A range of ways to maximise the opportunities to evidence benefits of business process improvement are outlined in a guide published by the University of Strathclyde. Heather Lawrence explains more about how it can help higher education staff.
The University of Strathclyde’s business improvement team has launched A Guide to Evidencing the Benefits of Business Process Improvement in Higher Education following the allocation of funding from the Leadership Foundation’s Innovation and Transformation Fund.
This guide describes a range of activities that institutions can use in order to maximise their opportunities for evidencing benefits of business process improvement (BPI). It outlines how to quantify benefits throughout a typical project life-cycle for process redesign/process modelling activities and demonstrates how to gather, record and communicate the information to allow for more accurate reporting of the success and impact of projects.
It will also help to provide insight into where institutional action is required, particularly for initiatives where expected benefits are not being realised. It is intended that by working consistently using the tools provided in the guide we will drive cultural change in the identification and recording of efficiency savings and income generation.
This guide outlines a good practice approach to evidencing benefits at the time of publication, therefore, it is intended to be a dynamic document and it is envisaged that the sector will continue to work collaboratively in the future to share learning in order to further enhance the content.
Stephen Butcher, head of procurement and shared services at HEFCE, said: “This guide, together with the associated resources, will help those interested in business process improvement (BPI) understand how BPI should be managed and how the evidencing of efficiencies, both qualitative and quantitative, can improve outcomes.”
Download a PDF copy of the guide.
Heather Lawrence is the Business Improvement Manager at the University of Strathclyde
