At Hart Square we have the privilege of working with amazing and inspirational clients who are implementing new CRMs. A key strand for any organisation when approaching a technology project should be to undertake a review of business processes and identify any areas which could be improved as part of the project.
I will explore three different considerations as to when the best time in a project to carry out a BPR is.
When is the best time to undertake a Business Process Review (BPR)?
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Before a business case
As an organisation you have decided that you want a new CRM and embark on a technology project. Typically, the first stage of any project is to put together a business case for approval. However, by undertaking BPR’s across the organisation before this phase, it will help in identifying areas that need additional focus within the business case. For example, you will be able to provide strong supporting evidence in the business case if it’s identified within the BPR that more resources are required to implement a change.
However, a potential drawback is that if the business case isn’t approved and changes were identified but couldn’t be implemented, it could lead to some challenges with those teams if these are put on hold such as teams who feel disenfranchised by identifying blockers which are then not addressed and continue to pose challenges to maximise their outputs.
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After a business case & pre-requirements gathering
This is the optimum time to undertake a BPR, once the business case has been approved and before requirements gathering takes place. Your organisation will be prepared, as you will have a good understanding of different departments and will have identified challenges as part of the business case.
By undertaking a BPR before requirements gathering, it can help inform the strategic direction for the CRM, highlight any inefficient processes, and ensure that this doesn’t feed into future requirements.
However, a key consideration is workshop fatigue. This is especially the case workshops have already been carried out for a business case and if future requirements workshops are planned. Therefore, this is an important element to be factored in and communicated effectively to participants.
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Post implementation
Once the CRM has been implemented, this is a good opportunity to review your current processes. You will be able to see how they now fit in with the new technology and you may be able to adopt quick wins more immediately based on the new systems available.
However, the challenges around this are that inefficient processes could already be imbedded into the new technology and so will be harder to change. In addition, the period after a new CRM implementation is challenging. As your organisation settles in to using the new technology, there could be a lack of appetite for further change as well as fatigue to undertake a time-consuming piece of work.
Summary
Overall, undertaking a BPR’s is an invaluable piece of work for any organisation to highlight any inefficient processes as well as identify where changes need to be made. It’s important to undertake regular process reviews as an organisation and look at where improvements can be made. However, there is real benefit for organisations carrying out a BPR as part of a CRM project to avoid embedding bad processes with new technology.
The most optimum time to do a BPR would be before the requirements gathering phase, to highlight where a CRM can make the most difference to organisations as well as identifying current challenges that can be avoided in future.
If you would like to find out more about conducting a business process review at your non-profit, join our FREE upcoming webinar on Why and when should a non-profit embark on a Business Process Review? on 23 November 2023.
