Key Points

• Resisting change is going to be a major theme throughout any BPR project, and should be dealt with accordingly.
• You need management on board with any major changes you’re making at an organization.
• Don’t lose sight of the scope and complexity of a given project, it could result in a nasty snag sooner rather than later.

What major changes in BPR implementation is your organization struggling with? Like it or not, sometimes implementing something new can lead to some real hurdles to overcome. Often, these can be minor speed bumps in the road, and an adjustment can get things back on track. However, BPR is quite drastic by design, and this can lead to some monumental disruptions.

So, with that in mind, we’re looking at 10 of the most common challenges you’ll come across in BPR. Not only are we cataloguing the usual complaints and pain points, but we’ll also discuss some strategies to overcome these challenges.

Resistance to Change

Change is difficult, I get it. BPR is all about big, massive changes. You aren’t just taking a look at processes on where you can improve them, you’re ripping them out and starting from scratch. That can naturally lead to some resentment and resistance, fatal poisons as it were to your current BPR efforts. When overcoming any of the major BPR challenges, you’re going to have to take stock in what needs to be done.

If you’re already at the point where you’re planning a BPR effort, then something isn’t working. This isn’t the point in time where you need to start heeding the demands of whatever microcultures are present in your organization.

Change Management and Communication

Change management is always going to come heavily recommended when embarking on any sort of large scale, fundamental shift in how you’re working. There are a few different change management models to use, but you’ll want to have a dedicated person on staff to help navigate this turbulent time.

Take the time to sit down with your change manager, explain clearly what your intended goals are, and then sit down and make a solid plan using whatever their recommended change model is going to be. This is going to be difficult, but it’s better to rip off the band aid now, rather than when you’ve gone to the trouble of implementing whole new processes.

Lack of Top-Level Support

Something we always emphasize here is the need for leadership to take the helm and embody the changes you’re wanting to see at an organization. This is something prevalent with today’s topic, and is one of the bigger challenges in BPR implementation that you’ll find. If management and leadership aren’t on board, then why would your other employees be?

Essentially, by letting this change get contradicted by your senior staff, you’re running the risk of dooming your project to failure. No one in your organization is going to prepare the rest of your employees for the changes to come as well as your managers and top leadership.

Reaffirm Strategic Alignment

Often, when looking at changes in any organization, we’re looking for reasons for the changes. As such, if you’re looking to give concrete proof as to why your BPR project needs to move forward, aligning it with the strategic goals of your organization is an ample reason as to why it’s happening in the first place. Getting your leadership on board with the changes needed should be far easier with any BPR initiative aligning with your company’s vision and goals.

Unclear Objectives

You’re likely to be dealing with quite a few questions in the early days of any BPR project. Now, this is an area where if you haven’t clearly outlined what is happening and why, then it’ll land flat on its face. You’re already having major challenges in BPR implementation, so leaving things a bit murky isn’t going to win support and acceptance.

Defining the Scope

As with any major changes, you want detail, and you want to define the full scope of a given project. This might be a radical transformation of every single workflow in the business, or it might be a drastic change to you’re operating machines on a certain production line. Without the scope of the project defined, you’re going to leave people in the dark.

Underestimating Scope

Speaking of scope, it isn’t difficult to bite off more than you can chew with BPR. This is one of the more common challenges in BPR implementation, and one that many companies have struggled with over the years. If you don’t have a clear understanding of the depth and complexity of a process, then a radical overhaul of the entire thing is going to result in potential catastrophic failure.

Do It in Phases

Rather than getting bogged down in the details, this is a perfect opportunity to break your BPR initiative into phases. You’re likely not undergoing DMAIC projects all in a single day, so take your time. Large projects are going to take time, and breaking them into more manageable phases is going to make crossing the finish line more realistically doable for any organization.

Lack of Resources

Any project is constrained by the materials and budget allocated for it. If you’re setting out to make a drastic change with your BPR initiative, you’ll run into these issues sooner rather than later. Much as we’d like to ignore resources, they are one of the larger issues in BPR implementation you’ll run into. Sometimes a project is just too big to do right now, whether it be technological constraints or monetary concerns.

Priorities

Just as you’re breaking down massive projects into smaller chunks, you’ll likely want to take stock in what phases you can accomplish in a given fiscal year. This has added benefits, as you’re getting results now and planning for the future, too. Priortizing mission critical items is going to yield better results than scrapping the entire project and letting things stagnate.

Poor Communication

A lack of communication can kill any project before it gets started. This is a two-way principle to keep in mind as well. If you’re not communicating well with your team, then they are likely going to balk at whatever BPR implementation you’ve got in mind. Likewise, if your team isn’t communicating their concerns, needs, and suggestions, you’re at an impasse.

Cross-Functional Teams

One way you can encourage better overall communication and collaboration with your teams is to break them up and add people from different departments. I’m a strong believer in the power and efficacy of cross-functional teams, and you’ll likely want to turn to these to foster more open lines of communication not only with your teams, but with your leadership as well.

No Accountability

If no one is championing your new process, then how do you measure its success? There needs to be a sense of ownership applied to any process, as this allows you to guarantee success, steer improvement efforts, and ultimately measure things to see if they are hitting the mark. If your new process is just left adrift, then you’ve got some new issues to sort out.

Process Owners

Any process should have a process owner. If you’re familiar with Six Sigma, which look where you’re browsing today, then the concept of owning a process isn’t new. This has two main benefits, as you’ve got the means to not only guide improvement cycles, but also have a way to measure and effectively determine the success of your reengineered process.

Technology Issues

There is nothing more daunting and heartbreaking as a former IT professional than a new technology stack entering a project. Technological advances are great, sure, but they pose issues. You’ll have teething problems with migration, general compatibility problems, and even a lack of knowledge with these new pieces of tech.

IT Requirements

If you’re looking to integrate technology into your processes, then you better have the IT staff on the ready to aid with the migration. As someone who formerly worked in the field, this is the bread and butter of any technological effort. Professionals should be guiding instruction, easing the migration efforts, and ultimately troubleshooting any problems that arise with general compatibility. It is going to be a massive undertaking, but skilled technicians are more than capable of handling it.

Incremental Improvement

I can hear some of you grousing about the need to just improve things bit by bit. Maybe next fiscal year, you’ll have the process right where it needs to be. If you’re looking at BPR, it can be somewhat comforting to turn back to the status quo of just doing things bit by bit. After all, it works a large majority of the time for most projects, right?

A Clean Slate

As with any of the major, common complaints in BPR implementation, it is simply a matter of taking the plunge. If you’re looking at a BPR initiative in the first place, something with your processes isn’t working. A clean slate is an ideal surface to work on, and you’ve got the knowledge and data to back up what doesn’t work. It’s time to commit to a new strategy.

Lack of Sustainment

BPR isn’t a fire-and-forget sort of project. You might get the ball rolling on a new process, but that isn’t where BPR stops. Where many businesses trip up with their BPR implementation is not seeing the project through all the way, but that’s an easy enough thing to fix.

Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement

I’ve said it probably a hundred times at this point, but you’re wanting to foster a culture of continuous improvement. You may have taken the first step toward a radical change in your organization, but that’s just the beginning. Without data gathered, regular performance reviews and monitoring, and a desire to work toward perfection, a project is going to be fail at some point.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Looking for something else to go with your morning coffee? You might want to look at how to measure ROI in Six Sigma. This isn’t readily evident when adopting Six Sigma, but we’ve got practical tips and tricks to get you the data you need.

Additionally, you might want to consider data visualization tools for Lean Six Sigma. Data is fine and dandy, but without an active and visually appealing way to present that data, you’re likely to lose your audience.

Conclusion

BPR is a big change, and that’s just a fact of life. However, you don’t need to get hung up on the common pitfalls of its implementation. With the strategies we’ve described today, you should be well on your way to seeing the fruits of your BPR project pay off.

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