A business process consultant is an external consultant who helps businesses by researching and analyzing the processes and systems that a business implements. Once this has been done, he or she will make recommendations to improve these processes and practices with an eye to improving overall efficiency. The consultant may also be involved in designing simulations to test proposed process improvements. A business process consultant would generally report to top management.
Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.Robert A. Heinlein
Question – Would You Really Let a Critical Business Process Loose in Your Business?
Although the first impression you may get from a short definition is that business process consultants are paid meddlers, there’s a lot more to it than that. A real professional in this field will have a great breadth and depth of experience and will very likely have some pretty impressive qualifications.
If your impression has now changed from “I don’t want this meddler!” to “I can’t afford a pro like that!” you might be right. After all, anyone with the credentials to be a business process consultant isn’t small fry. There’ll be a big business background positively littered with incredible efficiency-enhancing achievements. That’s how it should be. After all, you wouldn’t want to let a graduate student test his or her wings by messing around with the way your business does things.
How Does Business Process Consultancy Work?
Being a business process consultant is hard work. A consultant may even employ a team to help him. To begin with, analyzing business processes on paper isn’t enough. One has to see them in action, and a quick glance won’t be enough to provide data from which a consultant can make a conclusion about the process as a whole.
So, the first step a business process consultant takes will be to get to know your business processes as intimately, if not more so, than you already do. He or she will watch your people at work, asking questions for clarification as needed.
Now, the business process consultant strives to find more efficient ways of handling the processes that have been observed. He or she will look for inefficiencies in the system, seeking ways to eliminate them so that the work can flow more smoothly and efficiently. Areas for improvement would include:
- Bottlenecks where work piles up in one area
- Inefficient use of resources
- Inefficient use of time
- Redundant processes that could be eliminated
- Redundant processes that could be automated
- The incidence of errors that call for redoing parts of the process
- Physical layouts that increase the time needed to complete a task
- Areas where poor communication or lack of accountability affect productivity
Finally, the business process consultant reports to management, highlighting areas for improvement and making suggestions for improvement. In certain instances, the consultant or business owner will want to see how the proposed new workflows operate in practice, and then a trial run will be set up.
How do you Know if This Intervention Will Work?
The success of a business process consulting intervention will depend on the quality of the consultant. If you decide to use a consultant, you should check past results, getting your information directly from the consultant’s client. A really good consultant might not need experience in your line of work, but the more specialized the area, and the less experience he or she has of it, the longer it will take to perform the preliminary evaluation.
Benefits of using a business process consultant
One of the biggest benefits of using a business process consultant is that you get a “fresh pair of eyes.” When we’re in the thick of things, it can be difficult to spot inefficiencies that are painfully obvious to an outside observer.
Since a proper business process consultant is highly qualified and will have a strong business background, you will also get the benefit of this experience. And although you will certainly pay for this professional’s time, it still works out a lot less costly than hiring a person with that skill level as an employee.
Finally, a business process consultant will be perfectly honest and will be comfortable with raising issues that your own staff members might be reluctant to bring to your attention. For example, if you have a strong sense of ownership of processes you introduced, your staff might be reluctant to tell you about flaws for fear of offending you.
Drawbacks of using a business process consultant
Although getting an outsider’s impressions can be valuable, this person may not obtain a deep enough understanding of what you do and why you chose to implement certain processes in the way you did. There have been many success stories stemming from the use of business process consultants, but there has also been a fair share of disappointments in which companies feel that they failed to gain suitable recommendations.
To maximize your chances of obtaining a good outcome, you and your consultant should meet in advance so that you can discuss your expectations and clarify the reasons why you thought business process consultancy could help your company. This will guide the consultant during the business process evaluation.
Alternatives to using a business process consultant
You or a trusted staff member could undertake the process of evaluating workflows, both on paper and at the coalface. You won’t have the advantage of a fresh pair of eyes, but you will have the advantage of the pre-existing knowledge of your company. If you can eliminate bias to a large degree by preparing yourself to approach the process with an open mind, you could identify areas for improvement as efficiently as a consultant would.
The primary drawback of this alternative is the time it will take. You and your staff members already have functions to fulfill, and unless your workflows are carefully tracked, you could miss important areas that need attention.
Tallyfy offers a solution to overcome time constraints. Your real workflows can be tracked in detail, and even when you don’t have your eye on the ball, you can draw analytics after the fact to see how each portion of a process fared.
Once you have identified problem areas, it’s just a matter of finding out what the cause of the problem is. Addressing it may mean having to adjust the workflow, getting new equipment to make your employees’ jobs easier, or even employing extra staff members to cope with the workload in certain areas.
If the reasons for hitches in work process flows aren’t obvious, you’ll at least know which areas will need closer observation in order to determine how you can improve efficiency. Would you like to know how Tallyfy can turn you into your own business process consultant? We’ll give you a free demo, or you can sign up for a free trial and take it from there. Why not try it? It could be the best thing you ever did for your business. We also offer paid services, of course.
Related Questions
What is the role of a business process consultant?
A business process consultant is to a company what a doctor is to a human. They look at how a business runs, identify areas for improvement and offer methods for making things run more smoothly. These experts would take a deep dive into a company’s daily operations, examining everything from how the teams talked to one another, to how its products were made. They want to help businesses get smarter, not work harder; and the way they can do that is by simplifying, and eliminating unnecessary steps in processes. They’re problem solvers who can bring fresh eyes and fresh ideas to help a company grow and thrive in the fast-moving environment of today’s business.
How much does a business process consultant earn in the US?
The salary of a US business process consultant can range significantly, though, depending on variables such as experience, location, and the size of organizations that they consult for. They make between $70,000 and $120,000 a year, on average. But then, consultants at the top firms, in their big-city offices, can earn more than $200,000 a year. And keep in mind that many consultants get bonuses and profit-sharing, along with perks that can considerably elevate their total pay. As companies do their best to realize the importance of reengineering, competent process consultants are also being sought after and better pay packages might be offered to consultants at certain times.
What does a business process specialist do?
It is both, detective and architect into one, separatist independent, business process specialist. They find out how a company works, seeking clues about what is working well and what is causing problems. Using that evidence, they redesign things to work better. These technicians may recommend new software to automate repetitive work, reorganize teams, to boost communication, or create step-by-step guides to make complex jobs easier. They’re constantly up for trying out new technologies to help save time, cut expenses and make their employees’ lives less stressful. In short, they’re the go-to folks for transforming a hot mess of a work space into a smoothly humming machine.
What is a process consultant’s job description?
The job of a process consultant is to make businesses tick like clockwork. Their day might consist of meeting with company leaders to see what they are trying to accomplish, observing employees at work to identify bottlenecks, and finding a way to measure how well things are going. They read back, and forth. Such consultants craft elaborate maps of how work moves through a company before brainstorming ways to make it flow more smoothly and swiftly. They may teach employees new processes, assist with installing state-of-the-art software or consult on best practices in the industry. Ultimately, they hope to leave a company better off than they found it, with happier employees, satisfied customers, and a fatter bottom line.
What is the process consulting approach?
The process consulting methodology is akin to being a coach for a business. Rather than arrive with a prefabricated answer, the consultant works alongside the company’s team. They ask a ton of questions, observe how things are done, and help the team see where they’re strong (and where they’re falling short). The idea is to help the company solve its own problems. It’s not about one-time fixes; it’s about supporting the business and its evolution over time. This creates capabilities inside the company, allowing it to become even better, even after the consultant has left.
What are the 5 steps of the consulting process?
The consulting dynamic is like planning a road trip. The first is the “Entry” step when the consultant and the company decide they want to work together. The next is Diagnosis, where they figure out what is actually going on in the business. Action Planning is the third phase, in which they chart what has to be done. Execution then is the doing, executing those plans. And then there’s Termination — the consultant’s task is finished, and the company drives off the lot. Each is a step forward “on the shoulders of” the previous, thereby progressing the entrepreneurial pathway.
How Do Different Industries Benefit from Process Consulting?
Process consulting – it’s the Swiss Army knife, after all. (And in manufacturing, it might speed up production lines.) In health care, it might be applied to improve the processes for patient care. At tech companies, it could streamline software development. Retail companies could also use it to improve customer-service flows. Even creative sectors like ads can see benefits from getting their project management house in order. What makes process consulting such a beauty is that it tailors itself to the needs of every industry and all the diversified companies can run more smoothly and successfully.
