In today’s interconnected world, businesses often face challenges in managing processes across different regions. In this blog post, I will explore a real-life scenario involving a client with business units spread globally and the importance of sequential steps in their back-office operations. I will highlight the contrasting approaches taken by two regions, emphasising the significance of sharing wisdom and optimising processes for maximum efficiency.
The business model for this client revolves around providers and members, with providers bringing in the members.
Business Units in Region A and Region B rely on a legacy, bespoke back-office system to help manage operations that necessitates a large volume of manual data entry. Local admin teams face the burden of handling numerous membership renewals and cancellations.
Our role is to fully automate the process for both regions by implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA), potentially eliminating button clicks altogether. However, the way the teams approach these admin tasks highlights the importance of process mapping / redesign even outside of automation projects.
Region A: The most manual approach
– The process in Region A involves receiving renewal lists from providers and manually renewing each member through a sequence of button clicks.
– Similarly, when cancellations occur, the admin team follows a sequence of button clicks to cancel each member.
Region B: A Shift towards Efficiency
– In contrast to Region A, Region B adopts a more streamlined approach to handle renewals and cancellations.
– Providers in Region B also send renewal and cancellation lists.
– However, the admin team in Region B takes a different sequential approach.
– After receiving the cancellation list, the team follows the sequence of button clicks to cancel each member.
– Then, instead of renewing members individually, the admin team employs a bulk renewal process to save time and effort.
The contrasting methods employed by Region A and Region B highlight the impact of sequential steps on operational efficiency. Region B’s approach significantly reduces manual work, as bulk renewals minimise the need for individual processing.
The importance of sequential steps in a process cannot be understated.