Introduction
The birth and growth of companies bears some similarity between them, especially in the first years of existence, until they reach a state of maturity of the enterprise.
They are born as a consequence of one or a few entrepreneurs who feel they have sufficient skills to face an independent activity.
They are almost always employees or workers of medium or large companies, usually with a certain hierarchical level, who have sufficient capital to face the first actions, or have resources to obtain credits or loans to start activities.
They come, indistinctly, from the production, administration or commercial area and have knowledge about the development of companies.
They usually have contact with suppliers, clients, banking institutions or others outside the firm.
In general, they start from very low, with small commercial or industrial actions, in their homes or in small premises or own or rented sheds. Sometimes they start as a third party of the company they work for, participating in some parts of the product transformation process, carrying out some commercial management, paying salaries and wages, etc.
With a lot of effort, dedication, perseverance and perseverance, giving up free or rest hours, committing close family members or friends, they manage to grow in certain market niches.
As they grow, they add employees, machines, information technology, expanding the workplace, concentrating a large part of the activity on themselves.
This growth that we call “Growth by Aggregation” has a ceiling that manifests itself when the owner feels overwhelmed by the tasks that he cannot solve alone, even if he compromises an extended work schedule or, because the complexity of the management prevents solving it with efficiency and requires specialists in certain topics.
These manifestations are "symptoms" that indicate that something unwanted is happening and, when this occurs, a "diagnosis" and later a "treatment" is imposed.
In this stage of growth, three paths open:
- Continue as it was managing the company and sacrifice the possibility of growth Try to grow without modifying the management model, with the risk of entering chaos and inefficiency Design and apply a planned management model that achieves efficiency in the organization and scheduled delegation of functions.
The design and implementation of the "Chronological Management Network" specific to each company is the recommended method to advance through the third proposed path, achieving continuous improvement of the organization and efficient driving.
Description
The Chronological Management Network (hereinafter RCG), is the tool that graphically represents the summation of Value Added Stages (EAV) of the company's internal process, be it industrial, commercial or service.
The graph represents the paths through which the processes advance, the bifurcations, the curlers and returns, the stages that involve decision making, the data registrations and, in each fixed stage, the needs and expectations as internal customers are described and the possibilities of satisfaction as internal suppliers.
The entire graph is distributed in bands or rows that correspond to the functional sectors in which the organization is supported.
Purpose
Visualize the entire management process and facilitate constant review and optimization.
Make sure that each member of the organization knows what the company expects from him and can respond accordingly.
Define what is the role of each person in the process and how their activity is complemented with their internal / external provider and their internal / external client.
Take clear knowledge of the functions under your responsibility.
In addition, to know what issues you can make decisions or act on without consulting or requesting authorization.
Know which salary band corresponds to each position and / or activity.
Be aware of the job description and Mission of the EAV
Detect Cost Aggregation Stages (EAC) that do not add value and do not have a functional justification.
Simplify the training of new personnel entering the company.
Detect which are the EAVs that the heads or directors of the company can delegate to have more time to focus on institutional relations and strategic functions.
Components
The components of the RCG are too few to make it simple and easy to understand:
- RCG table composed of a heading and up to five bands / rows that will represent each of the sectors involved in the company. Symbols that represent each EAV in a correlative way as it appears from the progress of the process. (the same symbols are used as in the flow diagrams) Identifying title of the EAV Connectors that link the EAVs indicating the process path
Building
In the process of building the RCG, the efficiency of this model is contained, which is carried out with successive interviews with the heads of the company, directors or managers in exercise.
All construction is based on the succession of questions asked by the consultant, who must have a deep knowledge of the operation of industrial, commercial or service companies.
It is important that the consultant has a professional training commensurate with the task and a vast experience of management in companies because, from the precision of the questions, the appropriate definitions of the AVEs result that, decidedly, are justified to incorporate into the design of the RCG
The responses that are incorporated into the network must identify whether the EAV deals with: diagnosis, operation, decision-making, preparation of projects or proposals, contact with third parties, performance evaluation, compliance with standards and legal provisions, etc.
In certain steps of the process, the need to evaluate an alternative with the possible answers of "yes" or "no" may arise and from each of these answers a different path or a bifurcation of the process opens.
In construction, it is necessary to achieve the definition of an ideal and efficient process, totally independent of the structure and procedures that are historically applied and of the people who make up the organization.
It is important to be clear that AVEs are not jobs and represent the necessary stages that must be specified for the process to advance by disaggregating them from the activity packages that are carried out in practice.
The construction must contemplate all the activity that makes up the process from the capture of the commercial opportunity or specific sales, to the collection of the product or service delivered and the corresponding accounting registration.
Each activity incorporated into the RCG will be located in the horizontal strip corresponding to the sector in which it is carried out: commercial, production, warehouse, accounting administration, etc.
The connectors indicate the path that the process follows, indicating the link between suppliers and internal / external customers.
Utilization
When the graph is complete, the utilization process begins, which involves different operations:
- The first activity consists of re-justifying each of the AVEs, finding the sense of adding value, because otherwise it only adds cost (EAC) and must be eliminated. Detect the concentration of activities on the participants of the process. This can be seen by painting the AVEs in charge of the same person with a certain color.When the activity in point two shows a significant number of activities in charge of a certain person, it is identified which are the ones that are appropriate and can be delegated to third parties and in which Order of priority Describes the mission and functions that correspond to each EAV and that of the occupants of the positions that fulfill those functions It defines how many jobs and how many people are needed to fulfill the functions of each EAVThe policies that will direct the activity of each EAV and each job position are drawn up. As well as the authority that people have to make decisions without the need for consultations, based on the policies issued. People are placed in the jobs according to their knowledge, experiences and preferences.
Responsibilities
In the description of each job that emerges from the different EAVs, the mission of each occupant, their functions and what the company expects of the person who will perform the job is clearly stated.
The functions that are detailed in the jobs are the main ones, being left to the need and disposition of each person the different activities that, without being detailed as a function of the position, complete the actions that should be carried out for the best management result..
The fact that all members of the organization know what their responsibilities are gives them peace of mind in the sense that they will not be required to carry out activities that are not contemplated in the description of the corresponding positions.
Advantages and benefits
As can be seen, the advantages and benefits that emerge from carrying out this study are varied and, beyond the specific ones, are left to the use of each employer or driving body.
However, the most outstanding are:
- Elimination of unproductive hidden costs by discarding all the EACs Know who is in charge of each function necessary to achieve the process, without leaving it to the will of the people Locate the most appropriate people in each job Carry out performance evaluation counting with supporting documentation of the responsibilities of each person Know who to turn to for inquiries or resolve certain issues Detect if the balance of the process line is adequate or there are bottlenecks at any stage Define if the load of work of some activity allows the person to also cover another activity.Observe the cases in which a person has too many functions under their responsibility, preventing them from being able to perform them efficiently or attend to those corresponding to their institutional responsibility. Know at what stage of the process deviations to the planned functions occur.
Graphic examples:
Chronological Management Network, business efficiency tool - Graphic example 1
Chronological Management Network, business efficiency tool - Graphic example 2
To achieve an abstraction of how the company's current functions and tasks are managed and performed, it is convenient to imagine founding a business unit identical to the one at hand, in another distant country, assuming that it is going to have to driving it from your current place, at a distance, this will induce you to clearly describe the operation.
Download the original file
