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Say "process management" and heads nod knowingly. However, if you ask people to define the term and explain the basics of implementing process management, the nods become slower and few people rise to the challenge. That's because the term process management has been used so broadly that it has lost its meaning. Everyone has a general idea of what it refers to, but few actually understand the intricacies involved. In this column, we'll explore what the term should mean and how it differs from another term that has been used with reckless abandon: process steps.
Whatever the process may be, process management means confirming that procedures are in place to ensure teams execute critical activities required to improve productivity and guarantee a level of control to best manage the organization. The particular process is almost irrelevant because every process should be managed in essentially the same way. Specifically, process management should always include the following activities:
- Enabling process steps
- Creating a process design
- Outlining process roles
- Implementing a process management system
- Using strategic planning
It's the implementation of these process management activities that really seems to throw people off the mark. There are a hundred different ways to attack each activity. This diversity of approaches creates lively discussions, as well as an occasional battle. And, notice that the actual tasks involved in the process -- process steps -- are not included in process management. Only enabling process steps is included. Too often organizations try to include actual process steps in the process management approach they take, which can lead to micromanagement and frustration within the organizations.
Regardless of the departments, databases, or people involved, all processes consist of actual tasks that must be completed for the process to work properly. These tasks are called process steps. Effective process management recognizes that the success of a process rests with those most qualified to perform and complete the process steps. These people are the experts -- the doers, if you will. If they have a strong process management system supporting them and enabling the tasks that they need to complete, they can get the job done effectively.
It's critical to understand the difference between process steps and process management. When process management oversteps its boundaries by attempting to control process steps rather than enable them, conflicts occur. The experts performing the tasks rebel and find methods to avoid process management directives and can ultimately force the whole process into collapse.
Sticking to enabling process steps instead of controlling them can be a bit tricky, of course. To be sure the proper assistance is given to any process, you must clearly identify every step of the process. This is true regardless of whether the assistance is in the form of technology or human support. You identify the steps of any process by building an enterprise process framework (EPF) -- a virtual picture of the basic process the organization must accomplish, including its high-level steps. Typically an EPF is created in a spreadsheet, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Enterprise process framework sample
As you can see, this sample framework outlines both high-level process steps (Plan Accounts) and those process steps that are one level down (Analyze the account) so that anyone can clearly see the basic steps involved in the process of managing customer relationships. While you can certainly include several more levels of detail in your EPF, it's not usually necessary. The idea is to obtain the big-picture view of the various processes and their steps within the organization, not identify the systems that support the processes and steps. Identifying and enabling the systems that support the process steps are part of process management. Now that you understand the difference between process management and process steps and can create a framework to identify process steps in your organization, it's time to take a closer look at the general activities involved in process management and how they drive process steps.
After you've created a framework, process design comes into play. Process design examines the internal and external workflows and processes that impact your organization and outlines a path to ensure all aspects of those workflows and processes are interlocked. By reducing requirements for users or improving a process so that fewer steps are required, process design helps drive specific process steps through enterprise linkage, provision of best-of-class procedures, and recommendations for the best solution for the function and the enterprise.
Every process in your organization started with some sort of process design. Chances are, however, that the process design wasn't necessarily planned with the enterprise in mind. Instead, it was probably designed to fit a specific need at the time. Assume, for example, that you have a vendor who supplies widgets to your organization. Your organization takes the widgets, adds a few twists to them, and turns them into gadgets. There are numerous workflows and processes involved in what might seem at first glance to be a single manufacturing process -- these involve vendors, manufacturing, finance, sales, marketing, and more. Without a comprehensive new products process design that examines and directs where and how each of these interact, your organization faces miscommunication, increased costs, duplication of effort, and potential disaster.
Making a high level of integration the priority is a good way to determine where to start your process design. Solution decisions should build upon each other in a logical progression to be certain all areas of the organization are reviewed and addressed. So, in the widget-to-gadget example, you might start with the financial, human resources, and other enterprise processes to determine the systems support required at a broad level. Then you would move to areas such as product development, manufacturing, and the supply chain next before moving to narrower processes such as customer experience, partner relations, marketing, and sales tool enablement. In each area, you are identifying the needs of both the department and the organization and evaluating potential solutions.
Part of design process involves validating the requirements that are identified as you review each area. Validating process requirements is key to helping you prioritize the system capabilities currently available and understanding where improvements can be made. Understanding the users of the process is critical here -- it's nearly impossible to design an effective process without including them and recognizing their needs. But stay objective. Something that users of a process see as a requirement might be something that can be modified or eliminated by a new process.
Another key area of process management that helps drive process steps to completion are the people involved. That may sound obvious, but the fact that there are more people involved in a process than just the end users is often overlooked. Someone must oversee the processes, ensure compliance and usage, deploy the tools involved, and so on. Not everyone with a role in a process must perform the process. So, without strong definitions of which roles are active and which are passive, you can find yourself implementing a process that has an awful lot of talkers and few doers. As you establish process roles, keep in mind that there should be checks and balances. The documentation for the process should clearly state what each role is responsible for in the process. For example, do you have both geography and country leaders? If so, who can make changes to a process in a given country? Can either one decide to make tool changes that might alter a worldwide process? Neither? If not, who can make that decision?
All these decisions are critical to driving success of the process steps. When problems arise, there must be an established chain of command that approves fixes, oversees critical issues, and reviews proposed changes or updates. A great tool that helps to easily show process roles and responsibilities is a decision matrix, shown in Figure 2. This simple matrix accompanies the role documentation and quickly outlines the roles involved in any given process: who makes decisions, who must review or be consulted about decisions, who must ensure overall usage of and compliance with the process, who implements the process, and who retains overall responsibility for the process.
Figure 2. Decision matrix sample
Implementing a process management system
Now that you have an understanding of process design and roles, another aspect of driving process steps to completion is the implementation of a process management system. Specifically, who is reporting to who -- and when -- about the process? What information is being reported? How are changes to or issues with the process being communicated and resolved?
This all sounds more complicated than it is. It's just a reporting method to help stakeholders keep track of how a process is performing and alert them to process concerns that could impact other areas of the business. It can be a written management system or one conducted in person. Consider all the people with a stake in the process as you establish your management system. For example, is there an executive who will take responsibility if a process fails?
After you have identified anyone who has a stake in the success or failure of the process, determine which meetings can be used to report the status of the process. For instance, if there is a team that meets monthly, should the process be reported on in that meeting? Are there team meetings where employees who use the process routinely can report issues? If so, how are the issues reported upward or outward to obtain resolution? You may find there are several established meetings that require a regular report on the process, or you may discover that you need to establish a regular meeting or written update to ensure the proper people are kept informed. Whatever the method is at your company, the key is to be sure the right people are involved. The last thing anyone needs is an executive on the warpath because a process failed and he was caught off guard by a more senior executive demanding an explanation.
Throughout all this process talk, I haven't talked about the concept of strategic planning in your process management work. Business strategy should always be considered in process management. What are your competitors doing? How can your processes streamline workflows, for example, to outperform a competitor's delivery guarantee? Is there a vendor you can partner with to improve processes while lowering costs? Does your process design fit the company's current business model? Is it flexible enough to change if the business model changes, for instance, from a relationship model to a transactional model?
If you don't have access to your company's business planning documents, find someone who does. Knowing the company's strategic direction can help you determine your own process strategies. After all, there's no sense in working night and day to develop a process for on-site workers if the company plans to shift to using remote workers only, is there? Change occurs constantly in the corporate world as executives try to meet or beat competitors. Considering business strategy as you develop a process design and handle other aspects of process management can help you pinpoint rising trends and identify where your process should remain flexible to meet future demands.
Smart corporations use process management as the driver behind process steps and let the experts handle the actual tasks involved in the process. It may take you some time to help others understand the difference between process management and process steps -- it can be a little overwhelming the first time someone tries to grasp it. But as long as the right procedures are in place to ensure teams execute critical activities, your business will benefit from the increased productivity and efficient operations that a strong process management focus brings.
Learn
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Check out "Exploring Business Process
Management Systems and the impact of BPM on Developers" (developerWorks, August
2006) for more information on business process management systems.
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Read this white paper to learn about Better Management
through Process Automation (developerWorks, June 2006).
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integrated solutions" (developerWorks, January 2004).
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Explore the
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Read "Develop business processes with WebSphere Process Choreographer" (developerWorks, October 2004) to learn how to design and implement a mediated exchange solution.
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S. E. Slack is a freelance writer and author with more than 16 years of experience in business writing. She has also been an executive and business transformation communications consultant to IBM, Lenovo International, and State Farm Insurance Companies. She is currently writing CNET Do-It-Yourself Digital Home Office Projects: 24 Cool Things You Didn't Know You Could Do (McGraw-Hill) and is the author of six other books.
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