Streamlining company operations through staff-driven process improvement

¶ … Streamlining Company Resources

Given the financial waste and procedural inefficiency at the company, it seems like the best way to deal with the current problem is to streamline the company's standard operating procedures.

Evaluation of resources

At present, financial resources are limited -- which is part of the problem! But at least there is a cohesive company structure and location, which can be deployed during the plan's implementation to solicit maximum staff involvement.

Resistance management plan

Of course, there will be resistance to any changes by members of the company who have become accustomed to old and inefficient processes. "Do not underestimate the power of 'comfort' with how things are today. The natural reaction to change is resistance. Moreover, every individual has a threshold for how much change they can absorb based on their personal and organizational context for change." (Prosci, "Key Activities for Change Management," 1996) the critical way to circumvent such resistance before it takes hold is to make sure that employees are an integral part of the newly instituted changes while the plan to streamline processes is still being formed and to make all staff members crucial co-workers in the evolving plan timeline.

Time line

Week 1: Convene all affected workers and outline the problems of waste affecting the company. Ask all departments to conduct an efficiency inventory of the processes that are standard in their respective departments.

Week 2: Reconvene all staff, and ask the department heads to explain the results of their inventory. Make plans to bring in outside personnel to conduct an outside efficiency inventory, if the cuts are not deep enough, or if there is substantial inter-or intra-departmental controversy about specific processes and procedures. Also, make use of competitive 'benchmarking' between departments, otherwise known as "the process of learning from other" competitors, to show lagging departments how other areas of the organization have established ways and ideas of cutting ineffectual processes. If necessary, ask for additional streamlining by department heads before the outside inventory (Prosci, "Benchmarking," 1996)