What Does It Mean to Be Process Driven?
As the name implies, a process driven organization is one that is focused on process, rather than on people. It may sound like a complicated business model, but the benefits are tangible. Being a process driven company does not simply mean documenting the processes and providing it to the workers as a reference manual. Rather, it requires a business to streamline its operations, to strive to become extremely efficient while maintaining the value of its output.
People Driven vs Process Driven
By comparison, a people driven organization depends heavily on the inputs of individuals and the skills they possess to run its operations successfully. This business model, however, has some challenges:
- Time limitations – People in an organization only have a few hours to work on their assigned tasks.
- Skill limitations – The organization’s success is limited by the skills that an individual possesses. Operational disruption is also likely to happen the organization attempt to conduct knowledge sharing among team members.
- Dependence on the labor market – It can be very challenging to find and attract the right people with the right skillset in today’s competitive labor
- Moral dilemma – In any business, there is an expectation of good faith and that workers will do their tasks for the organization in which they are intended to.
Another conundrum for people driven construction companies is that their progress is dependent on individual decision-making. The same is not true in process driven companies because they are set up in a way that they can function regardless of individual decision and as long as the process is maintained.
Why Become a Process Driven Construction Company?
Many builders have some tools to manage their job, but a substantial percentage do not use them consistently or in any meaningful way. Many also have a top-notch roster of employees who are more than capable of delivering quality outputs, yet they cannot leverage their skillsets properly.
To maximize the skills of your people and the tools you invest in for your business, you need to focus on your processes. The benefits of moving from people driven from the process-driven organization are the following:
- Institutionalized Knowledge – The knowledge of a process comes from the system itself, not from any expert or group of skilled personnel.
- No Limits on Time – The operations can expand over a virtually unlimited time frame. For instance, if additional labor hours are required, it can hire additional workers and seamlessly train them into the process.
- Self-Governing Mechanism – Control and balance are achieved through systems which are then regularly evaluated for performance to ensure standards are met.
- Easy Replication – Operations are very easily replicated and implemented to other locations, acquisitions and partners with very minimal modifications.
- Improved Adaptability – Adapting to change is quick and is implemented without disruption.
- Better Management of Complexity – Complexity due to rapid growth, g. change and expansion of rules, expectations, and functions can be managed more efficiently.
Simple Steps to Shift to Process-Driven Organization
- Align your entire organization with business processes.
- Document your procedures so that anybody can read and follow the steps.
- Allocate the management of your core processes to individuals who will be accountable for them.
- Build an accessible central database to store your process documentation.
- Ensure that everybody understands the value of being process driven organization.
- Create a culture of teamwork and transparency to avoid creating silos of knowledge.
- Continually measure your process effectiveness to improve continuously.
As stated earlier, shifting from people driven to process-driven can be a complicated and challenging endeavor. Fortunately, advances in construction technology now provide builders with the opportunity to place decision-making authority at the optimum level.
Construction businesses can use construction management software such as Bizprac to centralize purchasing and logistics to take advantage of cost savings. Decentralizing responses to customer needs provides the opportunity for builders to tailor critical decisions to fit local or fast-changing markets. When implemented, both builders and customers can gain benefits such as reduced administration times, faster and more accurate construction estimates, and just-in-time inventory management.
Contact us today to learn how your business will be better off with Bizprac.
