9 Benefits of Effective Business Systems and Processes

Effective business systems and processes provide a number of benefits to the business, its customers and staff. However there is also an investment of time, effort and probably money required. To maximise the effectiveness of your business process, management of this must be carefully considered. By exploring the different business systems your company is involved in and carrying out the right process management to stay in control, you can reap the benefits of more productivity and success for your company.

Analysing your business processes through modelling and mapping is a worthwhile but potentially daunting task without the right information and support behind you. If you’re considering this undertaking, you will want to understand how it can work for you. So what are the advantages of consistent business processes and systems, and are they worth the effort? Here are nine business benefits to consider.

Consistency

Having business systems that everyone sticks to means that the same task is being done in the same way each time. A consistent process is likely to give consistent results. If you can develop the business processes to give the right quality of output then you can provide consistent quality in your product or service. It could also be at a consistent cost and hence at a consistent profit. With this kind of business process mapping, you can understand the trajectory of your financial outgoings and control this as much as possible with reliable practices that deliver dependable results.

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Clarity

Writing down a business process or embedding a system gives all staff that use these a greater degree of clarity about what is expected, what they need to do and what the required output is. If everyone is clear on each step then there should be less requirement for supervision. This then releases the manager to do other tasks. The initial period of time invested in business process modelling to outline the required steps to take will absolutely pay off in the long run, as you will need to spend much less time each day monitoring the minutiae of process management and more time reaping the benefits.

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Scalability

Any business that wants to grow needs to be sure that all the necessary building blocks are in place. This means that key business processes need to be scalable and replicable at all levels. Having one person doing a task in their own way is not scalable. But converting this into a business system with steps that can be repeated by others gives the business the option to scale up. Developing replicable, scalable business systems creates an asset which will be valuable when it comes to selling the company. It is also helpful for expansion and franchising purposes. This provides business benefits for now and in the future.

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Induction and Training

Having a documented business system makes it much easier to train and induct new staff into your business. It makes it clear what is expected of them. They don’t need to remember everything the first time as they can always refer to the system manual. With this type of business process mapping, every individual understands their place within the company, their role and how their actions affect others. By understanding the steps to success, you will enable your employees to understand and uphold the business processes they need to follow in order to achieve the results you need.

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Continuous improvement

A business system or process is made up of a number of steps in a certain order. Over time practical experience, new situations and changes in the environment such as technological developments mean that the system needs developing if it is to remain effective. Having a clear system makes it easier to review which steps of your business process model need changing or updating. Naturally, systems can be improved and refined making some steps quicker, simpler or cheaper. The learning from the practical experience of one person can be embedded in your business system to benefit all users for the future.

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More effective people

Typically those activities that can most easily be embedded in an effective business system are repetitive and routine. Developing a system for these means that fewer staff need to spend less time on them. Or the entire business process can even be automated as much as possible. This frees up staff to do more interesting and value-added activities. These activities tend to be non-routine or higher level. Understanding the actions required from individuals (or not) within this business process mapping allows you to delegate tasks in a more profitable and beneficial way to the business overall. These business systems also enable people to achieve much more than they could alone, making them more efficient.

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Streamline

Reviewing and documenting systems gives the opportunity to take a step back and look objectively at the process. Particularly when it is written down in steps or set out as a flowchart as part of your business process mapping. This overview gives you a clearer picture of your company and workforce as a whole, allowing you to understand where resources are best kept. It also gives the opportunity to look at other business systems in the organisation and identify areas where they can be streamlined, merged or steps removed which are now redundant. The benefits to your business from these actions are clear.

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Focus

The discipline of developing a new or revised business system makes you focus on what the main purpose or outcome of the system and company as a whole is supposed to be. It is only when you are clear on what the specific outputs need to be that you can design a system to achieve that. Effective business systems have clear well-defined outputs and are constructed just to deliver those through effective business modelling that focuses your attention on the areas that need it most. This allows you to divert resources (either finance, time or people) into those areas. Without coherent business process management, you will lack the focus that would allow you to succeed.

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Control

Effective business systems give the owner confidence and assurance that things are going as expected and planned. They provide a way of controlling the key aspects of the day to day operations, and those on a wider scale as well. Instead of managing and controlling every activity, it is just the systems that need to be monitored and reviewed. But without the right business process management, it can be difficult to understand what these key systems are that need to be regulated and controlled more closely. By speaking to the experts about how to establish these goals, you’ll find many more business benefits open up for you and your staff.

Developing effective business systems can enable business owners to turn their skills and good ideas into a well-controlled business with consistent quality that is replicable and scalable. By conducted careful and considered business process management and mapping your operations, you can identify where your focus needs to be. This makes the work itself clearer and more interesting for the team. And, most importantly, allows you to meet the needs of the customer profitably each time.

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Looking to find out how healthy your business is, and how you could improve this with the business support system benefits we offer at Pro-actions? Take our free Business Health Assessment to identify your successes and areas for improvement.

Andy Turnbull
Business Improvement Specialist
Guildford, Surrey

Andy Turnbull works with businesses in Surrey to develop and grow. Originally an accountant by profession, he has plenty of experience of developing clear and effective systems. Andy has been a finance director and non-executive director of national and international organisations. He is a member of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs and a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. He can be contacted along with the rest of the Pro-actions business coaches at enquiries@pro-actions.com.