5 reasons why you should be doing a regular system health check

You’re always busy – we understand! One of the most challenging things about being constantly busy is not allowing time to take a step back and reflect on your day. We’re not just talking about making sure you’re feeling well and your team members are happy, but the bigger picture! Are your internal processes and systems working to their full potential? Are you utilising time in the best possible way? This reflection time is essential in order to move your business and team in the right direction and at the right pace.

Although this isn’t  “another” pandemic related article, and you’re constantly reminded that the world has changed, the way we all operate on a day-to-day basis has changed too. Nowadays, it’s all about an efficient way of navigating your workforce and resources. You need to ask yourself questions like “what will bring me quicker results?”, “what way of doing things will save us time and money?”, “which resources are interchangeable?” and many more. Now, the resources that are designed to streamline your processes and make your workforce more efficient are, of course, your systems. But are they still suitable for the “new” reality? Finding out the answer to this question is simple!

A system health check! A health check is designed to help you identify areas of your system and internal processes that are working well for you, and areas that may need a little improvement.

So, why should you conduct a system health check?

1  Your business has moved on, but your system hasn’t.

What we mean by this is that the system has been configured to your specific needs when it was deployed for the first time. Now this might have happened years ago, and your business requirements have more than likely changed since, but the software you use is still set up to serve old times. This might be very frustrating for your end users and they think the product doesn’t deliver to the standard of the modern business requirements, but the problem is – the system just hasn’t been updated.

2 Reduce the amount of manual intervention, don’t increase it.

Another issue of the point above is that your end-users will start to try cut corners because they either don’t think the system can do something, they need it to do and start to use very manual alternatives, like Excel. Another reason might be that they’re simply lacking training and therefore don’t know what the system is capable of.

3 Your internal processes might be holding you back.

Well, what does this have to do with a system health check you might ask. The systems are there to support processes and vice versa. Sometimes you don’t even realise that the way you have always done things doesn’t work anymore. Especially if the system is used by multiple departments, you need to make sure that the touchpoints are set up and used correctly to make the most of your software.

4  It’s all about being efficient.

But are you? It has never been as important as it is in the post-pandemic time to create an efficient working environment. Everyone will be craving to get new business in quicker as, let’s face it, a higher-value business will be off the cards for a while. But it’s not just about getting new business, it’s about reducing your costs where needed and introducing smart ways of operation on a daily basis.

5  Does your team have the knowledge needed?

“Of course, they do, we wouldn’t hire them if they don’t”, you might say. Fair enough! But it’s not only about the subject matter knowledge, they also need to know about the internal processes and, very important, the systems! But you don’t know what you don’t know, right? Do you know your system inside out and able to say that you utilise it in the best way possible? Let’s be honest, unless you’re a super user with years and years of experience, plus your system is on its latest version, plus you’ve updated your training recently, you probably don’t.

As you can see, there are quite a few reasons you should be conducting regular health checks. You need to make sure that you utilise your system and its functionalities in a way that suits your unique business needs.

How does a system health check work?

• The health check begins with a database review and analysis, which can find discrepancies as well as general data clutter.
• Next, we examine your business process. This allows us to look at how your use your Kinetic system in comparison to your daily procedures so we’re able to help you identify those that match your daily objectives and to discover potential gaps, inconsistencies and activities that may compromise your database integrity.
• Shadowing your staff helps you determine ways to save time or steps and can be used to standardise the methodology of multiple departments.
• The final reports provide a summary of the findings for the above areas and will guide you through the recommended additions and changes best suited to increasing the effectiveness of our software within your business.

To check whether you might benefit from a health check, and if so book one straight away, head to the Kinetic Clinic.