Imagine you’re a professional race car driver who has been enjoying the success of the winner’s circle lately. In order to remain on top, your car is going to need frequent checks, testing, and adjustments because that is the only way to ensure it continues running at its best and delivering peak performance. In the business world, those frequent tests and checks are Operational Reviews, and the adjustments are Operational Improvements. Together, these two items keep your company running at its best so it remains on track and in the winner’s circle.

OPERATIONAL REVIEW: Your Company’s Strategic Health Check

An operational review (which some call an Operational Assessment) is more than just occasional tests and checks. It’s a thorough and frequent examination of all your business’s core operations and is used to identify areas where you can make improvements, enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and increase productivity.

What Is Some Key Information an Operational Review Provides?

Process Analysis: The review provides an analysis of your company’s existing workflows, procedures, and systems and identifies any inefficiencies, bottlenecks, outdated practices, or ways you can streamline these items.
Quality Checks: The review ensures your company’s quality control processes are being followed and quality standards are being met.
Technology Assessment: It provides an analysis of all the systems and technologies your business is currently using so you can determine if those systems properly support your business or if upgrades might be needed.
Resource Evaluation: It shows you how resources such as labor, financial assets, materials, and technology are being allocated and utilized throughout your organization so changes can be made if needed.
Cost Efficiency: The review provides insight into company spending, ensuring each area has the financial resources it needs, and the company is operating sustainably. It also helps identify areas where additional funding is needed or where costs can be cut.
Feedback Analysis: It provides feedback from employees, partners, and customers allowing you to gain valuable insight into what is working, what needs improvement, and how well each part of the company functions.
Performance Checks: The review provides a snapshot of your company’s performance. It analyzes performance metrics to see which areas are operating successfully and which need attention.
Identifies Redundancies and Gaps: The review identifies performance gaps and areas where efforts are being duplicated or unnecessary.
Enhances Risk Management: It identifies potential operational risks early on so you can fix them before they become a bigger problem.

Real-World Example

Let’s apply an Operational Review to a real-world example so you can see how it can help a company avoid a disaster.

Say your company is an online retailer that does a bi-annual Operational Review. During your review, you discover that your warehousing operations are not set up to scale and take on additional inventory. Having done your operational review and discovered this, you are able to address the problem in advance and make the operational improvements needed to get the warehouse back on track. These improvements now ensure your warehouse is ready for the high volume of orders expected over the upcoming holiday season and also help you avoid any potential customer service disasters that would have stemmed from the warehousing issue.

If you’d like to deepen your understanding of core business operations and ensure each department of your business is handling its responsibilities, check out our FREE eBook: Accelerating Success: Deepening Your Understanding of Core Business Operations

OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENT: The Continuous Evolution of Your Company

From all we have covered so far, an Operational Review is a diagnostic that allows you to assess your company’s current operations. Once you have the information from your review, your next step is fixing the problems and making improvements. This is known as the Operational Improvement phase, where you address the identified issues and make the changes, adjustments, and improvements needed to get operations running at their best across the company.

What Are the Benefits of Frequent Operational Improvement?

Boosts Efficiency: It helps you refine processes and find new ways of doing things so your company can do more with less.
Increases Scalability: These frequent improvements to your systems and processes make your company more flexible and give it the ability to grow and scale easily.
Upgrades Technology: The new improvements to technology help your company increase its productivity and reduce costs.
Drives Competitive Advantage: Continuous improvement can give your company an advantage over competitors, leading to superior quality products, better customer service, and overall operational excellence.
Increases Skill and Knowledge: When you consistently upgrade and streamline your business’s processes, your employees are always learning new skills, knowledge, and tactics, which further increases their value, efficiency, and productivity.

Operational Review and Improvement Are Essential For Success

As you can see, regular Operational Reviews and Improvements go hand in hand. If you want your business to be successful and grow, these two items need to be implemented regularly throughout its journey because that is how you ensure your operations continue running smoothly and efficiently.