Reengineering: 40 U$eful Hints

Reengineering implies changes of various types and depth to a system, from a slight renovation to a total overhaul. BPR concepts are still being developed and are very much in flux. Due to some initial problems with implementation and new buzzwords creeping in, the term "Process Improvement" is being increasingly used instead.

BPR is the complete or partial "reinventing" of how business processes are done, to attain major performance improvement. It questions the underlying assumptions and principles, including what, why, by whom, and even, if—things should be done.

These tips will contribute by stating and helping to clarify a number of important principles, plus some useful insights, techniques and hints - 40 in all...

1. Start with clean sheet of paper, mission statement, vision

2. "Reinvent" how the business is run, don't just make incremental changes, don't automate the mess you already have

3. Customer-driven, anticipate customer needs

4. Involve customer early in the process

5. Achieve continuous, rapid improvement—gradual improvements may not suffice

6. Challenge existing approach

7. Use benchmarking, get ideas from other industries

8. Define product/process relationships, avoid functional "silos"

9. Set a hierarchy of: customer, product, process, function, activity

10. Compress time

11. Eliminate bottlenecks

12. Reduce number of steps, complexity, levels, people

13. Reduce defects

14. Increase flexibility

15. Empower people, but with strong leadership, clear mission & beliefs

16. Make education a way of life

17. A "System" consists of missions, leadership, goals, objectives, metrics, policies, procedures, education, training, organization, personnel, tools—not primarily a computer project

18. "Ownership" is important

19. Focus on eliminating non-value added activities/ assets/costs

20. Use simple approaches, not complex sophistication

21. Decentralize, unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise

22. Streamline, Simplify, automate, integrate, in that order

23. Employ the conference room pilot approach

24. Selectively implement policies, procedures, checkpoints, controls, accountability, and metrics

25. Use "discontinuous thinking" techniques

26. Insiders lead, outsiders augment

27. Small teams, but with a "guiding hand"

28. Develop common processes, where it makes sense- At a minimum, come up with common data attributes, macro processes, data exchange conventions, etc.

29. Bias towards "vanilla" approaches wherever practical

30. Leverage investment, people, and resources

31. Set ambitious "stretch" goals. Don't worry if they are missed. Worry about how much improvement is made

32. Project leaders should lead, not make all the decisions

33. Avoid "Paralysis by Analysis." You'll never have all the facts

34. Don't use just functional organizations to define processes- they tend to replicate existing paradigms

35. Phase implementation to reduce risk and optimize rate of benefit gains

36. Use cellular and self-directed work teams

37. Avoid building a new bureaucracy/theocracy of Reengineering high priests/ priestesses

38. Use flow diagrams, dictionaries, business rules, to define system—avoid lengthy prose and technical documentation- Results should be suitable for training, auditing and desk reference

39. Maintain master running issues status lists

40. New process designs will win by default if not contested by a set deadline

41. Employ the living flow chart approach to model systems

42. Deliver more than you promise.