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How
do you create a process-based system?
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In broad terms best
practice tells us that at the highest level in an organisation there is a
process map that defines the key customer facing and support processes
that describes how the organisation works. This high-level process map or
framework is ‘owned’ by the most senior person in the organisation and
shows how the goals and objectives will be achieved.
Clearly success needs
to be measured and therefore a number of key performance indicators
(KPIs) need to be created and assigned, through which the senior manager
will manage and control the organisation and therefore achieve the
objectives set.
This high-level
process map forms the basis for the whole system and will typically
include aspects that would relate to any organisation:
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Understanding
the market the organisation is operating in
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Developing
and managing human resources
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Developing, implementing and reviewing vision and strategy
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Managing information and knowledge
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Designing products and
services
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Managing financial and
physical resources
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Marketing and selling those products and services
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Managing relationships
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Producing and delivering
products and services
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Managing improvement and
change.
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Invoicing and servicing customers
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This is not an exhaustive list nor is it meant to imply that an
organisation would have these or similar processes but is given to show
the scope of activity that should typically be included. One way to
validate the high-level process map is to check it against the plan, do,
check, act principle. Do the processes describe the principle? If they do
then providing the details below are considered then it is more than
likely you are well on the way of creating a process based system that
will meet the requirements of ISO9001:2000 by default.
From this point the
processes, measures and procedures are developed in a systematic manner
to cover what the organisation does and how it does it. In our experience
the change in thinking begins to happen even at this basic ‘doing’ stage
as process owners are appointed and their roles defined, process teams
design and / or capture what actually happens and key performance
indicators are defined for each process. A typical structure would look
like:
The approach to
introducing process management and the need to display information not
only of the process but also the financial and performance data that
relates to the process lends itself to a software solution. In our
experience there are a large number of software packages available that
will map processes but few with the flexibility to add and manipulate
‘process properties’. Process properties are the costs, time, resource,
waste and any other factor that are critical to the success of each
activity in a process. These need to be measured individually and
collectively to give management the complete picture of process
performance.
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Implementing
Process Management
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Having
agreed the processes and any supporting procedures be they text
documents, video cams or flowcharts etc. The implementation of the system
needs to include a number of facets:
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Make the
process visible to all staff.
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For
organisations with a website or intranet the processes can be
uploaded for all to view
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Process
thinking training for managers and staff on the new system, where
they fit and the role they play in operating the process i.e. start
working to the process
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Process Owners need to put
in place management information systems that will collect information
on process performance
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Process
Owners then need to report process performance to management and the
process teams, identifying improvements where performance does not
meet the targets set.
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This
is a critical stage and experience suggests that to maintain the momentum
managers need embrace the change and what better way than to report on
performance.
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How
do I know that people are working to the processes or even if they are
the right processes?
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A question not only
for now but also for the future, especially as the needs and objectives
of any organisation changes over time in todays fast moving environment.
There is, therefore, a need for some sort of review that can be carried
out to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes to
deliver the business objectives and therefore the needs of stakeholders.
The main consideration
is that this is not an audit but an assessment. It is not a case of right
or wrong as in an audit but a need to understand what the organisation is
striving to achieve and what it is doing to get there. Therefore an
assessment should look at:
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How
a process is managed rather than how it is done
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Focus
on what is right rather than what is wrong
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How the organisation learns from its
activity rather than whether or not it passes or fails
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Meeting the business objectives and not just a standard
or framework
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Assessing a process is about ensuring
the system is working to deliver the objectives and not just about
following the rules.
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Carrying out a process assessment, particularly covering a number sites
or countries, needs careful planning, employing a range of assessment
techniques to gather the information needed. This requires a different
range of inter-personal and questioning skills than those used currently
by many auditors. The aim is to provide relevant information to
management on each process and collectively in order that the appropriate
decisions can be taken.
Business Process
Management is here to stay and as organisations become more efficient and
effective in what they do, so how they do it will come under greater
scrutiny. Knowing what your processes are and how to measure their
performance is the bedrock upon which new technology, operating methods
and e-commerce business models are built to deliver increasing stakeholder
value.
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Ian is a
Director of S.L.R. Developments Ltd and has worked with many private
and public sector organisations using process management and the
Excellence Model to bring about cultural change and enhance business
performance. Ian can be contacted on (44)604 470837 or at
ian@slrdevelopments.com
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