What is business visualization? Objectives, benefits, and recommended tools for visualization

There are quite a few corporate managers and people in charge who want to “find waste in work and improve it” and “want to be able to grasp the whole picture of work and use it to improve work efficiency”.
In this article, we will explain “business visualization” as a method to improve business and productivity. We will also introduce the benefits of visualization and recommended tools, so please refer to it.

What is business visualization?

Business visualization is an effort to visually understand the flow of business operations . Specifically, we use diagrams and tables to make the information (targets, plans, progress, achievements, evaluations, etc.) in the business process and each process easier to understand.

Business visualization allows you to get a bird’s-eye view of your company’s business, making it possible to extract current problems and waste . The first necessary process for improving work efficiency and adjusting work volume is to visualize the overall picture and flow of the company’s work.
In addition, there are cases where only some operations are visualized, such as “visualization of contract operations”.

What is visualization?

Similar to “business visualization,” the term “business visualization” is often used. There is no fixed definition, but it is often used in the sense of “making it visible without being conscious of it” in addition to visualization (making it visible) .

In other words, the word “visualization” is used when information needs to be shared with many people. For example, it is possible to display the status of staff and product availability on monitors. This will allow staff to be relocated and orders to be processed without delay.

Main purpose of business visualization

The purpose of visualizing operations differs from company to company. Let’s check the main purpose because what should be schematized and the tool to be used will change depending on the purpose.

For business improvement

The first purpose of business visualization is “ to improve our own business ”.

• business is delayed for some reason
• Many tasks are dependent on individual skills
• Productivity does not increase

In order for companies with the above problems to improve their operations, it is important to know which areas in the overall operations have issues that need improvement. To that end, we visualize operations and processes. By seeing the overall picture of the work, it becomes possible to grasp the inefficiencies and problems of the work, leading to improvements .
For example, if you introduce a task management table, you will be able to see variations in the amount of work between employees. It is also possible to increase productivity by redistributing workload appropriately.

To consider the introduction of tools

Companies that want to promote digitalization may need to visualize their operations when introducing business tools . This is because it is necessary to organize which tools can be used for which tasks.

However, it is often difficult to summarize the information one by one using Excel, etc. for the business visualization itself. Therefore, there are cases where BPM (Business Process Management) is used. BPM is an initiative and a management method that rotates the PDCA cycle (Plan → Do → Check → Act) that visualizes the current business process and leads to improvement. You can tackle BPM without using a dedicated tool, but if you’re going digital as a company, you might consider using a BPM tool.

There is also an RPA (robotic process automation) system that can optimize the entire business by linking with BPM, which manages and improves business processes . RPA is a technology that automates routine tasks such as data entry, which are mainly performed by the back office. Linking with a BPM tool is convenient when deciding which parts to entrust to robots.

In this way, work visualization is deeply involved in the selection of business tools.

To organize our business

In order for a company to operate soundly, it is necessary to put in place a business structure and ensure that internal controls are functioning . Internal control refers to the rules and mechanisms necessary to achieve a company’s management goals and business objectives.
Specifically, it is necessary to create the following materials.

• A ” flowchart ” that shows the flow of work in diagrams, etc.
• ” Work description ” that describes the work content for each work
• “ Risk Control Matrix ,” which describes business risks and countermeasures

Flowcharts are particularly relevant to business visualization. It is necessary for internal control to diagram the sales process of products and services . It helps to increase the transparency of management by clarifying the flow from transaction occurrence to tabulation and accounting processing. After creating a flow chart and business description, set risks and controls (controls) and put them into a risk control matrix.

If you don’t have a system in place for sound operation, there is a risk of mistakes and troubles, so business visualization is an important part of that work.

Advantages of business visualization

The advantage of business visualization is that each purpose can be achieved. In addition, it may be useful for things you did not expect, so I will introduce the possible benefits.

You can grasp the overall picture of your business

The most basic advantage of business visualization is to be able to grasp the overall picture of business processes and organizations . By visualizing how the operations of the entire organization are carried out and how the operations are connected, the company as a whole can understand the company from a macro perspective.

If the management can grasp the whole picture, it will be possible to find out the current problems and make use of improvement measures and future management strategies . In addition, employees can understand what part of the work they are responsible for has an impact on the business and what they must accomplish, which leads to motivation for their work .

lead to increased efficiency

By visualizing the business process, you can see where the work is taking time and where there is unreasonableness or waste. If we can discover problems in terms of man-hours, costs, employee skills, number of employees, and their connections, we can make improvements.

By sharing work and reviewing inefficient work, you can expect to improve work efficiency and productivity .

Information can be shared among employees

Visualization of business processes has the advantage of enabling all employees to have a common understanding and share information .

For example, if the business process of sales is visualized, by managing and sharing customer information within the department, it becomes possible for people other than the person in charge to respond. By using cloud tools for management, it is possible to share sales progress and activity reports in real time, and by sharing electronic contracts, supervisors can immediately confirm and respond with electronic signatures.

If employees can share each other’s work content and information, personalization will be eliminated. Someone can notice when a problem occurs or even before it occurs, which helps avoid mistakes and troubles .

reduce worker mistakes

Visualization of business processes also helps reduce worker mistakes .
To create the table, in addition to the diagrammatic representation of the relationship with each task, create columns for “details of tasks” and “operation manuals” and add links to documents and videos. By confirming these by employees, it is possible to standardize inconsistent work systems.

It is difficult to read all the details of a thick booklet manual, so being able to check the details while checking the flow in the business process chart is a great advantage. If know-how is shared, it will be easier to notice mistakes within the organization and create an environment that makes it easier to avoid problems.

In addition, there are unexpected cases where you notice that there is no clear “check” step in the business process. In such cases, restructuring the flow and setting up a check process can reduce operator mistakes.

Key points for business visualization

Here are some points to consider when visualizing your business. By grasping these points, you can visualize business processes and issues that were not visible properly.

Extract issues and points for improvement

Hear from employees about what issues and burdens they feel in the current work content and work flow . Since it is easy to find issues from the “raw voice” of employees, it is the best thing to visualize. In addition, we will digitize the following items that can be digitized and convert them into data so that everyone can understand them.

• Unclear, but actually necessary steps
• work results and evaluation
• employee working environment

Incorporating this data into business visualization is useful not only for managers but also for employees to find issues that need to be improved. The entire organization can have a common understanding and work toward problem solving.

create a manual

Once you have clarified your business process in a flow chart, don’t leave it as it is and create a manual . This is so that everyone can perform the actual work in the same way after understanding the flow. In addition to responding to the absence of the person in charge, it is possible to smoothly take over in the event of sudden retirement or leave of absence. It can also be used for training new employees.

Manuals should also be created in business processes when detailed information is needed with pinpoint accuracy. Situations where manuals are necessary for each company are different. If you can diagram your business, it will be easier to see where the manual is needed for your company. It is also important to review and improve the manual repeatedly as necessary, rather than finishing it once it is created .

Utilize tools useful for business visualization

There are several ways to visualize your business:

• Create a flow diagram from scratch using Excel etc.
• Create using a downloadable template
• Take advantage of tools such as flowcharting systems

A table that visualizes business processes can be created using Excel or templates, but it takes time and effort, and it is necessary to confirm how to share when updating. If you want to make it easy and update it on the fly, use a flowchart maker . There are things that each tool can and cannot do, and there are types such as desktop apps, mobile apps, and cloud-enabled types. It is important to use something that meets your company’s needs, such as “can you import data?” and “can you collaborate in real time?”

There are also business visualization tools other than workflow creation. For example, it is a tool that visualizes and analyzes the time and trends that employees spend on work, and the operating status of remote workers, which are difficult to see through interviews. There are various tools for visualizing business operations, so consider introducing them as appropriate.

Recommended tools useful for business visualization

Business visibility is done from all angles. Please refer to the recommended tools.

Teachme Biz

Teachme Biz is a system that makes it easy to create, share, and operate manuals . You can display business procedures as steps and set images, videos, descriptions, etc. for each step. Existing manuals such as PDF data can be imported and exported, so it can be used in various scenes.

Many companies have already introduced Teachme Biz, but it is especially recommended for the following companies.

• I want to simplify, thorough, and standardize my work
• I would like to create an environment where employees can learn at any time, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
• I want to help with technology transfer

It is cloud-based, and manuals can be created and viewed anytime and anywhere. There are three types of plans: “Starter Plan”, “Basic Plan”, and “Enterprise Plan”. Basic Enterprise supports employee training with a “training function” that visualizes the learning progress of employees. All plans have a free trial , so you might want to try the free trial first.

Qasee

Qasee is a business visualization tool that helps you understand business processes . You can see the flow of work, the time it takes, the cost, the work ratio, etc. as real numbers by aggregated data. Setup is easy, just install the dedicated application on your PC and register the projects and tasks to be measured. After that, if you work as usual, the specified business data will be extracted automatically.

Calculated data such as work hours are reported as the actual work situation of each employee, which is useful for understanding the productivity and work load status. Managers can think about team formation considering human costs, and employees can also self-manage by grasping their own work style.

ContractS CLM

ContractS CLM is a tool for contract process optimization and centralized management . Contract workflows can be flexibly set according to company scale, etc., and contract-related information such as contact information and related documents can be visualized.

By centrally managing everything from contract creation to internal review, approval, and conclusion, the lead time can be shortened and the efficiency of contract work can be greatly improved. In some cases, the time from contract creation to conclusion was reduced from 14 days to 1 day, which also helps prevent loss of business opportunities.
In addition, since you can design access permissions, you can rest assured that you can avoid compliance risks such as leakage of confidential information.

MeetCap

MeeCap is a tool for collecting, visualizing and analyzing employee work logs . When working on a PC, data such as “who spends how much time on which task and what the required cost is” is automatically collected and visualized in graphs. As a result, it becomes possible to identify inefficient operations and work on improvement.

It also features an easy-to-understand analysis dashboard, which comprehensively visualizes working hours for each individual and the status of work occurrence in chronological order. Products can be flexibly selected according to the issues faced by the industry and business, such as “for contact centers”, “for back offices”, and “for outsourcing”.

summary

I explained what business visualization is, the benefits of business visualization, and recommended tools