Alec Sharp's unique and reasonable perspectives and guidelines about Business Process Improvement.

1. Getting Traction for “Process”
What the Experts Forget
Prepared for Dafna Levy’s blog BPM Intro
Alec Sharp
Consultant
Clariteq Systems Consulting Ltd.
West Vancouver, BC, Canada
asharp@clariteq.com

2. Traction
Speaker background
for
“Process”
Alec Sharp, Clariteq Systems Consulting
25 years consulting and facilitation experience: Process Applications
• Business Process Redesign / Improvement
(discover, model, analyze, improve processes)
• Application Requirements Definition
Data
(Use Cases and Service Specifications)
• Data Modeling and Management
Consulting and instruction worldwide
Principal author –
“Workflow Modeling” (Artech House 2001)
(second edition Fall 2008)
The point…
…I spend a lot of time working with “process” – often with people who
don’t know, don’t want to know, or actively dislike it.
2

3. Traction
From an August WfMC newsletter…
for
“Process”
Dear Colleague,
Despite decades of theories and methodologies
from BPR to Six Sigma,
the rise of Business Process Maturity Models,
and a wide variety of technical standards for
Business Process Management,
many organizations still find that processes are unowned,
unmanaged, and out of control - in short, many
organizations are quot;process ignorant.quot;
• Theories and methodologies – exactly… theories!
• BPR – “bastards planning redundancies”
• Six Sigma – the “Six Stigma” phenomenon
• BP Maturity Models – “Who says?” “Who cares?”
• Technical standards – BPMN, and what it’s for and not for
• BPM – see “BPR” above…
3

4. Traction
Factors to consider to gain traction for “process”
for
“Process”
1 – Reactions to “process” – not what we’d hope
2 – Total lack of clarity on what constitutes a “business process”
3 – “Process improvement” means someone is doing a bad job
4 – Use of methods that are unsuitable for mere mortals
5 – Not applying the new mantras of “conceptual thinking” and
“simplicity” to the world of business processes
Disclaimer:
Not exhaustive,
not a methodology – a 30 minute
mix of:
• observations and ideas
• examples
• tips and techniques
4

5. Traction
1 – What they think when they hear “process”
for
“Process”
Strange but true…
Many people do not find “process” a fascinating topic!
Quiz: what words or phrases come to mind for most people
when the topic is “process?”
What I wanted to hear…
• Eliminate friction
• Work together / pulling together
• Cooperation
• Alignment (my favourite term when discussing “process”)
• Working to our potential
• Free up time for value-added work
• Higher job satisfaction
• etc.
5

6. Traction
1 – What they think when they hear “process”
for
“Process”
What I actually heard…
• Downsizing or outsourcing
• Fix the process, lose my job
• Boring
• Dehumanizing
• Efficiency experts
• Dumbing-down
• Stifle creativity
• Bureaucracy and red tape
• “How will I get around the process?”
• “It won’t work for us – we’re different!”
• “Process, process, process – I am so sick of process!”
• “Ewww – the P word.”
So…
be careful how much you talk about “process,” avoid labels
6

7. Traction
2 – Clarify what is / is not a “business process”
for
“Process”
True, but useless…
“A business process is
a linked set of activities
that collectively deliver value
to the customer of the process.”
“A business process can be decomposed
into a hierarchy of processes.”
7

8. Traction
for
2 – Acknowledge varying opinions on what a “process” is
“Process”
If you can’t get agreement on what a business process is,
you’ll have a hard time modeling, improving, or managing one!
Differences around size Differences around concept
Bigger than a business process: Confused with organisations:
- Customer Relationship Management - Our Customer Service process
- A “process area” or “process family”
(a related set of business processes)
Just right:
- Acquire Customer
- A true business process
Smaller than a business process:
- Identify Prospect or Set Up Customer
- A sub-process or activity or fragment Confused with systems:
- Our Oracle CRM process
Much smaller than a business process:
- Calculate Credit Limit or
Confused with technology:
Create Customer Account
- Our e-Business process
- A procedure or use case
8

9. Traction
2 – What does a good process look like?
for
“Process”
Process: a defined sequence of steps and decisions,
to achieve a particular result
Steps and decisions
Event Result
(“work”)
Action or decision Workflow models show Product
Time (temporal event) the flow of work: Service
Condition who, does what, when Information
Problem: diving too quickly into the work – the “how” –
before clarifying the result – the “what”
A simple method for clarifying “what” Acquire
Customer
1. Name potential process in “verb – noun” format
2. Flip name into “noun is verbed” format
3. Ensure this is the intended result of the process
- each instance must be discrete and identifiable Customer is
Acquired
- instances must be “countable”
4. No mushy verbs! Manage, monitor, administer, handle, track,
support, maintain, etc
9

10. Traction
2 – Example: how big or small is a business process?
for
“Process”
Telecom company redesigns Service Provisioning processes, makes things worse!
Service Facilities Installation Service Customer
Order Management process Assurance Update
Management process process process
process
Customer Installation Network Customer
Facilities
Management
Service & Monitoring Records &
Repair Billing
Process: Move Telephone Service
Capture Assign Install Confirm Activate
1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
Service Network Premise Service Customer
Order Facilities Equipment Quality Account
Customer result:
Trigger:
Telephone service
Customer wants
Process: Move Telephone Service is moved
telephone service
moved. Telco result:
Active account
Vague process naming, confusing process with organization, with receivable
not focusing on what the client wanted from the triggering event posted
10

11. Traction
2 – Be prepared to deal with objections
for
“Process”
VP of Workflow at banking organization:
“Typical consultant – that’s just semantics”
“Oh-oh…
this isn’t going the
way I planned”
First principle – “demonstrate, not convince”
Me:
“That’s fair –
let’s try it with your processes…”
11

12. Traction
2 – Discover, sequence, link “Commercial Loans” processes
for
“Process”
Settle
Solicit
Loan
Payment Register
Book
Identify Customer
Loan
Prospect Fund
Accept Loan
Loan
Solicit
Application Assess
Prospect
Loan Distribute
Qualify
Application Payment
Prospect
Receive
Payment
Accept Assess
Identify Qualify Solicit Register Fund Book Solicit Receive Distribute Settle
Loan Loan
Prospect Prospect Prospect Customer Loan Loan Payment Payment Payment Loan
Application Application
1:1 1:M 1:1 1:M 1:1
Accept Assess
Identify Qualify Solicit Register Fund Book Solicit Receive Distribute Settle
Loan Loan
Prospect Prospect Prospect Customer Loan Loan Payment Payment Payment Loan
Application Application
1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 M:1
12

13. Traction
2 – Process Area, Business Processes, Subprocesses
for
“Process”
Commercial Loans Management
Acquire Customer
• Process Area
Identify 1:1 Qualify 1:1 Solicit 1:1 Register
• Business Process
Prospect Prospect Prospect Customer
• Subprocess
1:M
Grant Loan Collect Payment
1:M
Accept 1:1 Assess 1:1 1:1 Book Solicit 1:1 Receive 1:1 Distribute
Fund
Loan Loan
Loan Loan Payment Payment Payment
Application Application
M:1
Settle Loan
No sub-
processes
identified yet
13

14. Traction
2 – Five sensible guidelines for “business process”
for
“Process”
1. Activities linked 1:1 are probably part of the same process
2. “Action verb – noun” naming that indicates primary result
3. Generally triggered by an event (action or time) outside your control
4. At the end is a result that makes a stakeholder happy
5. The same “token” or “work item” moves through the whole process,
although it will be transformed (e.g., “loan application” -> “loan”)
Customer result:
Loan funds are
Grant Loan
Trigger:
received
Accept 1:1 Assess 1:1
Customer submits Fund 1:1 Book
Loan Loan
loan application Loan Loan
Bank result:
Application Application
Loan asset on
books
Token: A loan,
from application to booked loan
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15. Traction
2 – Summary: what is a business process?
for
“Process”
Clear, defensible, understandable guidelines:
Naming in “action verb – noun” format
Discrete, countable results
Production Accounts
Sales Logistics
process Receivable
process process
process
Production Accounts
Sales
1 triggering Logistics 1 result for
Receivable
event: each stakeholder
Customer
Fulfill Order: an end-to-end business process Customer: Goods accepted
signals
Owner: Payment received
demand Capture Build Transport Collect Performer: Commission credit
order order WIP payment Association: Order statistics
Ultimately, business processes are all about alignment
Eliyahu Goldratt: “Local optimization yields global suboptimization.”
Local (functional or departmental) improvement is often achieved by
adding constraints that hurt the whole
Process focus: shift from task efficiency to outcomes
15

16. Traction
3 – Let’s agree – functions are not bad!
for
“Process”
Production Accounts
Sales Logistics
Receivable
Earliest
Final
triggering Process: Fulfill order results
event
Function
Process
• End-to-end business processes • Specialized skills, knowledge, tools
deliver valued results by aligning • A centre of expertise – an efficient
the objectives and work effort of way to provide resources across
multiple functions multiple processes
• Results are discrete – “countable” • Work is ongoing
• Must be explicitly identified and • Organizational design is usually
managed as a whole based on functional areas
• We prefer not to use the somewhat
negative term “functional silos”
The people who manage and work in these specialized
areas often don’t like the term “functional silo”
16

17. Traction
3 – My favourite picture
for
“Process”
Function Function Function Function
1 2 3 4
Critical
Business Process results
Under each function, list:
• Performance goals for each function
• Applications used by each function
• Data required by each function
• Technology platforms used by each function
• Core responsibilities by function
Nothing else seems to illustrate the disconnects as well
17

18. Traction
3 - Three common obstacles to performance
for
“Process”
1. Processes are not identified properly and made visible
2. No “process owner” to set overall direction and resolve conflict
3. The goals of the functions often conflict with the goals of the process
A/R goal:
precision vs
VP
VP
VP VP
rapid collection
Finance
Logistics
Sales Production
Production
Sales Accounts
Logistics
1 Receivable
2
If the process isn’t Who owns the process? A
Process: Fulfill Order
identified and process owner/steward/officer
managed as a whole, must be appointed
it will never get better
on its own! Process goal:
3 Shortest cycle time
Sales goal: Production goal: Logistics goal:
late-quarter sales minimize setup lower shipping costs
18

19. Traction
3 – The process consultant’s philosophy
for
“Process”
“Honest criticism is hard to take, especially from a relative,
friend, acquaintance, or stranger.”
Franklin P. Jones
That’s why we must…
• make it clear – what “processes” really are
• make it visible – how their processes behave
• make it blame-free – because everyone’s working hard
…and then, let the facts speak for themselves
We must also help everyone understand that…
• there’s more to improvement than “faster and cheaper”
• what matters the most are the human factors
19

20. Traction
3 – Process goals: not always “faster and cheaper”
for
“Process”
Too often, companies lack focus, or focus on the wrong discipline.
Great processes don’t try to be all things to all people –
strive to be great at one differentiator, and good at the other two…
Consistent, predictable, error-free,
Operational and efficient.
Excellence
More efficient, but less flexible in
changing direction or meeting
needs of individual customers.
Tailors service delivery to
Continuous and rapid
Product Customer the processes of individual
introduction of new
Leadership Intimacy customers.
products and services.
More flexible for adapting
More flexible for
to needs of individual
adapting to needs of
customers, but less
new offerings, The original reference:
efficient.
but less efficient. The Discipline of Market Leaders
Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersma
Addison-Wesley 1995
20

21. Traction
3 – Critical factors: more than just workflow and IT
for
“Process”
Business mission, strategy, Process ownership, Culture, core competencies,
goals, & objectives objectives, & differentiator and management style
*
drives drives drives
Business Process
enables enables enables enables enables enables
* * Policies and Facilities
Human
Workflow Information Motivation &
Rules (or other)
Measurement Resources
Design Systems
• Workplace
• Constraints
• Employee
• Applications
• Actors • Skills
layout
• Business
assessment
• Data
• Steps & • Matching
rules that the • Equipment
and incentives actors to
• Information
decisions
• Furnishings
process
• “Reward and
• Integration
• Flow - tasks
enforces
punishment” • Recruitment,
sequence and
selection and • External Enabler – A factor
• Process
handoffs
& internal that can be adjusted
performance placement to impact process
indicators performance.
21

22. Traction
3 – Assess process by all enablers
for
“Process”
Business mission, strategy, Process ownership, Culture, core competencies,
goals, & objectives objectives, & differentiator and management style
*
drives drives drives
Business Process
enables enables enables enables enables enables
Policies and Facilities
Human
Workflow Information Motivation &
Rules (or other)
Measurement Resources
Design Systems
• Inappropriate • Mismatches
• Unavailable
• Too many • Out-of-date • Mismatch of
between task
information performer or
actors policies or work needs
value and
• Re-keying of process
• Non-value - numerical limits and facility
performer
data measures
added steps • Excessive • No support for
• Internal rather • Inappropriate
• Missing
• Duplicate review or team work
than customer recruiting and
functionality
steps approval steps • Layout that
placement
• Awkward focus
• Delays and • Restrictive impedes flow
• Measures of • Too little
interfaces
bottlenecks labor contracts of people or
empowerment
• Lack of support tasks vs.
• Excessively • Overly complex material
for workflow outcomes
sequential coding
22

23. Traction
4 – Make it visible: choose appropriate techniques
for
“Process”
Challenge – Showing how the process really works,
in a way that everyone can understand, highlighting what matters.
Decomposition Process
Many techniques to choose from… Area
• Simple swimlane diagram
Process Process Process Process
• Traditional ANSI flowchart Initially!
• Data Flow Diagram (DFD) We use
Sub- Sub- Sub-
• Process action diagram decomposition
Process Process Process
to clarify scope
• IDEF0 diagram
• ARIS EPC -
Event-response Process Chain)
• Business Interaction Model
• OMG BPMN BPD -
Business Process Modeling Not’n
Business Process Diagram
Workflow Model
• OMG UML Activity Diagram
(Swimlane Diagram)
• and many more… Later!
Initially, use simple swimlane diagrams
to show the reality of process workflow.
23

24. Traction
4 – Graphic principles for involvement & understanding
for
“Process”
Models should aid
understanding by:
Abstracting
Using visual cues
consistently
Masking
unnecessary detail
Highlighting
what matters
Keeping implementation-
level widgets out of
business-level diagrams
Practice
voluntary
simplicity!
24

25. Traction
4 – Simple swimlane diagrams support understanding
for
“Process”
Complete semester enrollment (partial)
yes
Submit
Prepare Provide
Decide to
enrollment
enrollment supporting
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Give up
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Decide if
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supporting
enrollment
Note - This is simplified - we haven't
documentation
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shown the quot;transport mechanisms.quot;
needed
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days later!
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Confirm Decide if Enroll student
Prepare
course waiver per Etc.
confirmation
prerequisites required instructions
yes Must be printed
and signed.
Key points!
Approve or
• Simple – easy to read reject waiver
request
• Shows all actors and
therefore all handoffs
• Shows sequence and
dependency left to right
Grant
• Shows reality – Financial Aid
not “sugar-coated”
25

26. Traction
4 - Detail and complexity impede understanding
for
“Process”
Might be a fine system or
data flow diagrams,
s.”
t but from a business
er
p perspective…
ex • Visually intimidating
r
fo (too many symbols)
s
yi • Hard to follow
cit
li (left to right flow?)
p
sim • Doesn’t illuminate
, what matters to the
rs
u business
e
at (who, what, when)
am And so…,
r
fo It may be inaccurate
is
y because the client
xit
ple
can’t verify it, so it
probably misses a lot
om
“C of “interesting” human
activity
26

27. Traction
4 – Comparison - a “great” workflow model
for
“Process”
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27

28. Traction
4 – Three keys to keeping workflow models relevant
for
“Process”
1) Visual – show sequence and dependency:
flow lines strictly go in from the left, out from the right
Wrong! Right!
2) Accessible – use the simplest possible set of symbols
Sorry – maybe it’s time to get rid of the old
flowchart template, and re-think your tools !
3) Honest – no “deception by sanitization”:
shows every actor that holds the work
28

29. Traction
An ongoing issue
for
“Process”
Sharp’s postulate:
Implementation-level techniques will always
swim upstream into the domain of business analysis
• Relational Database Design –> data modeling
(and most data modeling tools were at least originally
thinly disguised physical DB design tools)
• O-O technologies –> OOAD
• UML –> E-R modeling, workflow modeling, etc.
• BPMN –> business process workflow modeling
Corollary:
Any successful technique will be applied outside the
domain for which it is suitable
• “Everything’s an object!”
• “A business process is simply a very large use case!”
29

30. Traction
5 – Simplicity matters!
for
“Process”
There just isn’t time anymore for unnecessary complexity
30

31. Traction
5 – The lost art of progressive detail
for
“Process”
Scope Detail
Concept
• Planning • Understanding • Specification
• A “context diagram” • “Business-oriented” • All detail needed for
• Clarify boundaries, overview of concepts implementation
process vs. organization • Maximize participation • Completeness and rigor
• Decomposition • The “flow of work,” case • Detailed flow (perhaps in
• Boxes by case (“tell a story”) BPMN form) plus “out of
• Boxes and lines context” rules, procedures,
logic, etc.
• Boxes, lines, operators, …
Key points!
Org. Org. Org. Org. Org.
• Multiple diagrams for each
process – “one process,
Process
one case, one scenario” per
diagram.
• Possibly two levels of detail
– “handoff” & “service”
31

32. Traction
5 – Progressive detail – the key points
for
“Process”
All types of modeling should progress through three
well defined levels of detail, each providing a
different perspective for different audiences
Scope
Concept
Detail
Key Point! Getting through the “concept” level
• takes approximately 20% of the effort
• delivers very high business value
The level of precision and rigor that you need
in order to build something is far greater than that
which is necessary for the business to understand
if they’re going to like what you build.
*** Finalist – run-on sentence of the year ***
32

33. Traction
Key points
for
“Process”
1. Recognize that not everyone is The products
thrilled by “process”
Simplicity
2. Provide clarity on what a
Consistency and repetition
“business process” is
3. Address cross-functional issues, Attitude
and make it blame free
“It’s a privilege to learn
4. Avoid the deep dive into detailed about your business!”
and complex models “It’s new to me!”
“Seek first to understand”
5. Simplicity and conceptual
Business first,
thinking
technology later
Thanks!
Alec Sharp
asharp@clariteq.com
33