To understand the Value Cycle is fundamental to not only manage organizations but also to drive business transformation and continuous improvement. Business insights must be within a context and with an E2E approach to add value to decision makers and the organization`s strategy. Findings from deep dive analysis must be structured within the organization’s Way of Working not only to empower leaders and teams to take action but also to drive organizational learning. Lean Thinking can help organizations to achieve business results both in the short and long term by developing simpler and more straightforward “Value Ways”:
Creating and delivering value for customers
Even though there is a wide diversity, the cycle starts with Creating Value which will give as a result the organization`s products and services. Once the pipeline is defined, the cycle continuous with Delivering Value to the customers. This “Value Ways” can be simpler and more straightforward by applying Lean Thinking to leave behind traditional organizational structures and stop trying to make areas and departments fit into the Value Cycle. Before adding into the cycle think about the best “Lean Way” to connect offer and demand in your organization. Stakeholders and the community must be taken into consideration in both creating and delivering value, and not by incorporating afterwards new areas or departments to the organizational structure adding complexity. Through creating and delivering value for the customers, organizations will compete with both competitors and substitutes in the marketplace and the outputs will be based on the products and services’ pipeline and the delivery performance, but it is enough to achieve business outcomes?
Capturing value for the shareholders
In parallel to create and delivering value for the customers, organizations are Capturing Value for their shareholders. Through monthly, quarterly and annual Benefits’ reporting, the planning and controlling processes inform shareholders about the value captured within that period. But the value is capture, or not, on daily and weekly basis and payments and collections’ flows will determine the organization`s Cash Flow with an impact on the price per share. Again, this value way can be simpler and more straightforward with Lean Thinking instead of trying to improve traditional organizational structures which increase complexity and reduce performance specially in payments and collections` flows where accountability GAPs are also created. Through capturing value for the shareholders, organizations will compete not only with marketplace`s competitors but with every other possible investment in the capital market and here is when business outcomes are seen, or not.
Developing a new Way of Working
Either the organization is creating, delivering or capturing value, a Way of Working (WOW) will be behind its efficiency and effectiveness to achieve process outputs and business outcomes. It includes People, Process and Technology, the three must act as one to perform each of the Value Cycle stages and Lean Thinking can help organizations to make it happen while traditional organization structure won`t. There was a time where Quality was completely aside from the Process acting only as an auditor to control. The Quality journey from control to assurance and finally to reach design and see Quality as part of the Process took years. To develop a new WOW, organizations need to develop leadership and grow engagement within People to improve flexibility while to increase stability organizations must have both “in place” and “in use” simple, standard and effective Processes and Technology. Is through their WOW that organizations can reduce cost while improve customer experience in a unique way that distinguish themselves from competitors. Also, is through the WOW that the adaptability and organizational fitness can be improved increasing its Resiliency and Sustainability to ensure business outcomes not only in short but also long term.
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