A simple analogy that can be used to describe a bottleneck in your business would be to compare a problem that occurs in a particular process to trying to pour water from a bottle at a rate that is impacted by the width of the neck.
In other words, if the neck is too small you will not be able to pour as much water as you might want. When the input of a process is arriving at a faster rate than the width of that hypothetical bottle you have a classic scenario that can be classed as a bottleneck.
Consulting companies like Tridant are well accustomed to identifying these so-called bottlenecks by leveraging data and insights so that you can make decisions that are driven by data and resolve the problem.
So the question is how can you take the initiative and identify these bottlenecks in your business. Here are some tips to help your business formulate a plan to deal with the sort of problems that cause your processes to suffer complications and costly delays.
Spotting the signs of trouble
There are a number of key indicators that point to the conclusion that you have a bottleneck in your business.
If you regularly experience project delays and have problems meeting deadlines this is a strong indication that you have a bottleneck that needs to be addressed.
Other signs that often suggest you have bottleneck issues are when staff regularly complain of burnout because they are working harder than they need to get results. Also, if you consistently end up having to rework processes to get the results you want you most likely have a bottleneck that needs to be properly identified and tackled.
What type of bottleneck is it?
Bottlenecks restrict the flow of information and although this problem is commonly associated with manufacturing and logistics, they can occur in any business where you rely on a series of processes to keep everything flowing.
It is important to appreciate that there are two main types of bottlenecks.
A short-term bottleneck describes a temporary problem where a backlog accumulates as a result of an issue that ends up causing the blockage. For example, this could be when a key worker is absent and the information flow comes to a halt.
A long-term bottleneck describes a process problem that occurs regularly.
Identifying what type of bottleneck you have will help you to formulate a plan to address the problem.
Use flow charts to pinpoint the problem
Using flow charts is a great way of breaking down every aspect of your processes so that you can identify where the bottleneck is happening more easily.
Mapping out your process makes it much easier to pinpoint the problem.
Ask why
Another good practice would be to use a proven problem-solving technique known as the “5 Whys”.
If you keep asking why at each step of the process you will eventually arrive at the root cause of the blockage.
Identifying and unblocking bottlenecks in your business is an important task that is made easier when you use data and proven strategies to establish exactly where the problem lies. Once you have those details you can set about creating a plan that frees up your business processes again.
