Business Process Improvement - Avoiding Scope Creep

If you want to avoid the dreaded scope creep in business process improvement (BPI) work, take some time and establish the foundation, or blueprint, for the business process you want to improve. Scope creep comes into play in any project when you veer away from the original purpose of the work without an increase in time, resources, or money. You will find that it is no different with BPI.

Before starting any project it is always a good idea to have a plan so that you know the overall size of the effort involved. Whether building a deck on your house or simply painting a room, there is some pre-work involved so that you can avoid those time-consuming trips back to the home center to pick up what you forgot. Likewise, in BPI work, you need to establish the boundaries associated with a business process so that there is a clear beginning and end to the work. Setting the boundaries is one part of the overall foundation you need to establish before jumping into BPI.

When you work with colleagues on improving a business process, they inevitably think of new points as you get deeper and deeper into the work. Having established boundaries at the very beginning of the work though, will help you avoid future time-consuming discussions about the beginning and end of a business process when colleagues attempt to bring in new ideas. Unfortunately, scope creep usually occurs once you are well into the work and it always adds time and cost, so do everything you can up front to prevent it from occurring later.

If you gain consensus with your colleagues up front on the boundaries, you sort of have a "contract" that you can refer back to, so that the work has a fairly good chance of staying on track. Of course, it is not an official contract, but it will help to keep scope creep at bay.

Establishing the foundation is the second step to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability of your business processes, so spend some time focusing on it. Create the blueprint to guide your work.

Business Process Outsourcing BPO is a Global Industry

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is an industry which has two key values at its core. Firstly, a business process outsourcing company must be able to add value to the services offered by their clients. Without this added value there is no incentive for a company to outsource. The second value, and one which is often given more importance, is the ability of a BPO company to save their clients money.

These two advantages have led to a boom in the BPO industry in recent years. Businesses have had to cut their costs in order to stay competitive. Good BPO companies not only offer a way of doing this, but they are also able to instigate improvements in the services that these companies provide.

It is important to recognise that not all BPO companies are the same. In order for a company to be able to offer the level of service that you should be looking for in a business process outsourcing company, you must choose carefully.

Successful BPO relies on the company having the resources and expertise to offer their clients real value. The margins which are involved in BPO are often minuscule. To offer both an improvement in service and a cut in cost, a BPO company must be a finely tuned machine.

One of the critical elements which separate the excellent from the average business process outsourcing companies is their reach. In order for an outsourcing company to be able to offer their clients real value they must have a global presence. There are some processes which are ideally suited to being fulfilled in a particular country, both for price and quality. Different processes will call for different facilities and skills. You need to choose an outsourcing company that understands this, is able to identify where best to fulfil the service you require, and have the means to implement it all.

If you are thinking of outsourcing some of your businesses non specific processes then you need to be sure that you are getting the best value for money. In order to do this it is worth using a company that has been established for a long time and that understands the industry perfectly. It is also worth using a company that is not limited to a few locations, or services. The more experience, resources and variety that a business process outsourcing company is able to offer you, the more value you are likely to receive.