Improving processes on a large scale can be a great way to improve efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee productivity, and compliance. It helps improve the bottom line and position your business for success in the future. But it’s not without its challenges. Here are some of the obstacles you might face and how you can overcome them:
Resistance to Change
One of the biggest hurdles to implementing a large-scale process improvement (LSPI) is resistance from employees and stakeholders to change. People are naturally inclined to stick to their routines and resist changes that disrupt established workflows.
To address this challenge, listen to your people, foster a culture of openness, encourage communication, provide a clear rationale for the proposed changes, and make sure they get all the support they need to succeed. Involving your employees in the improvement process can also help alleviate resistance and promote a sense of ownership.
Complexity and Scope
Large-scale process improvement initiatives often involve multiple departments, systems, and stakeholders. The complexity and scope of such projects can quickly become overwhelming. Organizations must carefully plan and prioritize improvements, breaking them down into manageable phases, to ensure successful implementation.
Set a time limit of 30 days for developing countermeasures and then roll out versions of the improvements, just like product development. Set a go-live date for when changes are implemented. This way, everyone is on the same page. The approach is about a three- to four-month lead time for every version.
Resource Allocation
Often, you see organizations spend substantial resources, including financial investment, time, and skilled personnel, on executing LSPIs. Properly allocating resources and balancing daily operations and process enhancement is crucial for sustained success.
Learn how to prioritize which problems to solve to avoid wasting time and money. Additionally, spend more time upfront to understand each problem so you can identify its root cause and find a solution that actually sticks.
Organizational Silos
In larger organizations, departments may operate in silos, isolated from one another, and focused on their own objectives. Process improvement initiatives require cross-functional collaboration and breaking down these silos.
To avoid organizational silos, practice one-team alignment. Instead of solving problems and making improvements by department, incremental changes should be created across the entire organization.
Overlooking the Human Element
Every process improvement should start with how we improve the lives of the people, both customers and employees, going through the process and, as a result, the business. But what’s been happening over the last decade is that it’s been flipped on its head. The focus has been on what can be done to benefit the business: how to reduce costs and increase profitability and quality, even to the detriment of the person in the process.
Employees are the driving force behind every successful implementation. Neglecting to provide adequate training and support can lead to inefficiencies and low morale. Empowering and motivating employees to embrace change and adapt to new processes is important.
Another mistake is relying heavily on technology to solve problems and building processes that are good for the company but not for customers. For example, using automation and removing human touchpoints can decrease costs, but they can also be a hindrance to the customer’s experience.
Keep in mind that you must design the operation first. And then you match the technology to the operation and the process you need. Do not implement technology and change everything you do and how you do it to match the system because of its default settings.
It’s Worth the Effort
Like any business initiative, challenges are bound to crop up, especially when making process improvements on a large scale. But with the right strategies, you can succeed and reap the rewards of enhanced efficiency, improved customer experiences, cost savings, increased productivity, and competitive advantage.
Empower your process improvement journey with insights and resources from our Learning Center.
In your service,
Hilary Corna
