How a maturity assessment can bulletproof your business strategy

If you would rather see where you stand first, go straight to the ten-question self-check and come back for the detail.

What is a business process maturity assessment?

A business process maturity assessment is an evaluation framework that scores how efficient, effective and sophisticated an organisation's processes are against a maturity model. It tells you what level of process performance you have today, where the main areas for improvement sit and in what order to take them on, and it ends in a roadmap.

The framework I use for a first read is the four-stage process maturity self-check: ten questions, scored out of 40, that place an organisation on a simplified four-stage scale. A full assessment uses a five-level model instead and tests the answers against documents, interviews and process maps, and both are set out below.

It bulletproofs a strategy because every priority gets checked against how the work really runs. A plan to grow, to automate or to improve customer experience rests on processes that can carry it or cannot, and the assessment finds out which before money is committed.

How do you run one? The seven steps

Read the steps in order, or press Step through to follow one at a time. Each step is also written out underneath.

The seven steps of a maturity assessment

1. Select a maturity model. Choose the scale you will measure against and the scope, which can be the whole organisation or two or three processes. The model supplies the levels and the vocabulary.
2. Assess the current state. Gather evidence on how work really runs, from documents, conversations and observation, and place each process on the scale. What people say and what they do often differ, so check one against the other.
3. Define the desired future state. Decide from the strategy where each process needs to be, because the top level is not the target everywhere.
4. Conduct a gap analysis. Compare the current and desired states process by process and size each gap, so you can see which carry real cost or risk and which can wait.
5. Develop a roadmap. Turn the gaps into a prioritised, ordered plan with owners, where each step builds on the one before.
6. Implement the roadmap. This is where the organisation changes, and it is a separate piece of work from the assessment, scoped against the roadmap.
7. Keep improving. Measure again on a schedule against the same scale, so progress is visible and the roadmap can move when the strategy does.

Why do maturity models matter?

What are the benefits?

The benefits fall into six areas, and most of them show up only once the assessment is repeated against the same scale.

• Efficiency and effectiveness. Improved process efficiency and enhanced effectiveness.
• Risk management and visibility. Better risk management and increased visibility of how work flows.
• Strategic alignment. Strategic alignment and competitive advantage.
• Continuous improvement. A repeatable way to measure progress.
• Engagement and shared knowledge. Employee engagement and collaboration, and knowledge management.
• Scalability and growth. Processes take on more volume without breaking.

What are the five levels of process maturity?

The five-level model runs from improvised work at the bottom to continual, proactive improvement at the top, and each level is the foundation for the next, so none can be skipped. Most organisations do not need level 5 everywhere, and the strategy sets the target for each process.

The five levels of process maturity

1. Level 1, Initial. People are motivated to overcome problems, but mistakes and bottlenecks are common, methods are ad hoc and the work leans on a few individuals who rescue things, which the model calls hero worship.
2. Level 2, Managed. Each work unit is managed with discipline, so work is stable, outputs are controlled, rework falls, practices can be repeated and schedules are met.
3. Level 3, Standardized. Standard processes, measures and training exist for each product and service, so productivity grows, automation does useful work and the organisation starts to get economies of scale.
4. Level 4, Predictable. Processes and results are managed with numbers, so results are predictable, what people know is managed as knowledge and variation shrinks.
5. Level 5, Innovating. The organisation improves continually and proactively, aiming at its business objectives instead of waiting for something to break, with capable processes, new ideas tried as a matter of course and change management as a skill it has.

Which tools and methods are used?

Each one answers a different question: what is written down, what really happens, who does the work and where the gaps are.

• Checklists and surveys. Collect many people's views quickly.
• Documents. SOPs, policies and technical specifications show how work is meant to run.
• Interviews, workshops and shadowing. Show how work actually runs.
• Process and system mapping. Puts the steps, and the systems behind them, on one page.
• Org charts, RACIs and MOCHAs. Show who does the work, who decides and who is consulted.
• System capability assessments. Show what the current tools can and cannot do.
• SWOT analysis and gap analysis. Turn the evidence into strengths, weaknesses and the distance to the target.
• Customer segmentation. Recognises that different customers can need different levels of service.

What benchmarks and KPIs should you track?

Benchmarks

A benchmark is the line you compare yourself against, and there are six common choices.

• Self-driven. A target set from your own goals and objectives.
• Service level agreements. Targets taken from contractual obligations and commitments.
• Internal historical data. Your own progress over time, with benchmarks adjusted step by step.
• Industry averages. Organisations of similar size or in the same region.
• Best practices. Standards and guidelines from industry associations or consultancies.
• Competitor performance. Top-performing organisations in your industry, to find where you can improve.

Internal historical data is the easiest place to start, because it needs nobody else's numbers.

KPIs

KPIs fall under six headings, each answering a different question about the processes.

• Documentation and standardisation. The share of critical processes documented and the number reviewed each year, which show whether the way of working is written down and kept alive.
• Efficiency. Average time for core processes, manual touchpoints, redundant steps, support queries and complaints, which show where effort is wasted.
• Connected systems. Processes connected to IT systems and average system wait times, which show how much work still depends on retyping and waiting.
• Performance monitoring. Processes with defined metrics and how often they are reviewed, which show whether anyone is watching.
• Stakeholder satisfaction. Employee and customer feedback scores such as CSAT and NPS, which show how the process feels from outside it.
• Compliance and risk. Non-compliance incidents, how often critical processes are risk-assessed and whether detection exists, which show how exposed you are.

The ten questions the self-check asks

Each question has four statements, scored 1 to 4 from the first to the last, and the ten scores add up to a total out of 40. Choose the statement that describes what happens today, and check it with someone who does the work. Your total appears once all ten are answered.

0 of 10 answered Reset

Process documentation

• We do not have formal processes documented.
• Some processes are documented, but they are outdated or inconsistent.
• Most important processes are documented and periodically reviewed.
• All processes are well documented, standardised and continuously updated.

Process ownership and accountability

• There is no clear ownership of processes.
• Some processes have designated owners, but responsibilities are unclear.
• Each process has an owner, but accountability varies.
• Every process has a designated owner with clear accountability.

Process standardisation and compliance

• Processes vary widely across teams with little consistency.
• Some standardisation exists, but compliance is inconsistent.
• Processes are standardised and generally followed.
• Processes are fully standardised, with compliance actively monitored.

Performance measurement and KPIs

• We do not measure process performance.
• We track some metrics, but they are not consistently reviewed.
• We have defined KPIs and review them periodically.
• KPIs are well defined, measured in real time and used for continuous improvement.

Technology and automation

• Most processes are manual with minimal technology support.
• Some processes use basic automation, but gaps exist.
• Automation is used for the main processes, but not across the whole organisation.
• Advanced automation and connected technology optimise all processes.

Process training and change management

• Employees are not trained on processes.
• Some training is available, but adoption is inconsistent.
• Formal training exists, but refreshers are not frequent.
• Regular training keeps people following the process and learning.

Process adaptability and continuous improvement

• Processes are rarely reviewed or updated.
• We make changes reactively when problems arise.
• We periodically review and improve processes.
• Continuous improvement is part of our culture.

Cross-functional collaboration and communication

• Processes operate in silos with limited collaboration.
• Some collaboration exists, but information sharing is inconsistent.
• Cross-functional collaboration is encouraged but not systematised.
• Teams collaborate easily, with well-defined communication channels.

Customer and stakeholder involvement

• We do not consider customer or stakeholder feedback in our processes.
• Feedback is collected but not systematically incorporated.
• Feedback influences process improvements, but gaps remain.
• Stakeholder input is actively used to refine and improve processes.

Risk management and issue resolution

• Risks and issues are handled reactively.
• Some risk assessments occur, but responses are inconsistent.
• Risks are identified proactively with mitigation plans in place.
• Risk management is built into daily work, with real-time monitoring and rapid response.

What does your score mean? The four stages

Your total places you on one of four stages: 10 to 17 is ad hoc and reactive, 18 to 25 is developing and emerging, 26 to 32 is defined and standardized, and 33 to 40 is optimized and data-driven. Each stage comes with the focus that makes sense next.

How do the five levels and the four stages fit together?

Both run from work that depends on individuals to work that is measured and continually improved. A low self-check score is a reason to run the fuller assessment, and a high one is worth testing against the evidence before anyone relies on it.

How do you run a maturity assessment in a small organisation in a week?

This is a first pass for a small organisation looking at a few core processes, built from the methods above.

The week ends with a plan. Carrying it out is the next piece of work, with its own scope.

From the work

Two projects show it: preventing $1.7M in profit margin erosion, and improving the quality of vendor-managed projects. Neither was labelled a maturity assessment, but both followed the same order: measure the current state, find where the gap is costing most, then act on it in priority order.