Ian Gotts
January 9, 2016

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Ian Gotts




Articles by: Ian Gotts

Happier Staff. Better Results.

Happier Staff. Better Results.

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Do the math. We all spend a significant percentage of our lives at work. And, based on this poster by Charles Schwab and the state of the Government’s finances, we are all going to be working even longer. So as leaders it is our role to make sure that the lives of our staff are valuable and rewarding, if not fun.

People have incredible levels of drive, ability, and enthusiasm (as evidently clear by the videos that pop up in my social media feeds), and we need to harness that.

Thought: Why is happy hour just an hour and happens after work?

There has been a lot of research recently that is showing that (wait for it…) happy employees are more productive. I guess we knew that instinctively, but now studies are putting some data behind the feeling.

Why Process Inefficiency is Expensive…

Why Process Inefficiency is Expensive…

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

…Sounds obvious, but it is more expensive than you know

Interestingly enough, the true cost of poor process is not in doing the process badly.  Clearly there is some cost there, but often it is the knock-on effect that the poor process has on other areas of the company, the downstream of the problem, which is the real cost multiplier. 

However, this is rarely calculated. If you have poorly documented and followed processes, you won’t even be able to identify the potential costs downstream—let alone measure them. (Note: processes must be documented AND followed to be valuable). So, like an iceberg, you only see a small part of the problem at surface level. Assuming an iceberg is a problem is looking at an iceberg from the Titanic’s rather than the penguin’s perspective.

Customer Experience: Expectation & Execution

Customer Experience: Expectation & Execution

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Process maps are a valuable way to identify waste and streamline operations. This is especially important as every organization has accelerated their digital transformation efforts. In the first few months when COVID-19 drove every customer online, they were happy with a patchy digital experience. The first organizations to get a service up and running gained massively as there was limited competition. But a year on, most organizations have some online service so customers are now able to be selective. They are choosing organizations that have a great online experience. What does that mean? Expectation and execution. The promise of the website is delivered by the back office.

Operational Excellence 2.0: Invented in Silicon Valley?

Operational Excellence 2.0: Invented in Silicon Valley?

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

I have spent the last 30 years evangelizing about the importance of well understood processes. We formalized the UPN (Universal Process Notation) approach which was based on SSADM. And we built a process mapping software vendor in the UK which was acquired by US process automation player and I now live in San Francisco where I have become an avid student of “the Silicon Valley way”.  

After a year or two off, I got 3 of the founders back together and we have launched a company which aims at helping the Fortune 5Million, not just the Fortune 500, to do a better job of systems implementation. At the heart of that is better process documentation. And the sweet spot is Salesforce.com implementations.

Why? Because it is a massive market that has an unmet and growing need. We can make a big difference helping every company achieve and maintain operational excellence. And because we can.

Growing pains

The evolution of process diagramming (i.e. why flowcharts are so 1980’s)

The evolution of process diagramming (i.e. why flowcharts are so 1980’s)

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Every business analyst and consultant has drawn a flowchart at some point in their career. Many probably still are. 

Type “flowchart” into Google and you get 75 million results. Type “horse and cart” into Google and you get 380 million results. But the car has superseded the horse and cart.

In the same way, flowcharts are now an outdated way of capturing process content. Over the last 5-10 years there is a simpler and more engaging diagramming notation. It is proven in major highly regulated industries right down to innovative startups and small nonprofits. It is called UPN (Universal Process Notation) and it is not proprietary to any company and doesn’t require any specialized software.

Why the change?

What hat are you wearing? Perspectives on Business Analysis

What hat are you wearing? Perspectives on Business Analysis

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Over the last 20 years I’ve been helping companies understand, document and drive adoption of their operational business processes. It is important to recognize there are a number of different and competing personas, each of whom believe it is THEIR process content.  

So to keep things simple, we’ve found it useful to consider the different perspectives and to use hats.  Each of the four groups has (in most cases) valuable inputs and concerns about any given process. But it is important to ensure that the way document the processes supports their differing needs and perspectives.

Leading vs Lagging Metrics

Leading vs Lagging Metrics

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Digital transformation was always a 5 year plan that could be put off because it was so painful. But COVID has forced organizations to make dramatic, transformational changes in 5 months or 5 weeks. And the pace of change has not let up as organizations are evolving to stay relevant in very uncertain times.

Never has it been more important that the executives and managers have accurate dashboards and reports to be able to drive business decisions. But are they looking out of the windshield of the car or out of the back window?

Put another way, are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that they are using to make their decisions leading indicators or lagging indicators? Lagging indicators vs. leading indicators

Some examples of lagging and leading indicators:

Going digital or going bananas

Going digital or going bananas

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

What is clear that every company, no matter what industry needs to “go digital” to reduce costs and improve customer experience.  For some industries, it is revolution rather than evolution. “Digital” is more than just driving efficiencies, it is reevaluating business models. As whilst digital can improve efficiencies it is eroding margins at a faster rate.

Nature is a great teacher. Think about the structure of plants and shells and the Fibonacci sequence. Or the strength of the honeycomb structure. These are math and engineering. But a bunch of bananas can teach us about going digital and business change. Seriously? 

A bunch of bananas

3 months ago, we all thought Cambridge Analytica was a font!!!

3 months ago, we all thought Cambridge Analytica was a font!!!

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

Consumers are waking up to the fact that if they can’t work out what product that a website is selling, then they are probably the product. Or at least, their data is. We’ve all known this, but probably hadn’t realized how much of our data is being harvested, aggregated and then exploited.

Every business is now a digital business and data is the lifeblood. This is a major shift over the last 10 years, but the true impact is really starting to be recognized. This transformation is a as significant as the industrial revolution, and with the same redistribution of wealth.

So, let’s first cover off which industries or areas of business are being impacted by the combined disruptive effect of cloud, social, mobile, big data. That is easy. ALL OF THEM. 

The digital business

GDPR is a Process Issue

GDPR is a Process Issue

Author(s):

Founder & CEO, Elements.cloud

By May 25, 2018 – less than 100 days away – any company doing business with subjects of the European Union must comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) stringent rules or face fines up to 4% of revenue. Underpinning the regulations is the principle of “Privacy by design” which means compliance cannot be an add-on, but must be baked into the operational DNA of the organization.  It is a process issue as much as a customer data one. 

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