Overburdening With Overprocessing
How many of your processes are REALLY needed?
I remember that in one country in which I worked, customers had to fill out separate forms to:
- Open a current account;
- Apply for an ATM card;
- Apply for a credit card;
- Apply for telephone banking;
- Apply for internet banking.
The result? Staff spent longer than necessary processing five forms, and customers got annoyed with having to provide the same information 5 times over as well as having to wait longer to be served. costs were all higher thanks to the longer time spent processing so many forms.
In the end, staff asked the customer to complete the first form, sign the others “blank” and would then complete the latter at the end of the working day. This still didn't really solve the problem of the unnecessary extra time required to fill in forms.
Then one day, someone had a brainwave: why not combine all the forms into one? Customers would have to provide information only once, and then just tick boxes for the services they required. Once legal had approved the form, thinks changed:
- Queues shortened
- Time spent filling forms was shorter;
- We needed less storage space for all those extra forms;
- Staff were happier;
- Customers were happier;
- Costs went down.
The amount of waste that we eliminated was significant. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but we were wasting:
- Space;
- Time;
- Customer goodwill;
- Staff goodwill;
- Money;
- Reputation.
Many overly-burdensome processes usually result from people “bolting on” extras because in the dim and distant past something went wrong. Instead of fixing the root cause of the problem, they tackle the symptons. In the case of the bank, as new products were developed, each had its own application form and terms and conditions, and the molehill became a bureaucratic mountain.
What could you do to improve things? Several things:
- Identify the processes that bring in the cash;
- Map (describe in pictures) every step in the processes above;
- Review every step – is it necessary in terms of bringing in the cash faster?
- Eliminate or change the steps that don’t help bring in the cash faster;
- Test the revised process – does it work?
- If so, implement it.
Today, training, technology and talent are better and generally more available, and will continue to improve/grow. A process should contain only as many steps as are absolutely essential to produce a product/service, deliver it to the customer and receive payment. Yes, there may be special legal or regulatory requirements that you must observe, but make sure that these add as little extra time to the process as possible.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Financial, Productivity
posted by William Martin @ 08:46
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