Elkera’s Structured Approach for Business Process Improvement Projects

Elkera helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) improve and automate business processes to drive increased productivity, reduce operational costs and enhance customer service. Elkera’s business consultant will analyse business processes, identify opportunities for improvement, develop a business case, elicit and define requirements, and manage solution procurement where required.

Elkera is completely independent and has no conflicting relationships with any solution providers. We never promote products or vendors. Clients always receive completely independent, objective advice.

We know you want certainty about cost and the time required to carry out your business process review project. To meet that need, Elkera has developed an approach to balance risks and provide you with the highest level of certainty. Each project is different and no one can reliably estimate the work required to complete all stages of a process improvement project until the scope and expected deliverables for the project are well understood.

To address that problem, Elkera plans its business process improvement projects in stages to minimise risk to both parties and to complete the work in the most efficient way.

The initial stages are devoted to assessing project scope so that a fixed price proposal can be provided. To begin a new client engagement, Elkera may offer to carry out a preliminary assessment with you to determine the essential elements of the proposed project and to establish that Elkera is the right consultant for  you. That preliminary assessment is completely free. At the end of the preliminary assessment, Elkera will provide you with a fixed fee proposal to carry out a more detailed assessment for the main project work. You are under no obligation to proceed to the next step.

At each stage of a business process improvement or software requirements project, Elkera uses the information that is then known to produce materials that will enable reliable estimation of the work for the next stage and allow you to assess the benefits so far. If the benefits of proceeding are clear, you can take the next step. If not, you may terminate the project or we can adjust course.

Elkera’s process for medium to large business process improvement or software requirements projects is described in the diagram:

Elkera’s structured approach for medium to large business process improvement projects

Elkera’s staged approach to business process improvement projects, with Introduction and 4 main stages, each describing purpose, duration and deliverables.

Elkera’s incremental, agile delivery

Elkera uses an agile Scrum approach to complete analysis and provide deliverables in each project stage. The work defined for each stage of the project is set out in a backlog of tasks that is used to estimate the duration and cost of the work in that project stage. Selected backlog tasks are completed and delivered in fixed increments of 1-2 weeks, depending on project scale. You will never wait until the end of a project stage to see the results of the Elkera’s work with you.

The incremental, agile approach provides you with a constant stream of deliverables, so you can understand at all times how the project is proceeding.

Documentation

Each project has its own documentation requirements. Elkera places a high reliance on business process diagrams for analytical work, but software requirements for software procurement projects have to be in narrative form. To keep things moving at the lowest cost, Elkera adopts a minimalist approach to documentation. We produce only the least amount of documentation that is necessary to achieve the project objectives.

Under Elkera’s agile approach, you will receive regular deliverables of project documentation right from the first project increment.

More information about Elkera’s approach is provided in our case studies.

How Elkera’s consultant will understand your needs

The key elements in understanding client needs are:

– Experience and skills, particularly relating to business and communication; and

– A structured analytical process.

Elkera’s business consultant has the experience and skills to efficiently understand your business context and to engage with all stakeholders to dig down to fully understand how the business works, its problems and its opportunities.

Elkera’s business consultant will listen, question and always try to understand the other person’s perspective.

Elkera adopts a rigorous analytical process that is designed to reveal the details of business processes and stakeholder needs, and to then record that information in a practical and accessible way.

The Benefits of Elkera’s Way of Working

Elkera ensures that you receive value from the first contact. You will gain valuable insights from the very first free consultation. You are never locked into a commitment that does not have a clearly defined and valuable outcome.

With Elkera’s assistance:

  • Understand Your Business processes

    You will have a clear understanding of current business processes and the opportunities for improvement.

  • Reduced costs and improved ways of working

    You will be able to reduce business process costs, improve customer service and provide a more satisfying environment for your staff.

  • Effective Software Requirements

    If the project requires new software for automation, you will have clear software requirements that will:

    • Enable you to seek solution proposals from the widest range of potential suppliers.
    • Enable prospective solution providers to understand what you need.
    • Enable you to reliably assesses and filter solution offers.
    • Enable you to assess if the expected benefits are actually delivered.

  • Change Management Plan

    You will have a clear change management plan covering personnel motivation, deployment, training and ongoing support.

  • Avoid Wasting Money

    You will avoid wasting money on system features that do not deliver business value.

  • Return on Investment

    You will maximise your return on investment.

  • Satisfied System Users

    You will have more satisfied system users.