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More customers, more orders and more opportunities should be good news. But if every increase in demand brings extra administration, longer approval queues and more chasing between departments, growth can become difficult to manage.
The problem is not always a lack of resources or the wrong software. It may be the way work moves through your business. Processes that worked well when volumes were lower can become bottlenecks as your organisation grows.
Digital transformation does not have to begin with a major technology investment. It can start with a practical question: where is everyday work becoming harder than it needs to be? These seven signs can help you recognise when a business process review may be the right next step.
1. The same information is entered more than once
A customer’s details arrive by email, are copied into a spreadsheet and are then entered again into a finance or operational system. Each step may seem small, but repeated data entry adds work and creates opportunities for inconsistencies. As transaction volumes grow, so does the effort needed to check and correct the information.
What to review: Where information is first captured, which systems need it and whether it can be captured once and shared appropriately. A simpler form or a connection between existing systems may be more useful than another spreadsheet.
2. Approvals depend on chasing emails
Purchase requests, quotations or invoices sit in inboxes while colleagues send reminders and ask who needs to approve them next. The task itself may take minutes, yet the waiting stretches over days. Without a clear route, an alternative approver or visibility of outstanding requests, routine decisions can interrupt the wider workflow.
3. Nobody has a clear view of where work stands
Answering “Has this been completed?” requires checking several systems, searching email threads or asking colleagues for updates. Different teams keep their own trackers, and there is no agreed view of what is pending, blocked or ready for the next stage. This makes it harder to set priorities and give customers reliable updates.
4. Handovers between departments create delays
Sales considers a task complete, but operations still needs supporting details. Finance receives an instruction without the information required to invoice. Each department may have a workable process of its own, while the connections between them remain unclear. Work stalls at these boundaries or returns to an earlier stage for clarification.
What to review: The end-to-end process, not just individual departmental tasks. Process mapping can make handover points visible and help define what must be provided, who takes ownership next and when a handover is complete.
5. Routine work relies on unwritten knowledge
A process runs smoothly until someone is unavailable. Then it becomes difficult to locate the latest file, understand an exception or identify the next step. This is not a judgement on individuals; it is a sign that essential knowledge sits with people rather than in an accessible, repeatable process. It can also make onboarding and cover arrangements more difficult.
6. Corrections and workarounds have become normal
Missing information is requested after submission, records are corrected before processing, or an extra spreadsheet is maintained to bridge a gap in the main system. A workaround may solve an immediate problem, but when it becomes permanent, the underlying issue remains. The business keeps spending time repairing the same problems rather than preventing them.
7. Taking on more business means adding more administration
Every new customer, order or project introduces another set of manual checks, updates and follow-ups. Your workload increases, but the process offers little opportunity to handle additional volume more efficiently. Capacity is absorbed by coordination, leaving less room for customer service and other activities that support growth.
Start with the process, not the software
Recognising these signs does not mean you need to replace all your systems. The right next step may be to remove an unnecessary approval, clarify a handover, make better use of existing technology or connect tools that currently operate separately. Automating an unclear process can simply make the same problems happen faster.Consider a customer onboarding process that moves from emailed forms to a spreadsheet, through approval and finally into an operational system. Before building an automated workflow, establish which information is genuinely needed, which checks must remain and who owns each stage. Only then assess how technology could support a simpler process.
What should a process and digital readiness review cover?
A focused review should connect everyday operational difficulties with practical improvement options. Rather than starting with a product demonstration, it should help answer three questions: how does work happen today, what needs to change, and is the business ready to make that change?- Process review: Identify recurring delays, duplicated effort, rework and the business impact of each problem.
- Process mapping: Set out the steps, systems, responsibilities and handovers, including exceptions and necessary controls.
- Digital readiness: Assess data quality, existing system capabilities, access requirements, process ownership and the support people will need to adopt a new way of working.
- Automation feasibility: Explore whether suitable activities can be automated reliably, considering integration needs, exceptions, costs, maintenance and expected benefits.
- Prioritised next steps: Distinguish straightforward improvements from changes requiring further investment, and agree how progress will be measured.
How BDO Malta Can Help
You do not need a complete digital transformation plan to begin. Bring one process that takes too long, involves too much chasing or becomes harder to manage as demand grows. That is a practical starting point for a conversation about process review, process mapping and automation feasibility.Recognise these signs in your business?
Contact BDO Malta’s Technology Advisory team to arrange a process and digital readiness review and explore where simpler processes and appropriate technology could help support your next stage of growth.