, the methods used to implement it are analyzed.

Method 5.Brainstorm.

Brainstorming is a method, the essence of which is the active discussion of problems, all possible options for solving them are voiced, and on the basis of this the most effective one is selected.

Find out, how to organize a brainstorming session correctly, from an article in “Commercial Director” magazine.

Method 6.Lean methods, “6 Sigma”.

A method for detecting productivity improvements by reducing errors in a manufacturing process.

Method 7.Calculation and change of process fragmentation.

A method of reducing or increasing the components of a business process.

Method 8.Process business logic analysis:

• eliminating ineffective procedures;
• distribution of responsibility for the implementation of business processes and delegation of decision-making powers;
• linking parallel work;
• recording information at the source and incorporating its processing into real work.

Method 9.Functional cost analysis method (FCA analysis).

The principle of the analysis is to achieve maximum functionality of the object at minimal cost for both the seller and the buyer.

Method 10.Method of simulation (dynamic) modeling of power supply.

A technique that allows you to represent, within the framework of a dynamic computer model, the actions of people and the use of technologies used in the reengineering processes being studied. Carrying out modeling involves four main stages:

• building a model;
• its launch;
• analysis of the obtained performance indicators;
• assessment of alternative scenarios.

A very effective method, provided that all the necessary quantities to build the model are current and accurate.

Method 11.Calculation and analysis of labor intensity and duration of a business process.

The methodology was created to calculate the optimal number of employees in an enterprise and the workload on them.

Method 12.Analysis of the responsibility distribution matrix.

A technique for drawing up a visual functional table that strictly divides the enterprise into organizational units, links, etc. In other words, tasks are assigned to structural units.

• Accounting for production losses, causes and ways to eliminate them

Optimization of business processes step by step

Stage 1.Description of the company's business processes.

Always follow the basic rule: when starting a business process optimization procedure, find out what and how it functions in your organization, and only then start working. At first glance, this advice sounds simple, but few companies put it into practice. As a rule, everything happens completely differently: first they optimize business processes, and then think about what they have done. Why does this happen? To understand the workflow of an enterprise, it is best to study it through the value chain: there are companies that supply resources or goods to your organization or perform an additional function that your customer needs. Understand at what stage, as well as how the added value of the final product is formed, starting from the stage of obtaining resources and raw materials from supplier companies. This is a simple but very effective method. Using it, you will immediately be able to calculate the basic “entry” points into the company and the main “exit” points. Such research will help the organization in optimizing business processes. You can:

• study the work process of the enterprise as a whole;
• separate work processes that require primary automation using IT technologies;
• Explain to staff what your organization does and what each employee contributes to it;
• decide on ways to improve the quality of the final product/service. Visibility of business processes will give you a chance to see bottlenecks and increase the company’s net profit.

When conducting research, remember that in addition to the key business processes responsible for creating the product for which customers pay material resources, there are also supporting ones. They do not require financing, but form the organization’s infrastructure and ensure the continuous functioning of the enterprise’s main business processes. There are also business development processes that are responsible for bringing profit to the company in the future: they study markets for goods, perform optimization of business processes, technical modernization, etc.

Stage 2.Appointment of responsible persons.

To optimize business processes, appoint a responsible specialist (manager), as well as responsible employees for each stage and process of optimization. A manager must not only be an obligatory person, but also manage the work process of other employees subordinate to him. The main task of such managers is to continuously work to improve efficiency. In this regard, their job responsibilities should be as clear as possible. Naturally, it is impossible to formalize every process, but if some management functions are prescribed in the regulations, then the manager will not need to constantly talk about what his responsibilities are and what result he should ultimately achieve.

The easiest way to regulate the management of an organization’s business processes is from top to bottom:

• organize the regulation of business processes at managerial level: create KPIs for the company and its structural departments, define areas of responsibility. This procedure will be required for directors; it will help them manage the enterprise more effectively, concentrating as much as possible on the organization’s development strategy;
• in the same way, explain and write down business processes for lower-level personnel. In this situation, it is necessary to describe the work process of each specialist within his department within the boundaries of the business processes in which the employee takes part;
• organize regulation of the process management procedure. Here it is necessary to create a feedback mechanism from bottom-up specialists in order to quickly exchange information, taking into account new information, make decisions about adjusting current plans and KPIs of the organization, thus supporting the modernization of the company within the boundaries of the overall development strategy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that each change must first be examined by employees responsible for certain business processes, and only the important ones are submitted to the manager for discussion;
• create a system of regulatory documentation that will combine functional and process management into one. Most likely, these will be regulations on the department’s work process and the job functions of company employees.

The main rule of the regulations is its mandatory implementation during the work process of the enterprise. You can develop the most effective job description, but what good will it do if it sits on a shelf collecting dust without use?

Stage 3.Implementation of business process optimization.

After all the company’s work processes have been described and the employees responsible for their execution have been appointed, the time comes to combat bottlenecks. In any organization, the number of such problem areas can number several dozen; therefore, below we will describe the sequence of actions for such a situation:

• evaluate all business processes of the company and eliminate duplication of job responsibilities of employees;
• calculate the required amount of time for each business process, conduct a comparative analysis of it with average values ​​in this area and adjust it to real indicators;
• organize an analysis of the use of resources by your production;
• examine the movements of valuables and information in your company and liquidate those areas where you find losses;
• Analyze the efficiency of resource exploitation for each work process.

Stage 4.Automation of the company's main business processes.

It is necessary to proceed to this stage only when the stages of regulation and creation of a system for optimizing business processes have been completed. It is impossible to carry out automation in complete chaos, in this regard, if you think that the implementation of an IT system will help overcome the difficult situation with the organization’s business processes, then this is a very wrong opinion. You will only waste a huge amount of financial resources and personal time.

Stage 5.Assessing the results of business process optimization.

Let's talk about some results that should be obtained as a result of optimizing business processes:

• formalization of the business model being implemented in your company, elimination of duplicate job responsibilities and enterprise structures;
• monitoring the work performance of specialists, which motivates them to perform their work functions more responsibly;
• reducing the number of errors and reducing the level of human factor in the production process;
• implementation of a KPI system that motivates employees to achieve certain results and makes the bonus system as transparent as possible;
• regulation of business processes forms a knowledge base about the company’s business processes, thus, new personnel join the work process as quickly as possible;
• minimizing disruptions to the enterprise’s production process due to lack of resources or lack of personnel;
• finding and liquidating fixed financial assets that are not used in the company’s turnover;
• reducing unnecessary product purchases.

Expert opinion

What processes need to be automated?

Anatoly Zubeyrov,

General Director of Millsystems, Moscow

The automation process should first of all affect those business processes of the organization that are the most costly in terms of labor resources. If we talk about serious production, then it is necessary to put in order the circulation of documentation within the company, which is related to deliveries and payments between departments of the enterprise.

If we consider medium-sized companies, then the automation process must be applied to customers and suppliers - to their logical interaction. First of all, trade organizations with several dozen positions and a large number of counterparties should think about automating business processes. Small companies need to think about how to make working with IT as simple as possible, and to ensure that the company’s production process remains as efficient as before automation.

Effective automation of warehouse logistics, delivery and sales of products leads to a reduction in financial costs and also allows you to avoid:

• material costs for extra personnel;
• illiterate use of motor transport, which is the property of the organization, and excess storage space;
• inefficient operation of transport owned by the company and excess space in warehouses;
• loss of products that have a short shelf life;
• overpayments for the services of transport companies.

Which software should you choose? First of all, it must allow the automation of business processes at all levels. It is necessary that all processes at any stage of automation can be realistically completed in the shortest possible time. It is also important that the software is understandable to everyone in your company.

• Automation of business processes: preparation and implementation

Typical mistakes in business process optimization

Error 1.Incorrect problem statement.

The main rule is a specific and correct statement of the problem: what needs to be done to optimize the company, in what time, and what result needs to be obtained. Characterization of business processes is unlikely to contribute to immediate improvement (unless the description reveals obvious confusion or duplicative functions of departments). To optimize the company's work, it is necessary to decide to what result the development of the enterprise should be directed.

For example, it makes no sense to characterize the processes of the accounting department if your organization has no income. The reason for the low profitability of the work should be sought in the division responsible for product sales. With the improvement of the activities of this problematic department, the work of others, including accounting, will also improve. Consequently, the description of business processes is a stage in a large-scale campaign to optimize company management.

Error 2.Disproportionality of tasks and efforts.

In practice, there are descriptions of processes that are not related to the main goal of the organization (for example, the interaction of a manager with a secretary in an attempt to get through to a deputy). It is clear that the characterization of such a process does not make any sense for optimizing the company’s work and is erroneous in terms of content and costs.

Error 3.Wrong choice of means of description.

To characterize business processes in order to optimize them, programs of varying power are used. Their cost varies from 100 to 100,000 US dollars. Obviously, the power of the acquired program must be correlated with the scale of the company. Thus, the acquisition of a powerful program by a small company is unjustified. The tool is selected based on the financial capabilities of the company and the tasks that are supposed to be solved by optimizing the organization’s business processes. Based on existing experience, relatively simple solutions like BPWin 2 can help achieve your goals even in large enterprises. In any case, the software is only an auxiliary element. The quality of organization of the company's optimization process plays a decisive role.

Expert opinion

Optimization of business processes should be regular

Alla Bednenko,

HR Director, Econika-Obuv Company, Moscow

In conditions of intensive development of the organization, its manager is forced to optimize the company’s activities on a regular basis. This is exactly how it was decided to act in our company. The customer of the enterprise optimization project was the General Director of the Econika-Obuv company, and its supervisor was the Vice President of the Econika Corporation. The HR director was appointed as the project manager.

1. Goals. The goals of our project to optimize business processes were: identifying processes in need of improvement, adapting them to the strategic objectives of the organization and preparing for the introduction of a comprehensive automated business management system.

2. Project stages. To implement the company optimization project, the following steps were taken:

• formation of an existing business process model;
• creation of the desired model of business processes (with fixation of the main parameters of the effectiveness of the main departments of the organization);
• planning of proposed adjustments and approval of technical specifications for the development and implementation of a corporate information system;
• generating ideas for automating the company’s labor processes;
• optimization of the organization’s business processes as such, that is, their improvement.

3. Criteria for assessing project results. The following were initially identified:

• minimizing time, personnel, material and financial costs (measured in%);
• increase in the quality and timeliness of managers’ reports (in%);
• reduction of external influence on the company’s performance (in%);
• increased focus on the interests of clients of each department of the enterprise (to the level of 8-9 out of 10 points) in order to fulfill the plan for sales income and optimize the organization’s activities;
• increasing business efficiency.

4. Team. The project to optimize the company's business processes was managed by a leadership team of seven people. It included a marketing director, an assistant to the general director of the company, the head of the information technology department and the head of the collection creation department.

The management team developed the terms of reference, established requirements for the project to optimize the company's business processes, entered into contracts with external specialists and created positive conditions for their activities, agreed on a work schedule and formed parameters for the effectiveness of the project. Team meetings were held weekly.

Another optimization working group included 10 top managers of the organization. She was given the following tasks:

• acquiring skills to implement an optimization project;
• selection and analytical review of documents and information for optimization;
• generation of a consistent point of view;
• approval and implementation of changes.

Small groups of employees met twice or thrice a week to discuss possible changes to various processes. Thus, it was possible to involve the entire staff in the discussion about the proposed transformations.

5. Project implementation. The project, aimed at optimizing the company's work, has been underway for eight months. At this stage, transformations are being implemented. We assume that the period of implementation of the optimization problem is about two years. When the structure of the holding’s information system is adopted, work will begin on the formation of technical specifications to optimize the information system of the entire corporation as a whole.

6. Results. Today, we consider the main achievement to be the formation of the desired business process model and the coordinated position of the enterprise’s management personnel. In addition, we gained a clear understanding of the type of organizational structure required to effectively carry out business objectives. Optimization of finances, progress in the formation of collections, supplies, and logistics was carried out.

The experience of optimizing the company’s work demonstrates its worthy organization. However, the result could be even better if the company hired a specialist in the field of business analysis on a permanent basis; his professional view of the internal processes of the company would enrich the opinions of invited consultants. Ideally, the CEO should devote the majority of his own time—about 80%—to this initiative. For our organization, this task turned out to be impossible, since we also deal with personnel management issues (currently the number of employees is about 800 people).

Business Process Optimization: TOP 5 Books , from which you can get ideas

1. Vladimir Repin “Business processes. Modeling, implementation, management.”

Have you decided to improve your business processes and are going to introduce a process approach to the company's management? Do you need practical advice for forming and classifying your organization's business processes? Then you need to purchase a new book by professional practitioner Vladimir Repin.

What you will have in your hands is not an easy read, but a publication that requires elaboration and comprehension. It contains dozens of figures, tables, flowcharts and document templates that cannot be found in other open sources.

Vladimir talks about his vision of existing opportunities and gives recommendations for creating a system for optimizing business processes in the company, based on the real experience of many consulting projects in Russia.

2. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints "Systems approach to continuous improvement."

The books of this author are extremely popular, as he gives recommendations for solving many problems: contradictions between the timing of goods and their quality, between price and financial costs, etc. In the recent past, information about Goldratt's key reasoning methods has been incomplete and scattered, but this book is considered the first systematic and professional guide.

3. John Jeston, Johan Nelis “Business Process Management. A practical guide to successful project implementation."

This publication describes the main principles of managing business processes, their positive features and the benefits they will bring to the company, and also examines examples of the implementation of such management. It examines the general system, tools and methods of VRM.

The manual can be used as a reference for companies implementing process management projects, as the material described in it provides practical tools, clarification and assistance in the effective implementation of business projects.

4. Eliyahu Goldratt “Purpose. A process of continuous improvement."

A person who sees any problem while managing his business project is obliged to build cause-and-effect relationships between processes and results, as well as understand the basic principles of achieving maximum efficiency of the company’s work process.

5. Mary and Tom Poppendieck, “Lean Software Manufacturing: From Idea to Profit.”

This is guidance that can be needed in any situation where the most efficient processes need to be established. The book is a must-read for top managers, managers, and company developers who are directly related to software.

Information about the experts

Sergey Pankin, trainer-consultant of the company "Center Orgprom", Yekaterinburg. Year of foundation: 2001. Specialization – increasing production efficiency and competitiveness of industrial enterprises.

Mikhail Gordeev, Director of Technology at Euromanagement, Moscow. The Euromanagement company has significant experience in the consulting services market and owns all the necessary technologies to solve complex problems of client enterprises. The organization provides partners with the most effective tools for doing business, carrying out its activities in 7 areas: personnel consulting, management consulting, financial consulting, IT consulting, business automation, personnel selection, business training.

Anatoly Zubeyrov, General Director of Millsystems, Moscow. The Millsystems company is the official distributor of the Sellora Management System information system. Sellora Management System is an ERP management system that meets the needs of any business and is suitable for any enterprise. In addition, the system is perfectly optimized for the realities of the Russian market, i.e. takes into account all the national characteristics of domestic office work.

Alla Bednenko , HR Director at Econika-Obuv, Moscow. One of the leading organizations in the Russian fashion footwear market, a retail chain operator in Russia. More than a hundred Econika branded shoe stores are open throughout Russia, as well as in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Many programs start automatically when you turn on your computer, causing your system to take longer to boot. In addition, these programs take up extra RAM and are not always needed by you.

To edit the list of programs for startup, you need to click the “Start” button and type the msconfig command in the search bar. In the Startup tab, programs that start when you turn on the computer are checked. All that remains is to uncheck unnecessary programs.

Be careful not to disable autoloading of utilities and antivirus products.

3. Disable autoloading of unnecessary fonts

When you turn on your computer, Windows downloads a selection of over 200 different fonts. You can disable unnecessary ones like this: “Start” - Control Panel - Design and Personalization - Fonts. Open the context menu with the right key and on the unnecessary font and select “Hide”.

Comic Sans only , only hardcore!

4. Deleting temporary files

In the process of work, many temporary files are created daily on the hard drive, which somehow imperceptibly become permanent. They also greatly reduce the overall speed of your computer.

Regularly cleaning your computer will speed up the loading of the operating system and programs, and will also free up space on your hard drive.

To do this, just open My Computer - the partition with the operating system (usually Drive C:\) - the Windows folder - the Temp folder, and then delete all files and empty the Recycle Bin.

5. Disk Cleanup

To optimize Windows, Microsoft developers have provided a built-in disk cleanup utility. It searches for and deletes junk files, such as temporary Internet files, distributions of installed programs, various error reports, and others.

Go to the Start menu - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Cleanup.

6. Disk defragmentation

After deleting unnecessary programs and files, start defragmenting the disk, i.e. regrouping files on your hard drive for maximum PC optimization.

Defragmentation can be done using Windows tools, or you can use special programs - this is a topic for a separate article.

The standard procedure will look like this - in Explorer, select the partition to defragment (for example, drive D:\) and right-click on it, in the menu that appears, open Properties and in the Tools tab, click “Defragment.”

7. Install SSD

A solid-state drive will help speed up the loading of the operating system and programs, the self-installation of which in a laptop we discussed in. If you don’t have enough money for a 500 GB SSD, it makes sense to purchase a disk at least to install the operating system - it will simply fly on the new SSD.

8. Install HDD


There are many video guides on HDD installation on YouTube. Here's one of them

If your budget does not allow you to spend money on expensive SSD drives, you should not give up more traditional components. Installing an additional HDD will significantly improve PC performance.

So, if the hard drive is more than 85% occupied, the computer will work many times slower. In addition, installing an additional hard drive on your desktop PC yourself is even easier than an SSD.

9. Installing additional RAM

RAM is used to process running programs. The more information you need to process, the more RAM you will need.

If there is not enough memory, the system begins to use hard disk resources, which leads to a critical slowdown of the computer and freezing of Windows.

Adding or replacing RAM sticks is not difficult. For a regular computer with a set of standard office programs, 4 GB of RAM is enough, and for a gaming PC you can think about 16 GB or higher.

10. Cleaning

Dust is computer enemy No. 2 (everyone knows that enemy No. 1 is). It prevents normal ventilation, which can cause PC components to overheat, slowing down the system. Extreme overheating of components can lead to their complete failure.

Turn off your computer at least half an hour before you start cleaning. Do not clean in synthetic clothing - friction may result in a static charge that can damage components. To remove static, touch the unpainted part of the central heating radiator.

Turn on the vacuum cleaner at low power and carefully remove dust from all parts of the PC. Particular attention should be paid to the power supply, processor cooler and video card, where most of the dust accumulates.

In a company with more than one person, as a rule, there are various departments - sales, marketing, accounting, etc. The tasks solved by these services are very different, and the principles of their organization and functioning are also different. However, it is possible to describe a universal algorithm that can be used to optimize any department, regardless of its purpose and organizational structure. This is what we will do now.

What is optimization?

Operational optimization is a set of measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of a department (or an enterprise as a whole). The essence of these events can be expressed by the well-known motto - “Higher, further, better!” That is, as a result of the actions taken, the division begins to demonstrate increased productivity, reduced costs, etc.

So let's get started. Our task is to describe the universal stages of optimization of the unit’s activities.

An optimization request appears

A formal request for optimization can come from both the company’s management and the head of a department, looking for “what to fix here.” Accordingly, in the second case, the request is usually quite general, aimed at the general improvement of the system, and in the first, it is more specific, caused by dissatisfaction with the specific indicators of the unit. For example, the head of a company may want to reduce the costs of a particular service. They say she consumes too much. This desire especially often arises in relation to divisions that do not directly affect the economic results of the company. An example is the personnel department, especially if its functions are limited to recruiting.

But the desire to cut costs is far from the only motive for change. Most often, the point is that the department in its current form is not coping with its responsibilities effectively enough.

The formulation of the request serves as a triggering element; this is where everything begins. And the first stage in this action is “Defining the mission and economic function of the unit”

Defining the mission and economic function of the unit

This point will probably cause the most surprise. It would seem, what is there to determine? The sales department sells, the courier service delivers, the advertising department advertises. And so on. However, everything is not so simple at all.

Let's start with the fact that in today's Russian business the conceptual apparatus is more or less established, but with job responsibilities within one position it is still very far from unification. People occupying a position with the same title may do completely different things in different companies. The most telling example is marketers. The range of duties they may be charged with ranges from writing a business development concept to personal sales. It's the same with HR managers. For some it’s training, motivation, corporate culture, while for others it’s chronic hopeless recruiting. And such a spread can be found in most companies.

And that is why, before improving something, you need to determine what place this something occupies in the overall building of the company.

Accordingly, the answer to this question will include:

1. Description of specific tasks solved at the level of this unit

2. The place of the division in the overall activities of the company

3. Determination of economic participation in the general activities of the company

When answering these questions, you should try to maintain maximum clarity and specificity in the wording. Still, this is not done “for show,” so formulations like “To contribute in every possible way to the growth of the company’s welfare” are not appropriate here.

Definition of performance criteria

This point is key. Depending on what is chosen as an efficiency criterion, all further work will be based. As a rule, criteria are selected based on the tasks defined in the previous paragraph. That is, the analysis is based on the fulfillment of the “statutory goals” of the unit. For example, the task “preventing theft of company property” is defined for the security service - which means the number of thefts will be this very criterion for this task.

Thus, the previously formulated tasks give us the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the unit’s actions.

If we are faced with the impossibility of assessment, it means that the tasks were formulated incorrectly, vague and meaningless formulations were made in the process, and we need to go back one point. There's a wash on the stake, start over.

But now - the criteria have been defined, and our next step will be “Assessing the effectiveness of the unit”

Unit performance assessment

Everything is clear here. We take the selected performance criteria and evaluate the situation according to each of them. Some things can be assessed numerically, some based on the “satisfactory/unsatisfactory” principle. As a result, we get a general report on the department, which clearly presents the situation for each of the tasks assigned to it. And, looking carefully at this report, we proceed to the next stage - “Setting optimization problems”

Setting optimization problems

Obviously, this stage is also not particularly difficult. It is necessary to optimize those points that “sagged” the most during the assessment. Optimization problems should be formulated in positive terms, i.e. indicate the desired result as the goal, and not the absence of the undesirable. Simply put, the goal of “reducing the average job duration to one and a half weeks” is the right goal.

And now, when all the tasks have been set, the fun begins. Namely - “Optimization measures”

Optimization measures

And, oddly enough, we begin these events with almost the same thing as half a page ago. That is, from analysis. But this is another analysis aimed at identifying internal reserves. And it begins with “Drawing up a general list of functions within the department”

Drawing up a general list of functions within the department

This list is closest to a detailed job description, with the difference that it is done for the entire department as a whole. But for simplicity, it should be broken down according to individual positions. Thus, we receive a detailed list of functions performed by employees of the department. And we move on.

Assessing the success of performing functions

Here, again, we are making an assessment. But not in general, as before, but for each of the functions. And we get a clear picture of exactly which functions are lame and how they are distributed among employees.

In the simplest case, it turns out that all the failures occur in one person and the correct decision is to replace this person. But this situation is the most incredible, since this saboteur would have been visible even without any research. Therefore, most likely, “sagging” functions will be evenly distributed among department employees.

If it becomes clear that it is impossible to assess the performance of functions, it is worth seriously thinking about the existing control system and whether it exists at all.

Determining the dependence of successful performance of functions on subjective factors

At this stage, we determine the extent to which performance problems are related to the personal characteristics of employees. For example, someone is very leisurely in life and has constant problems with deadlines for completing assigned tasks. Accordingly, the solution would be to change his responsibilities in favor of those that do not require quick reactions.

Determining dependence on factors within a department

The main internal factor influencing performance is the working atmosphere in the department. Moreover, both deviations from the middle - both positive and negative - lead to sad consequences. If there is an atmosphere of disunity, confrontation and aggression in the department, then the work will obviously stall in the part that requires interpersonal interaction. However, on the other hand, if the team is “warm”, then most of the working time can be spent in leisurely tea drinking and conversations “about life”.

Other negative internal factors are:

1. Insufficient automation of the process (for example, manual filling of documents, maintaining paper databases, etc.)

2. Duplication of employee functions

3. Unclear definition of job responsibilities

4. Availability of employees with dual subordination

Determining the dependence of successful performance of functions on factors outside the department

In addition to the above, it is necessary to track external factors. Often, the actions of related departments have a negative impact on the performance of a unit. For example, the slowness of the purchasing department may be due to the speed with which invoices are paid by the accounting department. It is clear that in this situation it does not make much sense to adjust anything in procurement.

Other examples - for failure to meet deadlines for recruiting an employee or preparing a marketing plan, it may not be the personnel and marketing departments that are responsible, but managers whose responsibilities included approving the submitted candidates and materials (some managers really like to “take a couple of weeks to think”).

“Tempographic mapping” - drawing up a map of the time spent on implementing the described functions (observation)

Let's dig further. Now we must arm ourselves with a pencil, a notebook and a stopwatch and settle in the department for several days. As a result of this sitting, we get a picture of the use of working time in the department - who spends how much and on what. Sometimes strange things come to light. For example, it may turn out that most of the working time employees go to the corridor to the shared network printer installed there and then look for their documents in other departments (where they were accidentally stolen from the general pile).

In any case, the data we receive is valuable. From them it immediately becomes clear where the years of our lives go.

Tempographic Mapping (survey)

Immediately after the observation event, we conduct a survey for a similar purpose. We invite employees to speak out about where they spend most of their time. We summarize the statements in a table, and compare the table with observation data.

Making suggestions for improvement (survey)

Another democratic event. We invite employees to speak on the topic “What bothers you in the work of the department and what can be improved?” The results will not necessarily amaze with the depth of the analysis (some people are only annoyed by the lack of soap in the toilet), but, in any case, it is worth listening to the opinion of “the people”.

Search for opportunities to consolidate similar functions

The analytical stage can be considered completed, and now we proceed directly to improvements. The first of these will be “Searching for opportunities to consolidate similar functions.” The point of this event is that similar functions that take up time from different employees are assigned to a separate employee. There are many examples of such solutions. This is an answering machine, or a secretary telling the way to the office, to which the subscriber is switched at the end of the conversation. This is also a PC operator, who in the accounting department is responsible for entering primary documents, relieving more qualified specialists of this routine. These are “telemarketers” - callers in sales departments, and researchers in recruitment agencies. And there are many other options.

Consolidation of functions makes it possible to save the time of expensive specialists and increase the overall productivity of the department.

Finding Automation Opportunities

Automation is the strong point of modern business. Indeed, in a typical organization's business process there are a lot of “nodes” that need to be converted to digital format. Accordingly, these nodes need to be identified and figured out how to put automation at the service of humans. The introduction of automation in a department can increase labor productivity by up to 100%, by freeing employees from routine work and reducing time for communication and searching for required documents.

When looking for automation opportunities, you should focus on the overall needs of the company. If the company plans to purchase a unified business process management system, then perhaps the department’s problems will be solved by it. If you are not planning to implement a general CRM, it may be worth purchasing or creating some kind of standard department-level solution. And, in any case, there remains the possibility of automating individual functions using “home-written” programs, without aiming for “100% digital department management.”

Finding training opportunities

We put this point last, despite the fact that in many personnel departments “Training” is in the first line of priorities. However, learning to learn is different. And, since in our case learning is not an end in itself, but a means of improvement, we note the following points:

1. Optimization of work as a result of personnel training is not always possible, since there are a large number of factors that are not taken into account in advance. These include low employee motivation, different learning abilities among different employees, insufficient qualifications of the trainer, insufficient adaptation of the training course to the company’s requirements, etc.

2. People, unfortunately, are not very resistant material. Therefore, investments in training are justified only on the condition that the trained employee will work in the company for a sufficient period of time to “return” the funds invested in him. However, this is not always the case.

However, if the research has identified a need for training, then training should take place. The main condition that must be met in this case is tracking the effectiveness of training, how much the efficiency of the unit has actually changed.

Economic assessment of the prospects for optimization

So, after optimization options have been selected, we come to the most unpleasant moment. Namely, it is necessary to estimate the costs of carrying out these activities and compare them with the predicted economic effect. Why do we call this stage the most unpleasant? Yes, because it is here that the incomparable scale of costs and acquired benefits can become clear. In the sense that the costs are high, but the benefits are alas. But, nevertheless, it is precisely this stage that determines which transformations should be given a “start in life.” And, no matter how bitter it may be, it is worth ruthlessly refusing “improvements for the sake of improvements” - transformations that do not pay for themselves. Because in the long run, such “innovations” will only lead to disappointment.

And that's all, actually. Almost all. Because after implementing the selected solutions, it will be necessary to evaluate their effectiveness. But this is already a return to the very beginning of our story - “Assessing the effectiveness of a unit.”

Successful optimizations to you!