Drive Organizational Maturity with our Process Maturity Framework
Brewster Consulting Group has developed a Process Maturity Model that allows organizations to have a clear roadmap for driving meaningful improvement to their most important processes.
Benefits of an Organizational Maturity Model Include:
- Increased Accountability
- Elimination of manual processes
- Integration of disparate systems
- Improved Data & KPIs
- Clearly Documented Processes
- Improved Team Performance & Training
- Scalable with your business.
Want to learn more about our Process Maturity Framework? Download our e-book below.
How it works?
Achieve Real Transformation
Understanding Process Maturity
This video introduces the Brewster Consulting Group's Process Maturity Framework, a structured model designed to help organizations enhance operational maturity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
Framework Structure: The framework is divided into eight levels across three tiers:
- Levels 1-3 (Foundation): Focus on establishing ownership, accountability, and understanding current processes.
- Levels 4-5 (Continuous Improvement): Emphasize eliminating defects and standardizing processes through project management techniques.
- Levels 6-8 (Digital Transformation): For organizations that reach higher maturity, this tier focuses on leveraging advanced technologies to optimize and automate processes effectively.
Step One - Identify Critical Process
This video provides a step-by-step guide for identifying key processes within an organization to drive progress with the operational maturity model.
- Identify Key Processes: Start by examining the organizational chart to list functional departments (e.g., sales, HR, logistics).
- Detail Departmental Activities: For each department, identify core activities that add value, such as hiring and onboarding for HR or production for manufacturing.
- Validate with Department Heads: Consult department leaders to refine and validate the list of critical processes, ensuring it aligns with the organization’s objectives.
- Build Accountability: Understanding key processes allows for targeted improvement. Assign process owners or subject matter experts to each area for accountability and continuity.
Step Two - Ensuring Accountability
This video outlines the importance of identifying subject matter experts (SMEs) and process owners to effectively manage and improve organizational processes.
Define Roles:
- Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): Individuals who perform the process daily and understand it intimately. They are often frontline employees.
- Process Owners: Higher-level individuals (e.g., managers or directors) accountable for the process results and outcomes. They are responsible for overseeing the effectiveness of the process.
Establish Accountability:
- Process owners must formally accept responsibility for their processes, both verbally and in writing, to ensure accountability.
Step Three - Process Mapping
This video explains the steps for creating process maps, a visual tool essential for documenting and improving core business processes.
Purpose of Process Mapping: It provides a clear, visual flow of a process, helping organizations understand and analyze each step accurately.
Preparation Steps:
- Meet with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to observe the actual process in action.
- Ask clarifying questions to capture the true workflow, rather than assumed or managerial perceptions.
Recommended Tools:
- Microsoft Visio: Traditional, desktop-based option.
- Miro and Lucidchart: Cloud-based tools, effective for collaboration.
Step Four - Define KPIs
This video introduces the next phase in the process maturity framework, focusing on defining key metrics to measure success in core processes.
Transition to Continuous Improvement: After documenting processes, shift focus toward establishing measurable outcomes for continuous improvement.
Defining Key Metrics:
- Determine how to measure success for each process.
- Ask questions like, “What does winning look like?”
- Metrics may vary by process, such as lead time, defect rate, time to fill job positions, or security vulnerabilities.
Practical Exercise: Choose a core process and identify one or more quantifiable metrics or KPIs that indicate success.
Data Availability Check:
- Assess whether the necessary data to track these KPIs is available. If not, identify gaps.
- The next step involves creating a data dictionary to ensure data reliability and establish methods to gather missing data.
Step Five - Data Dictionary
This video provides guidance on building a data dictionary as the next step in process maturity.
Data Readiness Check: Before defining KPIs, confirm whether the necessary data exists. If not, establish a system to capture it.
Building a Data Dictionary:
- Define each KPI clearly to avoid ambiguity in interpretation across teams.
- Important elements in the data dictionary:
- Term/Metric Name: Clearly label the KPI.
- Business Definition: Explain the KPI in business terms to ensure organizational understanding.
- Technical Definition: Include exact calculations, source data fields, and data sources to ensure consistency.
Ensuring Consistency: A data dictionary helps standardize metrics across the organization, enabling consistent and accurate reporting and fostering confidence in data-driven decisions.
Step Six - Standard Operating Procedures
This video covers the importance of creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for core processes, which help ensure consistency and efficiency.
Purpose of SOPs:
- SOPs standardize best practices for each process step, providing clear, step-by-step instructions.
- They serve as a guide to maintain quality and reduce variability.
SOP Structure:
- Include a title, SOP number, effective date, department, and approvals to track document versions.
- Define the purpose, scope, stakeholders (subject matter experts and process owners), and step-by-step instructions.
- For digital processes, add screenshots to show the exact system views users should encounter.
- For physical tasks, include photos illustrating each step.
Goal of SOPs:
- The primary goal is to minimize variation in process execution and ensure that all employees follow the most efficient practices.
By standardizing procedures, SOPs help organizations ensure consistent, high-quality outcomes across repeated processes.
Step Seven - KPI Deep Dive
This video discusses using data to identify improvement areas within core processes by analyzing performance metrics at a detailed level.
Identifying Improvement Areas:
- Evaluate each step within a process to see where time or resources are disproportionately used.
Granular KPI Analysis:
- Break down KPIs like lead time across each step, identifying the stages that consume the most time.
- Focus improvement efforts on these high-impact areas to reduce overall time or improve other KPIs.
Next Steps:
- Once improvement areas are identified, the next phase is to standardize best practices within those steps, aiming to enhance efficiency and consistency.
This step of detailed analysis can be combined with Step Six (SOPs) to standardize areas of high variability.
Step Eight - Digital Transformation
This video explains the importance of reaching a foundational level of process maturity before pursuing digital transformation.
Foundation for Digital Transformation: By first identifying key processes, establishing accountability, setting KPIs, and creating SOPs, an organization builds a stable base for transformation efforts.
Common Pitfalls in Tech Investments: Many organizations invest in new technology prematurely. Without mature, standardized processes, these investments often fail to deliver expected improvements.
Value of Process Maturity: With well-defined, consistent processes, organizations can effectively integrate advanced technologies, leading to genuine operational improvements.
Path to Transformation: Once foundational maturity is established, the organization is ready to explore tools that drive efficiency and add value.
Achieving foundational process maturity enables an organization to maximize its return on digital transformation initiatives, setting the stage for sustainable growth and innovation.
Process Maturity - Bringing it All Together
The final video in this series offers a wrap-up of our Process Maturity Framework.
Supplementary Materials: This series is paired with an eBook that provides additional guidance, templates, and resources to support the steps discussed. Download our E-Book at the top of this page.
Flexible Implementation: Organizations can perform these activities internally, but it may require additional time, skills, or capacity.
Consulting Support: For organizations needing further assistance, Brewster Consulting Group offers support in implementing the framework, discussing specific challenges, and helping create a roadmap toward organizational maturity.
This video encourages organizations to leverage available resources, seek support if needed, and commit to a structured approach for long-term growth and efficiency.
How it works?
Our Engagement Process
Book a Meeting
We'll have a discovery call to understand your objectives, current pain points, and data environment.
Process Maturity Assessment
We'll conduct a process maturity assessment to understand the maturity level of your critical processes.
Build Action Plan
Based on your organizational maturity level, we'll build an action plan in alignment with our process maturity model.
Contact Us
Contact Us
Brewster Consulting Group specializes in empowering organizations through comprehensive data management, fractional coo, process improvement, and project management services. Unlock the potential of your data and enhance your business processes with our tailored consulting services.
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Brewster Consulting Group
Beggs, OK 74421