The logic and rationale behind process improvement is simple enough. By focusing on this key area you can provide better value to your clients and drive each part of the organization to achieve its business goals.
Many organizations have realized that they need some sort of process improvement initiative in order to deliver their services and products at higher standards and with greater consistency. But one of the most common obstacles organizations encounter on this road to process maturity is figuring out where to start. This can be a daunting question for anyone who is trying to embark on a process improvement effort. In reality, however, the answer is quite simple – in order for you to get where you’re going, you need to know where you are.
Knowing where your organization stands in terms of process maturity is the best place to begin a process improvement initiative. You can do this with a good set of tools: a list of processes within your organization, an objective eye, and a good set of standards you can measure them against. A good set of standards, which are widely accepted by industries serve as benchmarks for best practices, can give you a general idea of what level of process maturity your organization is at and what you need to do to get there.
So how do you determine your organization’s capability maturity?
One good way to determine this is to look at your organization’s track record in delivering the goods and services to clients. There may be areas where you do well, and areas where your performance leaves much to be desired. You can look at how each major task is done, from starting a project to delivering the output, and review your past ventures and determine how often you complete a project on time and within budget, as well as how you develop your processes, and if you document them at all.
At the first level of maturity, there are almost no standard ways of performing tasks; how things are done vary from project to project. And although you may be able to deliver, it’s not unusual to find a project that’s delayed and over-budget. Furthermore, with the variations in processes, there’s no assurance that you can replicate the success for other projects – you can easily lose track of tasks, or abandon them altogether when any stress to the project is encountered.
