Internal processes: how to understand and improve them?

9 minutes
Internal process

All companies, whether they are aware of it or not, have processes. Understanding an organization’s internal processes is therefore a lever for improving and sustaining know-how.

Defining your processes, formalizing them in a process sheet, and even bringing them to life in dedicated software can be a complex undertaking. That’s why we’ve written this article to help you master your internal processes.

In this content, we won’t use fancy words like performance, productivity, efficiency or optimization. They won’t help you in your approach. Our aim is to give you concrete methods and tools for your transformation projects.

Why define an internal process?

Knowing how your company operates, and formalizing it in an internal process sheet, has several virtues, which we’ll explain in the next section. Of course, depending on your level of maturity, different levels of precision can be achieved. Each level is scalable, enabling a company to progress at its own pace.

A reminder of the basics: what is an internal process?

A company is made up of a set of internal processes covering all its businesses. Each process has a specific scope, and may be the result or trigger of another process.

An internal process represents the sequence of different steps or tasks, consecutive and sometimes simultaneous, covering one or more of a company’s activities.

A process begins with an input event (e.g. receipt of a purchase order) and ends with an output event (e.g. last-mile delivery).

Thanks to a process, a manager must be able to measure various operating indicators such as resources, stock levels, lead times, customer satisfaction, error feedback, etc.

A process may or may not be computerized. The use of appropriate software enables problems to be identified more effectively and appropriate solutions to be implemented.

What are the benefits of defining internal processes?

  • Compliance with standards, safety and quality control.
  • Simplified training for new employees.
  • Improved communication and collaboration between teams, fostering a better understanding of each other’s work, responsibilities and interactions.
  • Simplified reproduction of a process in another structure or department.
  • Assessment of operational satisfaction with tools and software.
  • Compliance with standards, safety and quality control.
  • Simplified training for new employees.
  • Improved communication and collaboration between teams, fostering a better understanding of each other’s work, responsibilities and interactions.
  • Simplified reproduction of a process in another structure or department.
  • Assessment of operational satisfaction with tools and software.

How do you define an internal process? How do you document it?

Which internal process should a company start with?

To begin with, it is important not to focus on a specific process, but to have a macro-process vision.

Macro process to define an internal process

Before starting to deal with an internal process, it is important to have a global vision of all the processes in a company. Of course, this mapping is also valid at a variable perimeter, for example at the level of a company department.

A macro process is the interdependent set of internal processes within a company. The image opposite shows :

  • In pink, business value chain processes.
  • In yellow, business support processes
  • And in green, management processes

At this stage of your work, there’s no need to go into detail about processes (that’s the subject of a later step). The macro process is only used to identify all the internal processes of a company.

It’s relatively simple to build a macro process if you follow a method. We’ve written one, which you can access by reading this article: a step-by-step guide to producing a macro process.

The processes must then be prioritized to determine the first to be processed, formalized and improved.

It‘s impossible to tackle all the processes at once, so you’ll have to prioritize to build your roadmap. The choice of the first project is also important, as it will set the pace for the others.

Pragmatically, it is important to classify the various processes identified in your macro process according to the following dimensions:

  • Estimated number of FTEs (full-time equivalents) impacted by an internal process
  • Average salary of FTEs affected
  • Level of employee frustration and operational problems with the process
  • List of software in the internal process
  • Level of employee dissatisfaction with this software group
  • Financial and non-financial impact of possible process improvements

This ranking will help you build your internal process improvement roadmap.

Once the internal process has been selected, it simply needs to be mapped via a process audit

A process audit, a collective exercise with employees

To carry out this mapping of an internal process, it’s important to focus on the employees involved in the process (you can choose a representative sample if the number of players is too large). Also, make sure you meet the right people – often operational people rather than managers – to understand exactly how a department works.

Be prepared to ask questions and rephrase information for better understanding. If possible, carry out field observations using methods such as DILO or Gemba Walk to ensure the veracity of the information.

During this process, it’s important to adopt a benevolent, listening and pedagogical attitude to facilitate collaboration and promote the success of future organizational changes or transformations.

Find out more in our article on how to conduct a process audit.

Process audit

Internal process mapping

On the one hand, the definition of an internal process is a collective initiative. On the other hand, the process is intended to be operationally useful. Producing a process map is therefore the most effective way of achieving these objectives.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and below you’ll find an example of business process mapping.

Example of an internal sales process
Example of business process mapping
Cartography
Commercial mapping

Think of mapping as a roadmap of an internal process, enabling you to identify :

  • Events (start, end, intermediate) symbolized by red circles.
  • Actors represented by colored dots.
  • Activities (tasks, processes) represented by rectangles.
  • Decisions and conditions (called gateways) in diamond shapes.
  • Sequence flows and message flows linking the various elements.

In parallel with this map, on another document or on another dedicated map, you can track for each process

  • Tools and software used
  • Actions taken verbally, on paper, on software ….
  • Its duration
  • Duration of each action
  • Its recurrence
  • Stock levels at each stage
  • Employee satisfaction with each action
  • Problems and shortcomings at every level

If you’d like to find out more about process modeling, we invite you to read this article: Modélisation des processus – Accompagnement pas à pas.

Identify opportunities for improvement in the mapped process

Examples of areas for process improvement

After mapping the internal process, an organization can identify several areas for improvement:

  • Shorter lead times
  • Improved collaboration
  • Resolving frustrations
  • Elimination of non-value-added activities
  • Task automation
  • Setting up procedures
  • Quality improvement
  • etc.

Find out more in our article on process automation

Process automation

Analyze the added value for the customer for each task

Added value in a value chain

A task in a business process can be analyzed in terms of its added value for the customer. This concept is derived from Lean Management principles.

There are 3 levels of task evaluation:

  • Tasks that add value for the customer. In other words, something the customer is willing to pay for. For example, a customer buys sneakers, so the sneaker production stage is value-added.
  • Tasks with no added value, but which are necessary. For example, a task relating to regulatory/tax compliance issues, or activity measurements for a company’s various reporting systems.
  • Tasks that add no value and are unnecessary. For example, multiple checks.

This last family is often a source of improvement.

Finding solutions

To find solutions to a problem, it’s important to follow several steps.

First, you need to transform the problem into an objective, and then list all the possible solutions for achieving that objective.

For example, to increase the number of sales, a company can free up salespeople’s time, hire new salespeople or outsource sales generation.

Next, it’s essential to define the functional and technical requirements, while taking into account the company’s constraints. Don’t confuse requirements with constraints. A requirement is a demand for functionality; it can be prioritized, and alternatives may exist. A constraint is an aspect imposed on the company, non-negotiable and prohibitive for any supplier unable to take it into account.

Once the requirements and constraints have been defined, it’s time to identify the possible tools for each solution, while checking that these tools match the company’s constraints. In this example, the time-saving solution could be covered by Salesforce, Hubspot, Lemlist, Zapier or Lapala.

Finally, it’s important to enlist the help of experts to identify the solutions and tools best suited to your company’s needs.

ERP specifications

Don’t hesitate to ask for help in these matters.
Particularly in identifying solutions, tools and drawing up specifications

Take a look at
our guide to writing
a specification

Documenting an internal process sheet

Example Process sheet

The process sheet is a crucial tool for ensuring the long-term viability of an activity and continuing to optimize it over time. It brings together essential information such as process mapping and performance indicators.

Not only is it an ideal means of continuously improving your internal processes, it will also simplify the implementation of new projects, audits, controls and reviews.

Nevertheless, there’s a fine line between “having a useful process file for your company” and “having an unused, out-of-date file deep in your storage space”. To find out more on this subject, we’ve also written an article that takes you through the process of how to quickly produce a process sheet.

How do you communicate an internal process sheet to employees?

All this work on an internal process is obviously a collective effort. Both at management level, for strategic support in projects to improve existing processes, and at operational level (especially when a transformation involves major organizational or cultural changes).

Of course, the choice of the first process to be improved must be made at the right level, but it is also important to communicate it internally to employees. Good information sharing within a company will federate teams around the project, reassure them and facilitate change management.

Involving employees right from the start of the project means communicating to them that documentation will exist for their business, and that it will be accessible. What’s more, having an evolving, collaborative process sheet will enable teams to get to grips with it and use it operationally.


Now you know all about internal processes. Now it’s your turn! See you soon for more content!


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