The Data Jungle -Building Great Processes

The Data Jungle -Building Great Processes

Why is it so?

In the olden days before the internet our family was visited by cousin David from the big smoke of Sydney. In those days air travel was beyond the means of most of us, channel 10 didn’t exist in WA, and we did our own thing because we had few other choices.

Cousin David was clearly gobsmacked by some of the things he saw in our house. He wanted to know why mum buried the water melon skins in the back yard.
Answer: Because her mother did.
Question: Why did nanna bury them?
Answer: Because her mother did.

Unfortunately, we see this in business too. Our answer is often: Just because it has always been done this way, is the process as efficient as it could be?

Enter a Business Analyst. They will look at way things are currently done, find out what is causing you pain/what you want to make more efficient, then help you achieve your goals. Business Analysts are not usually developers, but the best ones have generally had a back ground in coding, and now prefer to work directly with clients to solve problems. They are in the unique position of knowing what is possible then liaising between you and your development team to help you achieve a successful outcome.

Is this happening in your business?

  • Double handling – is this necessary? 

  • Tedious tasks - are there better ways to do them? 

  • It takes too many steps to achieve the desired result

  • Business knowledge invested in someone’s head and not documented somewhere

  • So and So goes on leave/gets sick and all hell breaks loose

What would you like to see?

One of the most common issues we see if the lack of clearly defined business processes. New people coming into a business often having to learn everything from scratch; develop and document processes themselves or become quickly disillusioned and move on. The cycle is then repeated.

No doubt you are already focussing on business improvement. However, some of the essential questions you should ask are:

  • Do you need someone to gently guide you into starting?

  • Do you know your business processes? Who else knows how things are done?

  • Do you have too many people on staff doing the same thing but not knowing it (Duplication). 

Business analysts will not only identify potential business improvements but will recommend suitable tools such as Decisions to help you achieve your goals.

My mother, a non gardener, continued to bury watermelon skins in the backyard and reaped no reward from the practice. I however have experienced firsthand the invaluable contribution business analysts can make to a business. Ours have freed up my time so I can take a holiday knowing the processes they have implemented will keep things ticking on in my absence.

If you would like to learn more about how to stop doing things the way they have always been done we are happy to meet you for a no obligation chat: info@zoodata.com.au or phone: 9485 0725.