1. Beyond the “Binding” Process
Quite oftenwhenItalkto a personwhoisnot froma 'BusinessProcessManagement'background,I
hearthe statement"Processesare sobinding,aren'tthey?Theyonlyensure adherencetowhathas
beendefined. Additionally, theyalsostifle innovationandoftenactas showstopperswhenwe needto
getthingsmovingquickly".
That makesme wonder"Doesmywork areatie downpeople andstifle innovationsomuchthat they
hate the word'process'?"Thinkingoverit,Icome to reason"No, that’s notwhat BusinessProcess
Managementisall about.Thinkingof processesasbindingisaverynarrow perspectiveof the word
"Process"and"ProcessManagement.More oftenthannot, those whoregardprocessesasbindingthink
of onlyone aspectof the biggerProcessManagement umbrellaandthatisProcessAssurance orProcess
Audits.
I hence thoughtIwouldmake an attemptto highlightthe broaderusage of the word"Process"and
"ProcessManagement"thatthe industryandorganizationsemploy throughafew paragraphs and
examples below.Believe itornot,a lot of organizationsare employingBusinessProcessManagement
practicesto helpthemachieve operationalexcellence and significantcompetitive advantage.
The basic leversof ProcessManagementwhichorganizationsdeploythatIcan thinkof are-
- ProcessDesign
- ContinuousProcessImprovement
- ProcessAssurance
- ProcessPerformance Management
- ProcessAutomation
- ProcessGovernance
- ProcessInnovation
2. ProcessDesign
Thisleverensuresthatyourorganizational processesdesignedare effective andfit-to-purpose.Youdo
not wantto seta businessgoal of increasingsalesby50% forthe new year whenyourmanufacturing
processesare goingto operate justthe same wayas the earlier year. Nordo youwant to setthe goal
of beingthe bestemployerforthe yearwhenyourHumanResource processesare employee unfriendly
and youhave no strategicplansinplace to change them.Inthe casesmentionedabove, ProcessDesign
wouldessentially ensurethatyourdownstreamprocessesare aptto meetthe businessgoalsyousetfor
your organization.
ContinuousProcessImprovement
If your organizationisnotimprovingyourVendorPaymentRate from60% on-time paymentsto70%on-
time paymentsto80% on-time paymentsmonthonmonth(orquarteron quarter),youare simplynot
improvingyourprocesses.ContinuousProcessImprovementensuresthatthe rightprocessesthatgive
the maximummileageinachievementof the businessgoalsare selectedforimprovement.Thislever
3. alsoinvolvesactivitiestowardsredesign/improvementof the businessprocessestilltheyare
successfully deployedinoperations.
ProcessAssurance
Thisis the area of ProcessManagementthatis oftenperceivedas"binding"by employees.Thisarea
ensuresthatyouperformyouractivitiesasyouhave definedthemorinotherwords"Doas yousay".
However,we cannotunderminethe importance of thisProcessManagementarea.Surelyno
organization wouldwanttheiremployeestoinnovate processes24x7during"operations".Canwe
imagine anemployeeof aRetailersuddenlythinkingof aninnovative wayto place goodsonthe shelves
and goingaheadand executingthatprocesswithout bouncingoff the ideawithrespective function
leadership?We wouldenterthe Retail shopthe nextdaytoonlynot findanythingwe wantasthe
placementof goodswouldbe totallydifferentthanwasonthe previousday.Thisiswhere "Process
Assurance"playsakeyrole.It ensuresadherencetothe process that’slaidoutfor the particular
moment.Innovativeideasare ofcourse welcome,buttheyhave tobe reviewedbymanagement/
leadershipteams,be acceptedforimplementation,piloted,andsystematicallyrolledoutacrossthe
organization.Hence,IthinkthisProcessAreaisnotreally"binding".Itjustensuresemployees"dowhat
isdefined"therebyensuringsanityinbusinessoperations.
ProcessPerformance Management
We all knowthat "Whateverisnotmeasuredcannotbe improved".Thisareaof ProcessManagement
ensuresanorganizationmeasuresthe rightaspects - rightfromthe departmental orprocessobjectives
downto Key Performance IndicatorstoProcessPerformance IndicatorstoService Level Agreementsto
KeyResultAreasforeachemployee.Thisarea alsoensuresPerformance measuresare notjustdefined
but theyare alsotracked,reportedandanalyzed.
ProcessAutomation
ProcessAutomationisaverykeyenablerintoday'stimes.Longgongare the days where anykindof a
processwascompletelymanual.Thisareaof ProcessManagementhelps organizations leveragethe
rightautomationstoimprove theiroperational efficiencies.Processautomationhelpsinreducing
manual effort,helpsinincreasingthroughputorproductivityandhelpsinamore consistentand
repeatable executionof processes.Canorganizationstodayeventhinkof runningoperationswithout
implementingERPsystemsforalmostall theirbusinessareas?Surelynot.ERPandmanyotherpackaged
4. solutionshave become core toanyorganizational working, somuchso,that IT isnow alsobeing
consideredbymanyorganizationsasone of the waystheycouldgetcompetitive advantage.
ProcessInnovation
Processescanbe innovative,yes.A lotof people of the traditional school of thoughtfeel processesare a
setof sequentialstepslaiddowntodoa achieve aparticularoutcome.How thencan a processbe
innovative inanyway?Butthe good newsisprocessescanbe innovative.Processinnovationhappens
whenan organizationsolvesanexistingproblemorperformsanexistingbusinessprocessinaradically
differentwaythatgeneratessomethinghighlybeneficial tothose whoperformthe process,
those whorelyonthe outputof the processor both.For example,the introductionof acompletelynew
sequence toanexistingmanufacturingprocessthatspeedsproductionby100%,therebysavingthe
organizationmoneyandtime,couldbe consideredaprocessinnovation.
ProcessGovernance
Governance isimportanttoensure thingsare goinginthe right direction.ProcessGovernance involves
settingupthe Process Managementteamandassigningthe rightRoles& Responsibilitiesto1) Govern
processoperations2) Assessprocessrisksandmitigate them3) Sponsorandsupportimprovement
Initiatives 4) Realignprocessstrategyinline withthe needsof the business.Governance isalsoneeded
to ensure effectivecross-functional integrationandthatall the functionstalkthe same language.Have
youthoughtof a scenariothat resultswhenyourProcurementteamcommitsa15 day Invoice payment
timelinetothe vendorandthe AccountsdepartmentSLA forvendorpaymentis25 days? You surelydo
not wantsuch scenariostoarise inyour organization.Hence,thinkGovernance youmust.
All these areastogetherconstituteProcessManagement.Soitis hightime we stopthinkingof "Process"
as bindingbutratherthinkof how youcan leverage itasa tool forstrategicand competitiveadvantage.
The viewsexpressedhere are completelymyown.Yourfeedbackandcommentsare welcome.
(duhita.dharwadkar@gmail.com).
