Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

DOMP? Methodology

1st part, if the company does not exist.

Tadeu Cruz

In fact, the title is a joke to get the attention of readers. I don't care to know, although I already know who came first. What I want to introduce is the question I am often asked and the answers I always give:

- Teacher, which comes first: the structuring, the organization of the company or the modeling of business processes?

Invariably I say: it depends.

If the company is new, is being created, then the organization of the company comes first. But if the company already exists, then it is time to create business processes, if they have not yet been formally created.

The organization of the company must always come first, after all, business processes need to run within an organizational structure. Business processes will give life to the Organization and make it live a long and healthy life.

This principle, of organization coming before processes, is universal. It serves for all branches of business, public or private.

I'll give you an example.

When I lived in S?o Paulo, I had Portuguese friends who owned bakeries. Always interested in how bakeries were created, one day, when I visited Nelson in his office in the bakery, I asked:

- Nelson, how did you start this bakery, the name of the bakery was Pingo de Mel, what did you do first and then, until you opened the doors to the public?

- Tadeu, not only me but all the patricians who have a bakery start the same way.

1st you choose the point, either we rent or buy.

2nd We renovated the place to install the bakery.

3rd we make the 1st hire, perhaps the most important, an excellent baker. This, Tadeu, is the most important hire of any bakery. A good baker makes all the difference. Having good bread is a brand, a differential. Without a good baker, the bakery runs the risk of closing in a short time.

4th Then we hire a good confectioner. Again, a good pastry chef makes a good difference too. Sweets, pies, cakes, are always an attraction.

5th Then we hire a good baker, after all, today, bakeries do not live only by selling breads and sweets, but, mainly, they live by selling breakfast, lunch (quick snacks), so a good baker is also a fundamental piece for the bakery to work and obtain profits quickly.

6th Only after we hire these three professionals will we worry about attendants, servants, cashiers and even with a manager.

Look, Tadeu, it is impossible for us to open a bakery without these three professionals.

Well, it makes perfect sense. What is a bakery for without a baker, confectioner, grill cook? From the simplest to the most sophisticated bakeries in S?o Paulo, the structure and concerns are exactly the same.

When I was in S?o Paulo a short time ago I went to visit Pingo de Mel and it remains the same, clean, elegant and with delicious products.

In this example, we saw the construction of an organizational structure and only then the construction of processes.

Well, it makes perfect sense. What is a bakery used for without a baker, a grill cook, a confectioner?

From the simplest to the most sophisticated bakeries in S?o Paulo, the structure and concerns are exactly the same.

When I was in S?o Paulo a short time ago I went to visit Pingo de Mel and it remains the same, clean, elegant and with delicious products.

In this example, we saw the construction of an organizational structure and only then the construction of processes.

Every company should be concerned with:

1st Make a good strategic plan.

2nd Establish the vision, mission and objectives, without a clear direction, processes can be created without alignment with the company's objectives. Every process has to be aligned with the company's objectives, both the main and secondary processes.

3rd Define the organizational structure, before creating processes, it is essential to understand who will do what. This includes defining roles, responsibilities, and hierarchies, not least because processes will run within organizational structures.

4th Create an organizational culture, as culture influences how processes will be implemented and followed.

5th Define necessary resources, human, financial, technological.

And finally

6th Create business processes. First the main ones and then the secondary ones.

Now the question is:

- All new companies do this; did they do some of these specifications listed above?

No.

Very rare are the new companies that follow this protocol. In practice people start working as soon as they rent a room and fill it with chairs, tables, computers ... and let's go.

Probably these people believe in the myth of the Silicon Valley garage. Yeah, those garages where HP, Apple and so on ... An idea on the head and a computer in hand came up.

Also therefore, due to the initial disorganization, the mortality rate of new companies in the first year of life is very high.

According to IBGE, 50% of companies died up to three years and 63% up to five years old.

But, Murphy said, what is bad can get worse, that is, the mess can be exponentially greater when even badly organized the company can overcome the deadly years, usually the first five years.

In the next article I will talk about how to do it with companies that already exist, and the problems we face with them.