The importance of process management for continuous improvement

12 February 2020

If you look at some of the biggest organisations out there, they all have one thing in common – process. 

Think about it; brands like McDonalds, Subway, Marriott, Hertz… they’re all massively successful franchise organisations. But what makes them so successful? It’s their tight control of the processes that are proven to work.  

Continuous improvement in action

Whether it’s controlling how you make fries, sandwiches, or the experience of hiring a car or van, these organisations can maximise their profits and potential by controlling the most minute of details. This isn’t micro-management; this is continuous improvement in action. 

Let’s take McDonalds as an example. The reason they’re the biggest fast food chain and one of the biggest brands is because they have mastered their craft down to the nth degree. From switching the fryer on, to the weight of fries in the basket, to the number of gherkins you get on your Big Mac. It’s not luck, it’s process management. 

I liken not having or understanding processes to a science experiment. If you’re going to understand what is having an impact on your business, you must control the other factors. This applies to every process, from manufacturing, to development, to sales and even to finance.  

Without a process that you can tweak and change incrementally, how do you know which action resulted in improvement? 

Process mapping is part of our journey

At Blue Wren, we’ve been on this journey, mapping what we thought was the best way of working, identifying the stress points and areas for improvement. Once we’d identified the stress points, we worked on them, one at a time, to see what benefit the changes were having on the business.  

Happy with the result? Then we move onto the next point, and the next point… The beauty of process management and continuous improvement is that it’s never finished. There’s always room for improvement.  

The best companies never stop and think they’ve got it right, but you’ve got to walk before you can run. Why not start with documenting your processes? 

We’re always interested in learning about new businesses, understand how they work and to offer an insight into how they could work better. If you’re interested in having a discussion about your processes, get in touch.