I will have the pleasure of sitting on the judging panels for each event and naturally we want to encourage you to share your stories of Process change, BPM, Lean Six Sigma and Outside-In. Visit the conference sites above to find out more and we will hopefully see you receiving an Award or simply joining us to witness the advancing trends towards the Customer Oriented business.
Our team of BP Group Executives working and delivering across the events, and very much welcoming questions, observations and hot topic suggestions includes:
The most recent event was in the US during January. 800 people participated with the IQPC at a splendid annual get together which showcased the leading global process companies. The IQPC team are leading the global conference circuit with well organised and encouragingly interesting sessions.
If you need to make a choice then our recommendation, based on direct feedback of the membership, is to book for one of the above events. You will never think of process in the same way again!
The Secret of the 21st century leading companies
The title of the book[i] last year suggested that the ‘secret’ was a relentless focus on Outside-In thinking and practice. Let’s dig deeper and understand the essence of Outside-In, in other words let’s unfold what makes the secret so profound, practical and accessible by anyone who wishes to progress their roles and organisations to new levels of achievement.
1.Seek – Focus on what you do want, rather than on what you don’t
Outside-In approaches such as the CEMMethod® emphasize applying attention on what you need to be doing to deliver Successful Customer Outcomes (SCO). Clearly articulating the customer’s needs and aligning processes to achieving them delivers the Triple Crown – reduced costs, enhanced service and revenue growth. It is radically different compared to traditional improvement approaches that concentrate effort and resources to figuring out what you don’t want to be doing. There is also often the assumption with traditional approaches that the process is a given – it is there and should be fixed. Not so with Outside-In companies. If the process and all the associated activities and tasks do not contribute to the SCO then stop doing them. There is no need to optimise something that can be eradicated.
·How are you approaching performance improvement?
·Do you continue to search for things to stop doing?
·Can you refocus and identify the things you should be doing?
2.Shape – Identify the customers and staff you require and trust them
This is a big ask for many. “How on earth can we trust our customers?” “We could never trust our staff”. Ask yourself a more pertinent question – who on earth recruited those customers and staff in the first place? What was the criteria for that and what were you thinking about?
Making customer service key to your organisation will keep your employees motivated and your customers happy. Richard Branson
Outside-In companies believe in their people and the customer. They actively recruit customers by creating and managing customer expectations[ii]. In doing so less desirable customers can be actively managed away. Naturally you need the people within the organisation to deliver the means to the SCO and that is through the processes. If you develop trust and competency within your people they will shape the customer experience to deliver success. On the other hand if you assume your people are untrustworthy you establish a ‘checkers checking checkers’ mindset which is expensive, slow and ultimately provides a sub-optimal customer experience.
What steps could you immediately take to:
·recruit the customers you desire, and
·ensure your staff are motivated, engaged and trusted?
3.Execute – Progressively align everything to Successful Customer Outcomes
If you have a choice go for the biggest current challenge within the organisation. Within 45 days the process can be transformed to significantly reduce costs (typically 40-50%) and simultaneously improve service. In revenue generating processes turnover will begin to grow as service improves and turnaround times reduce. Train all your people in basic techniques so they can contribute directly from the ‘get-go’ (rather than exclusively rely on a cadre of colored belted statisticians).
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.. Martin Luther King Jr.
If your choice of starting point and actions are limited in scope do not be disheartened. Know that it is sufficient to take the first step and the staircase will unfold as you move forward. Fix the stuff you can as you do you will achieve results significantly better that traditional inside-out techniques. Within weeks you will produce the justification to move upstream and downstream from your starting point to eventually connect all processes.
Ultimately mature Outside-In companies embrace “the customer experience is the process” and the activities move beyond the boundaries of the organisation into the relationships and partnerships that deliver customer success. Working those relationships and building value through partners creates a differentiation way beyond the capabilities of traditional organisations.
As you start the journey:
·How could you grow your capability immediately?
·What steps can you take to begin the journey?
·Where should you focus those immediate resources?
·Can you take a half day for everyone to learn three simple techniques that will produce a tangible measureable deliverable immediately?
This series of commentary is addressing the challenges faced by Certified Process Professionals® as they progress their organisations Outside-In.
We start with what is now a classic denial strategy and will progress over the coming weeks to review TEN (sometimes deliberate) misconceptions that seek to stop you on your journey to Successful Customer Outcomes.
‘The company has to get its own processes right first’.
In the context of Outside-In this is clearly a major mistake. As the Southwest Airlines and Apple examples demonstrate you fix the internal processes by understanding and acting on “the Customer Experience is the process”. In doing so eveything changes internally to better align to successful customer outcomes. That reduces complexity, removes costs, improves service and grows revenue.
Now if you brief is ‘in the box’ and does not yet extend to the Customer Experience the approach should be around optimisation through understanding the causes of work – moments of truth, breakpoints and business rules. Even though this is at best sub optimisation (recall the US banks Customer query process) it will take you to a much better place with significant performance improvements as you highlight and eradicate the ‘dumb stuff’.
Often times this has to be the starting point as, by definition, the way inside-out works is by the sub division of labour. You can only see the immediate walls around you and looking beyond maybe beyond your brief. Do not lose heart. Go with Optimisation (and if necessary stealth) as you introduce through existing projects the concepts of moments of truth, breakpoints and business rules. You will catch the eye of those responsible for the numbers as the changes you introduce go way beyond the traditional expectations.
Ciao, Steve
Next week… Changing the picture ‘My job doesn’t really involve the end customer. But I do have a mass of internal customers!’
BP Group updates and *NEW* WEBINAR series with CPP Master® Martina Beck-Friis
** FREE WEBINAR SERIES STARTS THIS WEEK** The CEMMethod® WEBINAR with Martina Beck-Friis – http://bit.ly/CEMMOverview
** Top DISCUSSION ** When you’re in a support department like IT, Finance, or HR who is your end customer, the rest of the organisation or customers outside…(Hussein Patel) – http://linkd.in/at8hcB
** Articles ** Outside-In is a business imperative (Steve Towers) – http://bit.ly/cbszHM
All the Best until next time, Steve Towers, BP Group Founder
BIG thanks to the BP Group Advisors, Managers & Sundowner Directors including: John Corr | Sunil Dutt Jha | Charles Bennett | David Mottershead | Erika Westbay | Janne Ohtonen | Nick Harvard | Stephane Haelterman | Paul Bailey | Martina Beck-Friss | Mark Barnett | Steve Melville | Stephen Nicholson | Marjolein Towler | Jennifer van Wyk | MichelineLogan |
MAJOR MILESTONE ACHIEVED 5,400 members on BP Group Linked-In BPGroup (est 1992. 43,000+ members | LinkedIn est. Oct 2008.) Reflecting the growth and interest in all things process
The BP Group are Sponsors of the Business Process Professional® pathway –
** News & Events** The CEMMethod® WEBINAR with Martina Beck-Friis (CPP Master®) and Steve Towers – http://bit.ly/CEMMOverview Enterprise Architecture CONNECTIONS subgroup exceed 340 in three months – http://linkd.in/EAandProcess
BP Group 18th Annual CONFERENCE Heads-up | Book your diary in Orlando Jan 17-21, 2010 – http://bit.ly/BPGroupUR18
** Top DISSCUSSIONS ** When you’re in a support department like IT, Finance, or HR who is your end customer, the rest of the organisation or customers outside… – http://linkd.in/at8hcB (Hussein)
BIG thanks to the BP Group Advisors, Managers & Sundowner Directors including: Dick Lee | John Corr | Sunil Dutt Jha | Charles Bennett | David Mottershead | Erika Westbay | Janne Ohtonen | Nick Harvard | Stephane Haelterman | Paul Bailey | Martina Beck-Friss | Mark Barnett | Steve Melville | Stephen Nicholson | Marjolein Towler | Jennifer van Wyk (South Africa) | See them at http:://www.oibpm.com |
The global programme grows capabilities from Certified Process Practitioner® through to Certified Process Master® – review the series at http://www.bp2010.com
The quest for the Triple Crown – Four ways to transform process for success forever
There’s been much discussion about the Successful Customer Outcome across several LinkedIn threads recently (see http://linkd.in/DanielaProcess, http://linkd.in/ProcessDick, http://linkd.in/ProcessGeoff, and http://linkd.in/ProcessNic) however that isn’t the only way to move processes Outside-In. In fact there are FOUR tried, tested and proven approaches to simultaneously reduce costs, improve revenues and enhance customer service (winning the Triple Crown). You can explore this territory by visiting the following mini articles. Next week we’ll feature several recent webcasts.
If you are already qualified as a Certified Process Professional you should already have completed the Outside-In Strategic Matrix® (OI-SM) which complements the articles. Try it out for yourself and see how Outside-In you actually are.
Next week THREE webcasts to as we travel deeper into Outside-In.
