At Fluent, we focus on several types of process optimization:
- Development cycle and development operations best practices
- Facilitating technical team collaboration
- Optimization of automated mechanical/digital processing
- Business process standardization and improvement
- Physical process efficiencies (manufacturing, logistics, etc)
While these types of optimization tend to fall under business, operations, or technical domains, we think of these separate concerns as intrinsically linked. Any optimization project needs to take into consideration business objectives, operational concerns and technical implementation in order to be truly successful. Failure to balance these (apparently) disparate considerations inevitably leads to lop-sided process design. This can produce an optimization implementation that is optimal in one domain, but sub-optimal, or even detrimental, in the broader business context.
The ultimate goal of any optimization project is to positively affect the business domain. Often this is misunderstood by technical teams that are focused on technical implementations or management that can be overly focused on process details. In order to balance all three considerations and arrive at the ultimate desired business objective, we model the three domains as interacting this way:
[technical systems] —–implement—-> [business processes] —–effect——> [business outcomes]
In order to comprehensively address all three levels, we always begin with the business context and identify the desired outcomes through this lens. After analyzing any business domain complexities such as multivariate goals or conflicting departmental interests, we then consider existing business processes. During this stage, we find it incredibly important to empower key stakeholders in the business and reevaluate whether existing processes are ideal or should be redesigned (IE we incorporate human centered design). Finally, we architect the best technical solution to enforce the ideal processes and improve their overall performance.