3 Reasons Why Now Is The Best Time To Reinvent Business Processes

It would be an understatement to say that Covid-19 wasn’t causing significant challenges in many businesses. Not least the economic realisation that staff costs are being scrutinised as a result of the downturn in trade. In many cases, this has resulted in either reduced working hours or the laying off of staff.

But what about those staff left now having to pickup the work of exited colleagues? What ongoing reference materials are available to support these staff? Have these been updated recently? Are they being managed by anyone in the business? Are they available at the required times and locations for staff to access? Are they ‘easy’ to reference and read?

When in ‘survival mode’, resource allocation to maintain user instructions or focus on process documentation can take a back seat. Arguably however, this is the time perhaps more than ever that staff need the support of reference materials to help support their changing work requirements (such as work from home) or where they may be picking up the work of colleagues who have left the business.

Why is now the best time?

1. It’s quieter.
   Business is not at pre-Covid pace and therefore staff should have greater capacity to be involved in the creation of reference materials.

2. The ‘new norm’ pattern is settling.
   Now with ‘lockdown hindsight’, the business is better prepared to define exactly what is required now and what will be required of staff if another lockdown is imposed.

3. Realise process efficiencies now when they are most needed.
   Focus on how the business operates in context of less staff to do the work often results in the identification of more efficient ways of operating, essentially resulting in the reinvention of processes.

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The COVID crisis has exposed gaps between current processes and what our business needs in order to perform in highly uncertain times. We can learn from this. As we begin to emerge from this crisis, we have an opportunity to learn from what worked and what didn’t. By reinventing processes that failed us during the crisis, we can ensure our organizations exit the crisis stronger than they entered.

Bryan Klein
Research Director, Gartner Supply Chain
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