"Great is the man that complicate the simple, but greater is the
man that simplifies the complicated. That's why the foundation
of an atom bomb is only "E=MC2" - WindyG
In any business, you would find this universal cost. It's a cost
even the big conglomerate cannot escape from. This cost is known
as plainly as time. For any business to be profitable, the
management of this cost is critical. Time is an "unlimited"
resource that businesses have the privilege of "buying", if it
can afford its price.
When time is paid for, businesses have to keenly manage it with
a mindset that it is priceless. Probably worth more than a
thousand million times the price it is bought for. That is if
you really need to tag it with a price. Simply by leveraging
with strategic management and executing common sense decisions
(most of the time they are unpopular or even painful) on this
valuable resource, a business could be resurrected "overnight"
from the "dead". Let's find out how.
I wish to simply share my thoughts about how I would manage this
priceless resource in seven parts. This is only part one. Do
have the patience to walk with me.
Processing Engineering (Simplify the Simple)
Having a first hand view of many businesses' processes, I was
amused by many processes that were created for policies and not
for productivity sake. This help many departments justify their
costs and why they cannot do more. Systems and processes are
meant to serve. They are not meant to be served. So the solitary
question that is to be urgently asked is, "Are you being served
or you are serving the systems?" Though the well circulated
phrase of "K.I.S.S' (Keep It Simple Stupid) may sound vulgar or
disrespectful; it encompasses all the techniques which all
processes engineers must keep in mind. Sadly though, many focus
how to look busier, rather than how to do things faster or
better.
Recently I had the privilege of reviewing some online
office/sales management applications on behalf of a client. With
a mindset of a macho male, I was more intrigue by the
applications that gave me all whistles and bells (though most
unproductive), instead on the ones that is really simple and
highly productive. Realizing that, I urged and beseech my client
to go for the simple application that gives him the results
faster, over the complicated application that gave him the
results too but not before going around the world 30 times. To
sum it up, all projects has to keep in mind only three detailed
objectives and discard the rest that WILL slow its achievement.
It's really all very simple. So let's not complicate it.
Simply yours, Michael Kuan
About the author:
Michael Kuan is an Account Manager with Checkmate Data Services
Pte Ltd in Singapore. The company specializes in providing
business process solutions to South East Asia's businesses and
companies. For more info, please visit it's website at
http://www.checkmate-data.com
