Evolve

BPR. Cart or Horse

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is not a cure-all ointment which can be applied to systems and processes, offering a magic solution to increasing efficiency. It is an enabling process, taking place against a context set by the most senior people in a Local Authority.

The ‘horse’ is therefore the Vision of what is required. The ‘cart’ is everything which follows from that Vision. There are a number of examples of Local Authorities having started with the ‘cart’ however, ignoring the need for the ‘Vision’.

It is never too late to start again. Indeed, it can be quicker and ultimately more economical to start again and get it right, instead of pursuing an inadequate or plainly wrong course of action, because no one had the courage to cry ‘Halt!’

Visions set the agenda. What do we want to achieve or to change, expressed in terms of benefit?

A Vision is, therefore, Policy, and it follows that Policy must be set by the leaders of the organisation. The Vision, if it is Policy, leaves little choice to those charged with deciding how to achieve it. If a hard decision is required to ensure delivery, the team has no choice but to include it in their proposals for implementation.

The top management team are in the best position to spot difficulties, and to make adjustments if necessary. They must always drive the project, ensuring that critical elements are not discarded by subordinates who cannot see the wood for the trees.

BPR clarifies the Vision, by putting it into practice. It makes the Vision possible, by removing non-value-added activity from current practices, replacing it with processes which deliver in the most efficient and effective way.

Typical blockages to delivery

There are often real pressures to obtain central funding while it is available, and this may persuade over-eager change agents to purchase software for the project before its performance parameters have been specified. We have seen examples of authorities buying software, often a CRM system, before new processes have even been defined let alone agreed by senior managers responsible for current operations. How then, can any one piece of CRM software answer all needs?

Like BPR, CRM is not a ready-packaged off-the- shelf product, but a management process, which provides a framework for improvement of delivery to the customer.

Another blockage frequently encountered is the delegated project.

We said at the outset that BPR projects need to be driven from the top, typically by the Directors, and in smaller Authorities by Heads of Service. The Vision supplies a target, a goal, against which achievement and improvement can later be measured. Apart from maintaining momentum and direction, a Vision conceived at the top of the organisation will be coherent, reflecting both what is possible, and what is desirable. It goes without saying that the project is more likely to stay on course as a result.

There are very real opportunities for wasted effort when production of the Vision is delegated.

The subordinate team charged with coming up with ‘good ideas’ may or may not be able to persuade their superiors of the desirability of a given approach or objective. Resourcing the project may also become a continual battle with conflicts between the demands of the project and the ‘real job.’

Delegation makes it difficult if not impossible to achieve an overall change in culture, leading to significant improvement of delivery and efficiency. BPR succeeds where senior management uses it as a tool to deliver their Vision for the organisation. BPR will deliver the detail by raising questions and recommendations that can be checked against the Vision.

For example, if our Vision is that any member of the public can change their address in the Authority’s records, using a single contact process, then a review of every department will reveal that some now take telephone calls, others require written information, and some a third party verification. Legislation also impacts some of these processes. The exercise will only succeed with senior drive to make it happen and departmental compromises made for the sake of the common goal.

The outputs of such a review will also define the functional requirements of any CRM system, before purchase and, importantly, before implementation.

The Fear Factor

Culture Change requires courage to implement, because the processes necessary to that change may call for radical revision of established custom and practice. There are plenty of examples of Local Authorities shying away from dealing with anything touching on what staff are used to getting, even when what they are used to getting has nothing to do with their contract of employment.

If ‘efficiency’ involves working smarter rather than harder, it is inevitable that, occasionally, this will impact on the human interface. Established custom and practice must be challenged.

Unless the Authority’s Leaders set the objectives from the outset, and then do everything possible to ensure that they are achieved, there is every likelihood that what is needed will be watered down or ‘lost’ and that any improvements will be isolated ones. Any overall culture change is impossible.

Creating the Vision and gaining consensus at the most senior level is the therefore best route to successful BPR. Combining Visioning with BPR is the proven route to sustainable culture change. The challenges and recommendations made by each BPR project will reinforce and establish what the Vision means in the hearts and minds of the staff.

Some may find it hard to step back from day-today detail and come up with a Vision which will increase efficiency and/or service, especially when it involves concepts which are new and possibly alien to traditional Local Authority culture.

Our Consultant

Our consultant is experienced in the field of process improvement and the management of change. He is also one of the UK’s leading practitioners of Activity Based Costing, having implemented this in many organisations to form the basis for a balanced scorecard or an excellence model. He is also an expert in skills framework implementation.

Please post comments or questions arising from Evolve Thinking to evolvethinking@evbc.co.uk. All contributions are welcome.