Concensus Technologies: ProcessWorksTM as “a Game Changer”
For Jaime Lowther, it came down to consistency.
As President and COO of Concensus Technologies, an IT Security Services company based in Pittsburgh, PA, Jaime saw how a lack of consistency was holding her team back.
“We were getting things done, but it was hard. Our team was scrambling. As it turns out, we just didn’t have enough formal processes”, Jaime says. “We thought we did, but when we actually dug in, we found out we really didn’t.”
Jaime found that Concensus’ processes were ad hoc and inconsistent.
She realized the next step in the company’s growth trajectory would require them to tackle something challenging: their Business Process Infrastructure.
“A lot of what we did and how we did it was in people’s heads – tribal knowledge. We were inconsistent. If someone went on vacation, someone else had to figure out what that person had done and how they did it.”
The company’s Leadership Team was concerned this inconsistency would impact scalability, profitability, client experience and – ultimately – client retention. It also led to frustration among their talented staff that could eventually impact employee retention in the extremely tight security technology job market.
“For the most part, clients didn’t see it – we kept the scrambling and inefficiency ‘behind the curtain’. But it took a lot of time, effort and stress to get things done. We knew we couldn’t keep that up forever.”
That’s when Concensus engaged ProcessWorks.
“ProcessWorks showed us a proven methodology for addressing process issues. We knew we had to improve our key processes, but doing it seemed really daunting and time-consuming. After all, we have a business to run!”
Concensus found ProcessWorks’ simple, tops-down approach to be exactly the right solution.
“The ProcessWorks Bootstrap workshop was a real eye opener for us. We found out our Core Processes were different from what we thought. We were missing a lot of things.”
By the end of the one-day workshop, Concensus not only had a map of their Core Processes, they had a methodology for documenting all of their processes, supported by the experience of documenting an entire Core Process during that one-day session.
“Working with ProcessWorks consultants, we documented our entire Sales Process in that very first day”.
Indeed, the Concensus team documented their Sales process in about an hour – after spending months unsuccessfully trying to document that process on their own.
“We were making it so complicated. ProcessWorks consultants showed us how to focus on the critical few components of each process. Now, in less than a day, we can build an entire process on our own and have it ready for roll-out. We bring together the people involved in the process and they work together to agree on one consistent way of doing things.”
All eight of Concensus’ Core Processes have now been documented using the ProcessWorks methodology. And the impact on Concensus’ business is apparent.
“Our overall consistency is dramatically better because everyone does things the same way. Our clients see a tight, well-coordinated team. If someone doesn’t follow the process, they hear about it from their peers. They hold each other accountable.”
“For instance, our client on-boarding process is more clear and more concise. On-boarding lays the foundation for long-term client success. It’s an excellent client experience, and first impressions count!”
Concensus Technologies is just one excellent example of how ProcessWorks improves consistency, scalability and manageability of a successful, growing business.
“ProcessWorks was exactly what we needed”, Jaime says. “It was a total game changer for our business.”
About Concensus Technologies
With more than 20 years of experience, Concensus Technologies provides a standardized approach for assessing your current information technology environment to maximize your future investment. We offer comprehensive IT Managed Services and Identity and Access Management solutions, for small and mid-sized businesses and enterprise operations in Pittsburgh and across the country. Our certified team of IT experts is ready to deploy whenever you need us, 24/7/365.
To learn more about Concensus Technologies, click here.
About ProcessWorks
ProcessWorks is dedicated to helping Small & Medium Sized Businesses (SMB’s) better document, implement and manage their most important business processes. Most SMBs lack the expertise and time required to implement traditional Business Process Management methodologies in a wholistic way. The ProcessWorksTM methodology is a unique, tops-down approach that enables SMB’s to determine their most important business processes (“Core Processes”) and document them using a simple but powerful tops-down documentation approach. With ProcessWorks, a team can define an entire Core Process in as little as an hour. Since documenting the process is only half the battle (a well-defined process is useless if no one follows it!), ProcessWorks includes simple but powerful tools for planning, executing and managing the roll-out of proctant business processes. Most SMBs lack the expertise and time required to implement traditional Business Process Management methodologies in a wholistic way. The ProcessWorksTM methodology is a unique, tops-down approach that enables SMB’s to determine their most important business processes (“Core Processes”) and document them using a simple but powerful tops-down documentation approach. With ProcessWorks, a team can define an entire Core Process in as little as an hour. Since documenting the process is only half the battle (a well-defined process is useless if no one follows it!), ProcessWorks includes simple but powerful tools for planning, executing and managing the roll-out of processes.
ProcessWorks was founded by proven business process professionals who have experienced both the challenges of ineffective business process in the SMB environment, and the tremendous power that can be unleashed when business processes are well defined and implemented. To learn more about ProcessWorks, click here.
