by 
Here at Neomind’s blog we always talk a lot about process automation and its capacity to provide several competitive advantages. In this material, we would like to explain what macro processes are and the importance of having a broader vision of your business.
Do you want to clear up all your doubts about the topic? Follow along!
What are Macro processes? How to identify them?
Macro processes can be defined as a set of processes and activities that together are essential to achieve a company’s strategic objectives. They are made of processes that occur in different sectors, involving different functions or positions. These processes can occur in a chained or parallel way, but they have some degree of similarity.
Macro processes provide a holistic view and should always be directed by and aligned to the company’s mission, after all, they represent the functions and everything that the organization performs to achieve its core business, that is, its reason of being.
To identify the macro processes it’s necessary to fully understand the company’s environment. Try to answer questions such as: What demands does my company meet? What do we do and what are the steps we follow? Is it necessary to involve more than one sector? Is the work standardized and the quality delivered always the same? What are the impacts that each activity brings to the final result?
When the answers to these questions are clear, there is an understanding of the interconnections and the degree of complexity existing in the company’s processes. The detailed analysis of the importance and impact of processes provides visibility over the existing macro processes.
Macro processes types
As mentioned above, macro processes are related to a company’s reason of being, and therefore vary according to its strategic objectives. However, within the value chain methodology, which allows the company to organize its processes seeking to generate value to the client, macro processes are usually divided into three types:
- Primary or business macro process: it is the set of processes that are related to the purpose of the company’s existence as if it were the heart of the business and everything that is carried out to fulfill its mission;
- Managerial macro process: here are related to the set of processes that aim to monitor, measure, follow up, control, and manage the present and the future of the organization. It relates to management in the strategic, operational, or financial aspects.
- Support macro process: is a group of processes that are not directly related to the company’s core business, which means they do not directly add value to the client. However, they are important because they provide all the support so that the primary processes can be carried out more easily and efficiently.
Only a very detailed view of the company can define which are the macro processes. For example, for a company whose core business is building greenhouses, the processes related to the IT area will be support macro processes, while for a company that provides technological solutions, the same processes of the technology sector would be the primary macro process.
Process Hierarchy
When we are preparing to automate processes, we should take into account a hierarchy that is usually related to their degree of complexity or importance within the company:
- Macro processes: they involve a set of processes, departments, functions, or positions. As its execution directly impacts the results and functioning of the business, it is at the top of the hierarchy.
- Processes: are a conglomerate of highly complex activities that, when interconnected, are capable of reaching a specific goal. It is usually described in the organization chart;
- Sub-processes: are triggered from the processes, therefore, directly related. They have medium or high complexity, and can be distinct or interlinked;
- Activities: despite being routine, administrative, or technical, they have a determined objective, a deadline, and less complexity if compared to the higher hierarchical levels;
- Tasks: the basis of the hierarchy, aimed at the fulfillment of goals, deadlines, and the like; in other words, they’re everything related to the work routine. They are executed to prepare or monitor the execution of processes.
Benefits of Macro Processes
Unlike the narrow vision of isolated processes, macro processes provide a holistic view for the company’s management. The manager is more assertive when he needs to make a decision once he has concrete and structured information regarding the mechanisms used within the company.
A macro process view provides:
- Critical analysis and extended view;
- Identification of problems, failures or bottlenecks is performed faster;
- Faster troubleshooting, providing agility;
- Reduction of rework;
- Economy of financial resources, a fundamental item for a business to maintain and grow organically and healthily;
- Greater integration within the company, if you understand how the interaction and interconnection of processes and sectors takes place;
- Understanding how the work is actually done and the existing relationship between supplier and customer;
- Provides monitoring of the performance of all stages of the process sets.
Besides these advantages, another benefit you get when looking at macro processes is to realize that, not infrequently, tasks are performed in different ways, with the need to standardize processes in order to organize, formalize, and develop a model that must be followed; this, in turn, ensures efficiency and quality, both for the work and the product or service that will be delivered to meet an identified need.
In conclusion
We can conclude that the management by processes and the vision by macro processes, and consequently their standardization, is a very common practice for companies that seek to stand out in the market, ensuring all their resources are used in favor of a common objective, adding value to their clients.
The greatest challenge in its implementation, though, is modifying the predominant culture that is quite ingrained within the companies. The manager needs to be open and encourage the beneficial changes that the standardization of processes brings. Here you can learn all that is necessary to implement a process automation tool.
At first, there may be some resistance from the parties involved, however, when the professionals realize that they will be much more efficient in their activities and that the managers coordinate interrelated processes, sharing a common goal, they end up contributing and being allies so that all possible processes are automated and goals are met quickly and agilely.
Of course, to take advantage of all the benefits, the company needs to have a management tool that is simple, integrative, and user-friendly.
We want to contribute so that your company has enviable management. Want to know in practice how the vision, the management by macro processes, and their standardization can be essential for your business? Test the Fusion Platform for free for 15 days, and see for yourself!
