The Top Reasons Why Some Business Initiatives Fail

Failure to Assess Current State of Business

Do you know the current state of your business? When beginning the conceptualization process for your BPI, try not to be overly optimistic or pessimistic about your business prospects. It’s critical to have an accurate picture of your business before you can set specific goals.

Gather key performance metrics, map business processes, analyze opportunities, and find potential improvements that will make a specific and significant difference.

Poor Alignment with Business Goals

A business process improvement project needs to be aligned with specific business goals. If those goals are not measured by the proper metrics, or the project doesn’t specifically outline action for improvement, your BPI is destined for failure. If your business doesn’t have clear goals or has conflict at different business levels, your project will not have the exact direction it needs.

To avoid this, it’s a good idea to ensure your project is focused on specific and measurable business goals with identifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) attached. Remember, it’s essential to realize what measurable improvements your business wants this BPI to achieve in the short- and long-term.

Weak Support from Upper Management

A good BPI has a low chance of success without specific support from upper management. Getting management on board is crucial for the project’s success because, without proper commitment, funding, and manpower, your BPI may be cut short.

Getting support from upper management can be done in a variety of ways. Perhaps the best way is an orientation session that includes all management levels to bring the company up to speed with the who, what, why, and how. This allows transparency and helps make a case for why the project will help the bottom line.

Insufficient Focus On Overall Business Objectives

All teams working on the BPI should focus on one overarching and specific business objective. If the project is being completed across departments, regular communication will be required. If the organization usually works in departmental siloes, so will the project.

BPIs fail when different teams lobby for what they need without understanding the overall project goal. Avoid this and shift focus to free communication between teams to complete a BPI that benefits the entire organization without detracting from other business functions.

Flawed Project Team Composition

It’s best if your BPI project team consists of representation from all departments across your organization. Ideally, your team will consist of anywhere from 4-10 employees from different departments affected by the potential changes. Some team members will be driving change, and some will be in supporting roles. The organization must choose people from multiple levels who know and understand processes.

This may seem overwhelming and for many companies, it is. The best way to complete successful BPI projects is to deploy an ERP system.