People process tools

Contact Support Speak with an Expert. Privacy Policy. Accessibility Policy. Audio Video. Contact Centers. Managed Services. Collaboration Industry Insight. People, Processes and Tools: 3 strategic elements to keep a communications implementation from derailing. Written by Dion Hooks. Tools, such as new computer applications, can automate and sometimes eliminate processes. How I can help: -Review processes for improvement opportunities, then update them -Confirm alignment to Best Practice Processes -Ensure existing technology capabilities are being leveraged to the fullest -Identify areas which would benefit from more robust tool support or automation.

Tools can ensure that your employees do their work efficiently, collaborate with others effectively and produce quality outputs that can be monitored. New tools usually require updates to processes.

The people are those who do the work — some say this is the most important part of the triangle. Without people, nothing can happen.

People are always busy, Morris says, and when working for a new client, he always asks for employee time studies. Many workers will lie on those studies, but those are usually the lowest performing percentage of employees, he explains. Once you know their availability, you can proceed to the process portion of the triangle. That means either waiting for a project until the right people are available, hiring new people or consultants to do the work, or redirecting people from other projects.

Morris uses an example of working at a company where the CEO came to him with a pet technology project and asked Morris when his team could complete it. Morris gave him a date range in the distant future. The CEO questioned why it would take so long.

Morris replied that the people necessary were busy with five other projects, and asked the CEO which of those projects could be sacrificed for the new one. This helped the CEO understand the importance of the people and process components of the framework. Morris says it is often necessary to stand up to leadership and question projects and deadlines. Otherwise, the top people in an organization will burn out from too much work.

Finding people with the right experience, qualifications, and attitude is a necessary step in implementing any kind of change.

If you want change, tell your people what you expect and get their buy-in. Without their buy-in, it might be impossible to make an impact. Also, make sure the information flows between the right people. He adds that people need to see and understand how the changes will make their life easier. If you have the right people in place, you should be able to trust them to make the right decisions for themselves and their work while following guiding principles of your company. A process is a series of actions or steps that need to happen in order to achieve a particular goal.

People are ineffective without processes in place to support their decisions. Most of his clients run at about percent waste, and eliminating unnecessary processes can reduce that percentage and therefore, increase efficiency.

Morris says that arbitrary deadlines can negatively impact processes and cause people to panic about an impending deadline rather than concentrating on the work that needs to be accomplished. Often, managers pick deadlines randomly, without knowing how long processes will take. Morris says that when he asks managers why they picked certain deadlines, they often say they simply picked a date on the calendar, such as the end of a month, quarter, or budget term.

That can be a mistake and put unnecessary stress on workers. To help managers understand the value of a deadline range, Morris uses an example of a commute to work. He asked a manager how long it took him to get to work, and the answer was about 20 minutes. Morris asked if it takes exactly 20 minutes every time. The manager said the time could vary, and the shortest it ever takes is 15 minutes, while the longest about two hours because of an accident.

Morris then asked how far into the commute the manager knew what to expect for the day. The manger said he knew when he was about halfway into the drive. Despite its abilities, technology alone does not solve problems. Technology will not make existing problems go away without the people and processes around to support it. Too often, companies make an investment in technology and try to retrofit the people and processes, but that is backward logic.

She notes that when that happens, there is little or no ROI for the technology. How do we use individuals and technology to fix a company problem?

Processes are repeatable actions that, in theory, deliver the same outcome regardless of who performs them. Being a process and workflow automation company, we obviously have put a lot of thought and resources together to help companies get processes right. A common mistake organizations make is investing in various tools and then subsequently trying to fit people and processes into them.

Tools are ineffective unless they are supported by the right people who follow the proper procedures. As a result, tools and technology should always be the last consideration after the issue has been thoroughly understood, the talent has been trained, and the process specifications have been established.

To ensure that your organization chooses the correct tools to implement, a complete audit of your current tools should be conducted to define what is working and where improvement is needed. Using the P-P-t concept, you can detect bottlenecks, remove waste, improve productivity, and decrease time to value.

How People React to New Software. What Are Companies Automating? To see how quickly you can begin automating your processes and saving people time, request a demonstration or trial of Integrify.

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