Fun Four-Letter Words to Know and Share During Your Next BPR Project

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) brings out the most colorful vocabulary from the participants. We are used to hearing some or all of SpongeBob SquarePants’s 13 swear words during the BPR process. However, there are other four-letter words you should hear during BPR sessions: goal, work, pain, fail, join, and the sweariest six-letter word of all – change. If we work with your team properly, you should also hear the following words: efficiency, profit, revenues, satisfied customers, streamlined processes, and low employee turnover. How is this even possible you say? I am glad you asked. Lets dish on the main points below.

1. The first four-letter word is GOAL. Not just “your outfit looks goals,” but real goals, not tween speak. For any BPR activity to yield results, it needs clearly defined and measurable goals. These goals need to be tied to strategic plans and objectives. Some goals include improving efficiency, improving quality, increasing customer satisfaction, and reducing overhead. Goals must be articulated and communicated at the very beginning of BPR; begin as you mean to go on.
   
   
2. The second four-letter word is WORK. Some of us know work as the greenback boogie or getting our Yabba-Dabba Do! on. Whatever you need to call it, executing a proper BPR program is a lot of work. It begins with a top-down review of your company and your current processes. It includes a close look at your mission, goals, customer needs, current processes, and an unwavering commitment to creating a better future for your company. The real work comes in identifying underperforming processes and then ruthlessly cutting them out.
   
   Next, you must reengineer your current state processes into an improved future state, the real focus of BPR. Part of reengineering is rethinking company biases and creating a future state that improves efficiencies and effectivity. Milestones include reducing the number of handoffs between functional areas, creating one set of data, eliminating the multiple spreadsheets that seem to linger everywhere, and combining related activities to decrease the drag on the processes. A keen eye should be kept on industry best practices and what the competition is doing in today’s global commons. An important tip: this is not just tweaking or polishing up old processes. This means completely reengineering your processes in the entire company from top to bottom. Take a moment to let that sink in. We will talk about change later, but this is where change management is critical.
   
   
3. Now that you have an idea of what BPR entails, let's chat about PAIN. BPR is much more than a McTummy ache from too many chicken McNuggets. If done well, BPR will yield tolerable pain. Think about it. BPR is all about breaking down familiar and accepted actions to create new habits. If your BPR is not painful, you are not doing it correctly. One of the earliest pains will be lower employee morale. This is a common side effect of changing long-held and sometimes beloved processes. Most of us (myself included) do not like change and will not accept it meekly. Stand your ground. Keep reminding yourself that this temporary pain will create a better company and a brighter future for everyone. If you are cunning and have an expert BPR professional leading the program, he or she can predict the pain points and help ratchet down the pain. Concisely and correctly explaining what is in it for the employees and why you are reengineering processes will help soothe hurt feelings, diminish anxiety, and elicit buy-in.
   
   
4. FAIL. The only “F” word in this post and it has a huge impact. Let me say it again. FAIL. Lay an egg. Divide by zero. BPR fails is when it is used to merely tweak off-track processes rather than making wholesale changes to the company. If there are sacred cows or a demand to isolate certain processes away from BPR consideration, there will be a diminished chance of success. Another way BPR’s fail is to treat them as a solely as cost-cutting event. There will indeed be some cost savings as a byproduct of some BPR sessions, but they are a secondary sideshow and not the main event. Closely related to this idea is to only automate rather than truly reengineering processes. If you are going the speed of heat but in the wrong direction, does it really matter that you are executing your poor processes faster?
   
   Finally, BPR needs to be sold and accepted by the entire company or you will be the subject of a Failed BPR Blog Post. Bringing people on board, particularly “challengers” or “resistors” is difficult. Everyone must eat their own BPR dog food and really embrace the changes, from the CEO on down to the folks on the floor.
   
   
5. Change. Ok, so Change is not a four-letter word, but throttle back Maverick. I went to public school in Oklahoma so it is a modern-day miracle I can count at all. I previously alluded to how critical change management will be to a successful BPR. Business Process Reengineering is a high-risk activity that requires a significant investment in time, money, and comfort. There is a distinct risk of demotivating some employees, particularly high tenure folks that have performed the same processes for decades. Having a professional lead your organization in change management is essential. Sure, change management appears to be common sense after the fact, but having a change champion is just as critical as having a coach to lead a winning team. Successful change management will provide answers to “what’s in it for me, as well as the who, where, when, and why.” Change management results in clear lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability. Communication is also critical for change to take root. The rationale, execution, and results of the BPR must be clearly communicated and leave no room for indecision or confusion.
   
   
6. JOIN: one of the slickest ways to fully implement BPR is to marry it up with an ERP implementation. All the reengineered work processes can be tailored to an ERP system that can complement the goals of the BPR. An ERP implementation that follows the blueprint of a well-executed BPR can provide the following:

• A renewed focus on your customers with the appropriate tools and processes to focus on customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers = happy employees.
• Cost savings due to efficient processes, common data, and speed of decision
• A 30,000-foot view of your business, and where it needs to go (BPR)
• At 5,000 foot blueprint of what the leaders at all levels need to do to stay competitive (BPR and ERP)
• At the ground level: simplified and complementary processes that are captured in a modern ERP system for your ERP end-users. After all, the end-users are the real stewards of BPR and ERP. Their actions, guided by you, will determine the success of your initiatives. Give them the tools to eliminate non-value-added activities, unnecessarily complex processes, and ambiguity.

You don’t need to wade into the dark waters alone. Find a strong swimmer to guide your company. Someone that has experience from the shop floor to the C suite. Lean into that BPR professional, listen to their advice, and follow-through after the BPR sessions. Oh, and by the way, LTA is ready to help you with ALL your four-letter words.