Growth is limited by time. This belief is what our services revolve around. It means that the main goal of everything we do is to save time for our clients. We save this time by improving efficiency and streamlining processes. All through digital transformation. What is digital transformation? It is the act of taking physical, routine processes. Processes done by humans. And creating automated solutions that will allow software to do the work instead.
By achieving the above, we free up people's time so they can spend it on important activities. On activities that grow the business. Instead of wasting the time on day-to-day routine work.
How do you know our solution is the right for you? It is right for you because it is 100% tailored to you. We do not have a predefined solution. Quite the opposite. We design a solution that adapts to your company structure and your processes, instead of you being required to adapt your processes to fit a predefined SaaS solution.
These results are achieved by following the 6 step Mcon Model below.
This is a general description of the model. If you are looking for real-life applications, please read our Case Study.
A business consists of many moving parts and interdependencies. With each of them serving a unique purpose.
Understanding these is the foundation of the work we will be doing.
In this step, we will have an open conversation with the client, in which we will gain an understanding of all these components. This will bring out the client’s pain-points. These pain-points can vary in nature: Time wasted, money wasted, revenue lost, frequent mistakes, inefficient communication etc.
Bringing to light these pain-points. And combining them with the general understanding of the business, allows us and the client to determine which processes to focus on and prioritize. In other words: where in the company should we start optimizing.
Another option (rarely used and more expensive) is the following: if the client does not have a clear separation of processes in the company, we can do a process audit. This process audit works similar to any other audit. This means that we will dive into your company's operations. Talk to your managers. Talk to your employees. Investigate the company structure. And anything else that will allow us to get an overview of all the main processes that make up your company. After doing this, the end result is a process portfolio with health and importance indicated.
In step 1, we narrowed down a number of specific processes to digitize. In this step, we need to dive deep into those processes and understand where and why the pain-points occur. This, we achieve by understanding the people who actually perform those processes. The process stakeholders. Together with the stakeholders we generate a process map that shows all of the actions performed, the information flow, specific conditions/requirements, and how things are connected. This reveals exactly how the process functions right now. And which specific parts create pain-points.
During the above process analysis, we take the opportunity to also gather possible automation and feature ideas from the stakeholders. Since these people work with the process on a regular basis, they most likely already have ideas for features.
The end result is a series of process maps that document all the details and optimization ideas.
In this step, the process map from the previous step will be expanded and redesigned from a digital perspective. First, a dedicated process analyst will expand the process map by adding as many details as possible, and evaluating all interdependencies with other processes. These details will include exceptions that can occur when running the process and additional points about the information flow.
Second, the analyst will design features, automations and logic for the process. This will indicate how the process will be automated and where time and effort will be saved. Additionally, this will show the automations in the information flow. Which conditions and decision points will be present. And how all the features will work. Also, if any interdependencies between automations are present, the correlation between them will be mapped.
The above should be seen as the most crucial part of the model. It is in this step that we are designing to create the best possible value. The design created in the step will be the backbone of the process moving forward. This means that the development team will follow this design in step 4.
At the end of this step, the redesigned process is sent for client approval.
In this fourth step, the actual development of the solution is carried out and tested for the highest possible efficiency and value. Based on the expanded process maps from step 3, the system architecture and logic is defined and pushed to the development team.
Our development team works in a very agile manner. This allows us to stay very flexible and react promptly to any changes or new requirements. Because of our flexibility, we are able to execute frequent feature/process testing. This testing results in instant improvements to the process design. This way we ensure that the final solution will reflect the most optimal process design.
Here, an important point is that our development team works very closely with the analysts. This creates a very close test-feedback-development loop, which makes the constant improvement described above possible.
Even though we use Podio a lot, we are not limited by it. Process automation often includes integrations between systems that the client is already using. When systems talk to each other, we get the best of both worlds. And there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Towards the end of this step, the analyst will run a few test sessions with the client or the process stakeholders. We hope that these test sessions will bring to light even the smallest improvements remaining. However, we do know how valuable and scarce our client’s time is. Therefore, we take as much of this testing time on our own shoulders as possible.
At the end of this step, a finished digital process will be in place.
This fifth step is very individual depending on the specific process and client needs.
When the process is developed, it is very important that the stakeholders learn to apply and use the process correctly.
Change management can be hard and the best way around is to reduce complexity. Again, depending on the process the complexity will vary, but our role is to make it as simple as possible to learn and implement. This, we achieve by mixing and matching the services below. They are split into two categories: Training material and documentation.
a) Demonstration videos:
These videos give an overview on how specific features work and the exceptions related to the features.
b) Process explanation video:
These videos are focused on the process maps. Here, we will explain in depth how the process is set up and how stakeholder should read/understand the process maps.
c) Process execution videos:
These videos show and explain all of the process and feature details. They demonstrate step for step how the process should be executed in real-life.
d) User manuals:
This is a series of manuals that represent the process in a very user-friendly way. They are designed in a way that will allow stakeholders to complete the process correctly just by following these manuals. The manuals are designed following the client banding, stored online, and accessible through any device.
e) Live webinar training:
These are in-person, online meetings where the training is carried out. It allows for high interactivity between the stakeholders and the Mcon representative. These webinars can be either one-on-one- or group calls.
a) System architecture:
A graphic representation of your system as a whole. It shows how the different apps and information flows are related to each other.
b) Process maps:
These are the maps that we have been working with throughout the first 4 steps.
c) Dataflow maps:
Graphically displayed maps that show all the details of the data movements and automation logic. This makes it easy to understand complex setups.
d) File management maps:
In case the process includes automated file management, these maps will show the folder architecture and file movements.
There are a lot of advantages to having digital processes. And one of the main ones is data access. By running digital processes we get access to data that we otherwise would have never had. This data is multipurpose: Firstly, it is necessary when stakeholders are using the features. Secondly, it can be analysed and used for great business insight.
In these times companies are becoming more and more data driven. They utilize data driven decision making. Data driven operations. Data driven process management. Data driven strategic planning. And much more.
This data drive originates from data insight. This insight is what you get through great business intelligence. This is the cherry on top when you talk about digital transformation.
We make it possible for our clients to achieve the above by utilizing the top reporting systems like Power BI or Tableau. We create direct integrations to your digital process and combine it with external data sources. Based on this, we structure the data correctly and establish interactive KPI reports and in-depth analytics dashboards.
If you are interested in learning more about our services, you can read our case study
here.
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