Business Process Management

What is What-If Analysis? **What-if analysis** is a brainstorming approach designed to visualize potential problems with your process and think through solutions before they arise. By defining and changing variables, you determine how a potential change would impact your business—and build safeguards accordingly. Example what-if questions include: *What if we extended our banking hours by two hours daily?* *What if we reduced food costs by 20%?* *What if we replaced in-person meetings with online meetings to cut travel costs?* Steps for What-If Analysis 1. **Set up a brainstorming session** — Establish a safe environment with clear ground rules (e.g., no idea gets criticized; one person speaks at a time). Everyone must feel free to contribute. 2. **Determine the brainstorming focus** — Identify opportunities for improvement and potential roadblocks within the process. 3. **Develop answers** — Consult with team members and subject matter experts to evaluate feasibility and impact of proposed changes. Testing Your Design After what-if analysis, the next step is to **test your design** using an **iterative method**—a continuous, cyclic approach to refining your process before full implementation. The four steps of iterative design testing are: 1. **Design the Process** — Create the process you will be testing. 2. **Pilot the Process** — Run the process in a controlled environment to observe it in action. 3. **Gather and Implement