We're big fans of XMPro and think it's revolutionising Business Process Management. Here's a white paper from XMPro explaining what makes XMP Pro unique.
|
A concept which is often missed when improving business processes is that of the "knowledge worker". Managers think they can put in place a process which captures all the steps and which anyone can do. The reality is that people involved in the process have knowledge in their heads which cannot be programmed or easily replicated. Their experience and sometimes intuition tells them what they should do when faced with decisions or situations. Paul Harmon of BPTrends.com describes this decision-making process very well in his article called "How People Make Decisions Within Processes". Click here to read this article
Business Process Management is changing the way organisations view their processes. One of the key changes in thinking is to view a process as an event, not just a workflow. Click here to read an interesting article which looks at the difference between even-based and workflow-based processes.
We have loaded the first of our new helpful presentations on analysing and improving business processes. The first three are:
Basics of Process Analysis click here to go to the presentation Basics of Activity Analysis click here to go to the presentation Adding Value when Improving Business Processes click here to go to the presentation If you have visited us before you will notice that we are redesigning this site. This part used to be called the DIY Blog but we are now expanding it to be even better, a true Process Hub for everything you need to know to analyse and improve a business process.
So, give us a another week or so and more content will appear as we create The Process Hub. The place you know you can come to for practical advice on analysing and improving business processes. We are expanding the blog to include articles and research on topics relating to analysing and improving business processes, and we will have sections specifically on:
20. Do people get trained?
A funny question? It is surprising what people don't get trained on but are expected to know what to do. People must be trained and have the right skills for the process. 21. What is the skill level of the people? The quality of your labour will impact both the cost and quality performance of the process. It can be better to have fewer, higher paid, higher skilled people than lots of cheap unskilled labour because as we all know you get what you pay for. 22. Are the working hours appropriate? If someone is working regular overtime they are either:
19. What IT systems are used?
Systems can cause process issues. They can be:
17. Is performance measured?
To understand and improve a process its performance needs to be measured. You need to know what is happening to the process and what the people involved are doing. But don't get carried away. You don't need to measure everything. 18. How good is the process? Is it simple and easy to follow? If the process is time consuming or difficult to follow people will not complete it properly or try to find ways around it (guaranteed). 16. What is the leadership style?
The culture of an organisation and the atmosphere of a team come from its leadership. But unfortunately not everyone is a born leader and not everyone who thinks they are a good leader really is.
People can be trained to be better leaders and managers but often people are promoted into manager roles and left to sort it out for themselves. 15. What is the culture of the organisation?
All organisations have their own culture. You will find similarities across organisations but this is one area where they are often unique as a consequence of the mix of people within the organisation. Culture has a huge impact and is at the root of many process issues (eg: problem ownership and acceptance of change). But it is the hardest thing to change, and if you want to change it takes dedication and time. If you want to successfully implement process improvements you need a culture that promotes and accepts change. |
theprocesshub.comSubscribe to The Process Hub Monthly Newsletter with access to theprocesshub.com
The Process HubThe Process Hub is a mix of process improvement advice and weekly Blogs on things we find interesting. It has lots of useful information - and its free (but there are ads - its a small sacrifice for access to so much useful information). BP Consulting LinksView Noel Currie's profile and join him on LinkedIn
Archives
July 2012
Categories
All
|
