The business process has several functions to be performed in a company. Each distinctive process combines to work in an integrated manner to give optimal results.
It’s important to know the key processes that your organization should follow. It ensures you’re running as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
Those different types of business processes are categorized into three basic types:
- Operational Process
- Management Process
- Supporting Process
Let us now explore every business process in detail to understand them and make sure they are functioning well…
What is Business Process?
A business process is a series of steps that should be followed in order to complete a business-related task.
Many organizations have a different set of tasks such as hiring, marketing, and meeting customer needs.
Processes are also used internally within an organization to ensure consistency.
For example, HR may have a process for hiring new employees that includes different steps like recruitment, interviews, and background checks.
Types of Business Process
As mentioned above the process is categorized into three types. Let’s start with the Operational process which adds the core value to the business.
Operational Process
A company’s operation cycle is the most significant aspect of its workflow. It defines what they actually do in day-to-day operations. It involves the production process, marketing, sales, and revenue generation.
Production Process
The Production Process is the core process in a company that is used to produce goods and services. It is a series of interconnected processes that convert raw material into finished goods.
Once the product design is finalized, it is passed on to the production team to start the production process. The whole set of processes begins with planning and ends with dispatching the goods to the market.
The primary work in a production floor kickstarts with the extraction of raw materials, followed by
- Manufacturing
- Quality checking
- Packaging and
- Dispatch
Products are being transformed by the use of technological processes. While it includes labour work that is often managed by production managers. The process for creating both physical and software products varies according to the type of product.
Marketing Process
Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers. Marketing can be done through a variety of channels, including online, print, and in-person communication.
Marketing is an essential part of any business because it directly adds value to it. A marketing team needs to understand what marketing strategy they should use to ensure they attract as many customers as possible. Many different marketing strategies can be used by businesses, including online marketing, and offline advertising.
Nowadays Online marketing is unavoidable that promotes a product or service on the internet through various forms of media such as social media posts, blogs, websites, and email campaigns.
Offline advertising is also worth taking into account, where the promotion of your product might be done by traditional means such as TV ads and radio commercials. It really depends on what niche you’re choosing.
Sales Process
The sales process is a series of steps that an organization takes to convert leads into customers. The process starts with
- Identifying potential prospects
- Researching the prospects to find out their needs and wants, and then
- Making contact with them to present the company’s products or services.
- Last but not least, it’s important to manage your sales and business development teams so that they work efficiently.
Sales is important because marketing alone doesn’t take you to the place. In fact, double the effort and investment are much required for valuable conversion.
Sales professionals analyze customer data in order to identify potential opportunities for a sale.
Finance Process
The finance process maintains the financial stability of a company. It includes
- Expenses
- Income
- Profit
- Loss
The finance department maintains the balance sheet of the company which explains the financial status at a specific time. It includes the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity.
The finance process can be broken down into stages, which are
- Planning
- Monitoring and evaluating
- Reporting and decision making.
Moreover, the accounting and budgeting activities are also controlled by the same finance department.
Accounting Process
Accounting is a process used to measure, report and analyze an organization’s financial performance.
The Accounting Process in the business process has many steps:
- Identifying the transaction
- Recording the transaction
- Posting the transaction
- Adjusting the trial balance
- Preparing Financial Statements
- Closing the entries
Budgeting Process
The budgeting process is a fundamental part of every business. It’s the process of setting up a budget for the company’s future revenue and expenses. This helps in determining how much money is available for other investments, such as new staff, marketing campaigns, sales, etc…
The process starts with an analysis of the company’s past performance to determine its financial position and then it forecasts its future performance by estimating revenues and capital expenditures.
The forecasted results are then used to allocate funds among different departments or projects.
Management Processes
The management process governs all aspects of the operational process. This includes staffing, resource allocation, team management, etc…
Human Resources Process
In the past, human resources processes were seen as a heavy cost to the business. However, with the changing landscape of business and the increasing importance of talent acquisition and retention, HR has now become an integral part of any company’s success.
The process starts with
- Recruitment
- Employee training and development
- Employee retention and
- Finally ends with separation from the company.
HR manager takes the sole responsibility for managing all the resources that may vary depending on the industry and the company size.
Smaller companies will typically have an hr manager who handles all of these duties, while larger companies may have a team of hr professionals that work together to handle the workflow.
Team Building Process
Team building is a process of developing and managing a group of people who will work together for the betterment of the company.
The team-building process usually starts with the selection of people to be on the team. The skills, knowledge, and experience needed for the job are considered when deciding who should be on the team. The type of work to be done is also considered when deciding how many people should be on the team.
The next step is to define what each person’s role will be. Getting team members’ input and ideas helps top management to sort out the problems easily. Knowing the strength and weaknesses of team members is crucial for the allocation of work to them.
Another point is setting up a plan for how often they will meet, what they are supposed to do at meetings, and what types of business communication methods they will use.
Management Control Process
The Control Process is structured in a series of steps that are executed periodically.
The Control Process monitors and reviews the performance of each business process.
It identifies any deviations from planned performance and takes corrective action to prevent a recurrence. It uses statistical analysis and key performance indicators to measure.
Supporting Processes
The Supporting Process is not directly related to the core function and does not provide any direct value. They are usually responsible for assisting the operational process from start to finish. This may include providing guidelines, technical support, safety at the workplace, accounting, etc…
Customer Support Process
Customer support or service is a vital part of the business process that provides value to both end users and makers of the product.
When customers get satisfied with the product and services you offer – including support, it automatically builds trust among people. Eventually, it creates recognition and reach for your brand through word of mouth.
The customer support process consists of four steps:
- Receiving and understanding the complaint or inquiry
- Resolving the issue
- Closing the complaint or inquiry and
- Getting feedback from the customer.
Compliance and Safety Process
Compliance and safety are two aspects that indirectly add value to the business. Compliance is concerned with the company’s adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and other requirements that may be imposed by governments or other authorities.
Safety is a major concern in any workplace as it protects employees. They guarantee smooth operations and increase the efficiency of the work.
Reader’s Insight
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