How can process design support organizational transformation?

While designing processes, it is critical to pay attention to the ones that differentiate the organization from its competitors. Pay significant attention to designing those differentiated processes so that the company reinforces its competitive advantage, and utilize industry standard processes for the others. For example, if a company differentiates itself through product or service innovation, the new product development process must be very carefully thought through and designed. On the other hand, the company may leverage a standard process for Accounts Payable.

Process designing is pivotal in aligning organizational processes with strategic goals. By meticulously assessing existing processes, pinpointing inefficiencies, and crafting a blueprint for future processes, it ensures that operational frameworks harmonize with the broader objectives and vision. For instance, in a shift from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach, process design is crucial in reshaping processes—encompassing interactions, feedback mechanisms, and retention strategies. Moreover, it's not just about functionality; it's about reinforcing organizational ethos and values like agility, transparency, and empowerment. The symbiotic relationship between process design and strategic alignment is pivotal for success.

In my experience this is the starting point from manufacturing strategy to new product launches; is the design of fit-for-purpose processes that will help you meet your customer requirements and help you achieve your business objectives, in addition upfront process design gives you the intelligence of incorporating flexible or agile processes early on in giving an organization the capability of responding to changing customer demand in a cost-effective and competitive manner. During process design, you also have the ability to configure process enhancements or incorporate best practices that would have been costly or difficult to implement in a brownfields operation.

I have a point of clarification on "By mapping out the current state of the processes, identifying the gaps and inefficiencies, and designing the future state of the processes, process designers can ensure that the processes support the desired outcomes and value proposition of the organization. Providing . . . the process designers (hopefully the eventual end-user-owners of the designed processes) have access to an e-mapping platform that lets the team map, compile, rollout, sandbox, make changes, re-map, re-rollout, this time where private workflow template instances are automated by a workflow/workflow engine.

I recently wrote an article on the subject of operational implementation of business strategy. There’s often a chasm between strategic vision and the day to day operation. I think there are a number of mechanisms which can be illuminated to understand how strategy choices are codified into operational processes: (1) policies, (2) business rules, (3) control parameters and (4) business process design. There is also a feedback loop in the form of process performance indicators which are used as a basis for KPIs. Policies (1) are inputs to process manual decision tasks, business rules (2) and control parameters (3) are used for automated process tasks. And the design of the process (4) codifies which roles do which tasks in which order.

Taking the time to collaboratively map your customer’s experience and journey with your organization is a really worthwhile exercise. It often highlights pain points for your customer then can be addressed with a streamlined internal process.

Agree and in fact, this is one of the greatest values resulting from an organizational transformation. Using the Human Centered Design approach, the process design would incorporate inputs, insights, recommendations, and perspectives from both internal and external customers.

In my experience, involving stakeholders—be it process owners, users, or customers—in the design phase is transformative. Their insights often unveil intricate details, paving the way for more effective processes. Moreover, this inclusive approach fosters a sense of ownership and commitment, which is crucial for the successful implementation of any change. What's fascinating is how process design not only streamlines operations but also cultivates a culture of collaboration and innovation. Clear delineation of roles and expectations alongside seamless communication nurtures an environment where sharing ideas and knowledge becomes the norm.

Collaborations among internal cross-functional teams and external engagements with various suppliers and customers from various interventions such as workshops, market research, consultanting, academic research, benchmarking, and different industry site visits are essential ingredients to help an organization become innovative and gain a competitive edge over its peers. Comfort and stagnation are detrimental to business success and growth. New insights and ideas are derived from such interventions to help an organization design better processes and service offerings for its transformation.

"Measuring and Improving Performance" can be a valuable tool in supporting organizational transformation. By analyzing functions and processes, an organization can pinpoint precisely where change is needed. This measurement allows us to define our transformation objectives and set performance metrics to assess progress and goal achievement. Then, using an appropriate design process, we can review existing processes in a way that aids the organization in achieving its transformation objectives. In fact, measuring and improving performance is a powerful tool for developing and executing organizational transformation strategies, helping the organization progress on its transformation journey and achieve continuous performance improvement.

When designing processes to enhance performance, it's important to consider both measurements and practices. While we often rely on measurables to evaluate success and track performance, depending solely on measurements can be limiting. There is a set of practices that involve specific actions and approaches that play a crucial role in determining whether performance can be sustained over time. These practices are equally important, if not more so, than the numbers we use to measure success. For example, not filling budgeted positions to achieve short-term savings may seem like a good practice for short-term performance. However, in the long run, it can have adverse effects, ultimately affecting the sustainability of your performance.

It is essential to measure the parts of your business that tell you if you are meeting your objectives and expectations. When designing processes, measuring and improving performance should also be looked at from the perspective of purpose and theory measures, purpose measures looking at the outputs of a process (aka. lagging indicators) and theory measures (process dynamics and inputs, aka leading indicators) to have some level of confidence in delivery. Using statistical process control techniques and capability histograms is good practice to monitor process performance parameters and indicate when to intervene on the process measurables w.r.t improving stability and capability as part of your transformation.

Business process is “how” an organization delivers value to customers. By establishing and operating with an efficient and streamlined process, organizations can deliver the best value and hence experience to the customers. “Process Design” is the method to enable efficient and streamlined process within an organization and how people within the organization interact with the process. Adopting an end-to-end process design / transformation drives organizational transformation keeping the customer value delivery at the center.

Defining and designing the business process is the key and central element for any organisational transformation. The fundamental goal of any transformation is to improve efficiencies for more productive, cost-effective and enhanced customer satisfaction. While organisation is nothing but a business, social, and legal framework of a commercial entity, every business process of that organisation directly impacts its purpose, targets, philosophy, culture, practice, methods, etc., controlled and influenced by compliance, systems, technology, people, markets, costs, and society. Thus, aiming at simplified, structured, standardised, and optimised processes is the key to organisational excellence and the way to organisation transformation.

Process design is foundational to virtually any improvement effort, regardless of the scope and scale. Redesigning processes can drive standardization, address performance gaps, clarify roles and responsibilities, identify areas for technology innovation, and improve user experience. Once the process work is complete, then the organization can be designed to support the future processes.

I no longer obsess over standardised processes being the gold standard, outside of manufacturing that is.. it stifles innovation in a knowledge working space.. and who’s creating these standardised processes? in my experience, If it’s not those who actually do the work, they are probably not the best ones..