In this article, we won’t use fancy words like performance, efficiency or continuous improvement. After all, they won’t help you optimize your administrative processes. Our aim is to provide you with concrete methods and tools for your transformation projects.
This article has several objectives:
- Introduce you to the general principles you need to know (if you already know them, go straight to the next point).
- Guide you step-by-step in optimizing your administrative process.
If you had only one thing to remember from this article :
Process optimization is a collaborative process that requires a thorough understanding of the existing situation. We are convinced of this for two reasons:
- Every corporate transformation, no matter how insignificant, is first and foremost a collective business project.
- By taking a closer look at the problem, you’ll identify causes and consequences that you hadn’t previously identified, but which are potentially more important.
To illustrate this point, for example, we could say that a product quality problem is linked to its production. However, it can also be linked to a lack of guidance from sales staff, an overload of work, supply problems, etc.
What are a company’s administrative activities?
Non-exhaustive examples of a company’s administrative macro-activities, with examples of the underlying activities:
Administration
sales
- Quote management
- Invoice management
- Contractualization
Relations with social organizations
- Declaration of activities
- Request for subsidies
- Declaration of personnel movements
Administration
administration
- Personnel file management
- Monitoring employment contracts
- Managing medical visits
Management of premises and equipment
- Maintenance of premises
- Management of maintenance contracts
- Insurance management
Human Resources Administration
- Administrative newcomer
- Absence and leave management
- Payroll Management
Other administrative activities
- Mail management
- Administrative, legal and regulatory
- Purchasing management
What distinguishes an activity from an administrative process?
Definition of a business process
An administrative process covers one or more of the administrative activities described above , by means of a series of consecutive and simultaneous steps.
A process begins with an input event (e.g. receipt of a supplier invoice) and ends with an output event (e.g. archiving of the supplier invoice).
Thanks to an administrative 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. To increase efficiency or gather information, a manager can use software. In addition to their core functionalities, these programs track the progress of the process from stage to stage, automate certain steps, streamline interactions, interconnect existing software…
Examples of administrative processes with a simplified view of the steps involved
Supplier
supplier invoices
- Receipt of invoice
- Checking with the buyer
- Allocation
- Payment to supplier
- Archiving, dematerialized or not
Mail management
- Receiving and sorting
- Dematerialization (if any)
- Distribution
- Treatment
- Archiving
Payroll management
- Preparation of pay slips
- Declaration of social charges
- Payment of wages
- Expense claim management
Leave management
- Vacation requests
- Validation of leave
- Communication of validation
- Entering leave in HR software
- Pay slip update
Sales administration
- Contractualization
- Billing
- Payment on account
- Dunning management
- Collection of balances
What are the challenges involved in optimizing administrative processes?
It’s all about added value for the end customer and compliance.
An administrative process is made up of 3 main types of tasks that impact processing times. Those that :
- Added value for the end customer, e.g. sales administration, the customer needs an invoice…
- No added value for the end customer, but necessary for the smooth running of the company, for example: declarations to the authorities, management of insurance contracts…
- No added value for the end customer
The main challenge in optimizing administrative processes is therefore to eliminate this last family.
The 7 problems leading to tasks with no added value for the end customer
Below are the 7 problems in the Lean sense (otherwise known as waste in Lean theory).
- Transport, i.e. the non-essential movement of people, information or materials. Example: a purchase requisition going through an excessively long validation circuit.
- Inventory, i.e. the storage of items awaiting processing or being processed. Example: Storage of files awaiting processing.
- Movement, i.e. the unnecessary movement of an employee because his or her work environment is poorly adapted or equipped. For example, he often needs a stapler, but it’s at the other end of the corridor because it’s shared with other departments.
- Waiting, i.e. waiting for a meeting, a decision, a file or a person to carry out a task.
- Over-production, i.e. producing too much or too fast in relation to customer demand.
- Unnecessary complexity, i.e. adding steps that don’t meet customer expectations. For example, when there are too many control steps in the processing of a file
- Defects, i.e. degradations of a product or service due to bad equipment, poor maintenance, bad software, or lack of training…
The benefits of optimizing administrative processes
Productivity and know-how
Optimization will inevitably involve the elimination of non-value-added tasks, which will free up time, reduce costs or increase employee motivation.
In addition, the work of formalizing operations will facilitate the sharing of knowledge between employees.
Compliance and traceability
A well-designed process, with the right tools, enables you to collect a certain amount of data on how it works. But you need to know how to process it. It may be a good idea to start by monitoring some initial indicators, and then gradually increase your measurement system.
How to optimize administrative processes?
Step 1 – The process audit
The project manager must take on the role of detective, interacting with as many employees as possible to gather information. This data will enable him or her to understand how the company operates, to identify problems, frustrations and needs, as well as to collect various types of information (tasks, data, inventory, software, etc.).
There are 5 aspects to bear in mind when analyzing processes:
- Be exhaustive. Gaps could lead to unpleasant surprises at the end of the project.
- Meet with a representative range of stakeholders. To include as many people as possible and avoid jealousy, the project manager can organize group interviews or collaborative workshops on specific topics (e.g., to explore an identified problem in greater depth).
- Use questionnaires, surveys and polls to gather quantitative information.
- Talk to the right people. Sometimes it’s more useful to meet with an operational employee rather than a manager to find out exactly how a department works.
- Do not direct questions. Open, closed or semi-closed questions are designed to help you understand, not to validate your beliefs.
In addition, it is essential to note that the assessment is also a crucial tool for change management. Showing kindness, listening and teaching will be beneficial for the rest of the project, especially if it involves major organizational changes or digital transformations.
Find out more in our article on how to conduct a process audit.
Stage 2 – Analysis and consolidation of the audit
The analysis of the current situation will lead to the creation of a scoping file. This file will include a list of the various needs to be covered, as well as various maps of your company’s operations.
If you’d like to find out more about business modeling and mapping, we’ve produced a step-by-step guide to mapping.
Step 3 – Prioritization of needs for business process optimization
Once you’ve identified the needs to be met in order to complete your optimization project, it’s essential to determine which are the most urgent. Addressing all needs simultaneously could prove totally counter-productive.
To prioritize the various needs, you can use an evaluation matrix. For example, you can use the model below.
Example of an evaluation matrix for a purchase order entry process.
Find out more in our article on process automation
Step 4 – Finding solutions to your needs
Step 5 – Set up a process sheet
The process sheet is a crucial tool for guaranteeing the long-term viability of an activity and ensuring simplified improvement whenever necessary. It brings together key information such as process mapping and performance indicators.
The process sheet will also facilitate the implementation of new projects, audits, controls and reviews.
However, there’s a fine line between “having a useful process sheet for your company” and “having an unused, obsolete sheet lost in the depths of your storage space”.
To explore this topic further, we have written another resource to help you produce a simple process sheet (with a sample process sheet).
Some examples of optimizing administrative processes
As you can see, these solutions should not be reproduced without first carrying out an analysis of the existing situation. These examples are provided for information only.
- Improved work methods and prioritization
- Use of good digital tools (collaborative, available from anywhere, on any equipment, at any time)
- Work on data entry and consolidation
- Dematerialization and archiving
- Transition management: example from invoice receipt to payment
- Interviewing customers to make sure we understand their expectations and
- Measuring lead times, processing times, throughput times
- Setting up controls
- Setting up procedures
- Removing bottlenecks
- Automation
- Connections, integrations and interfaces with other services and tools
- Implementation of Lean improvement tools: 5S, Poka Yoké, Visual Management, Andon…
Optimization of processes, not to be perceived negatively by employees
Optimizing administrative processes is also a question of communication and employee involvement. Throughout the project, it will be important to recognize the people who implement these actions on a daily basis, and to emphasize the importance of their contribution in facilitating change management.
You’ll make allies who will show their confidence in you and actively participate in the organization’s development.
Again, it’s important never to underestimate employee commitment. Indeed, if you remove a non-value-added task from an employee through automation, you must always bear in mind that this employee is emotionally attached to this task. If you don’t take the time to explain this optimization to them, they may lose interest.
If you’d like to find out more about change management, we recommend you read this article.
Now you know all about optimizing administrative processes. Now it’s your turn! See you soon for more content!
Also interested in reading other articles on processes?
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