Articles

Rising to the challenge

Process-Based Management Systems (PBMS) are the culmination of a long period of evolution in management thinking. They build directly on the best elements of these developments and, whilst not providing a completely new way of managing an organisation, they do, when implemented effectively, create a significantly better way of achieving this goal. In particular, they offer an essential and powerful insight into what really makes organisations 'tick'. They provide real visibility of what is important - the things on which both management attention and organisational activity should focus in order to be successful. They then provide the mechanism to do this as a part of 'business as usual'.

The PBMS brings together ideas from a large number of individual management theories and practices, which have too often in the past been treated as stand-alone initiatives. It provides the 'glue' which can tie them together into a cohesive whole, leading to a much higher likelihood of delivery of the benefits which so many of these individual initiatives have promised, but have so often fell short of providing. This is perhaps not surprising - very few of them really do stand in isolation of other equally important issues. Indeed, very often, there are high levels of interdependence. You only have to look at the disappointment felt within some organisations when Total Quality Management (TQM) or Investors In People (IIP) did not fully live up to their promise. In both cases there are often cultural, performance measurement and organisational issues that need to be addressed in order for them to succeed - but how often have they been implemented without this being fully tackled - or even understood? And what other issues also need thinking about at the same time to facilitate their effective implementation? Very few of the important ideas about management stand alone.

So why should the PBMS be different? A number of very important reasons spring to mind and prime amongst these is that it is not an initiative, but a way of thinking. To this can be added:

• It is 'whole organisation' rather than focused on improving individual parts of it
  
• t starts with strategy and links the rest of the organisation's activities to it
  
• It is inclusive, allowing everyone to be involved in both development and delivery
  
• It provides the mechanism for true empowerment of both individuals and teams
  
• It is not a static system - it is alive and moves with changing priorities and needs.
• Implementation is the start, not the end point!
  
• It is simple and enables everyone within the organisation to understand their role and contribution to success

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, those who have so far seen this approach and understood what it is really all about call it "Just plain common sense" - which is, as we all know, surprisingly uncommon. This is a management philosophy that is about everyone within the organisation, not just the managers and what they do.