Demystifying the term PROCESS: process control

In this final post on the topic of "Demystifying the term process", I’ll explain requirement 10 of the 10 requirements that something must meet, before we can use the term ‘process’ in a mature service management context, according to the Unified Service Management method:

1. A process describes what has to happen successively, not the who or how.
2. A process can be interpreted with a verb.
3. A process can be counted.
4. Processes are not depending upon practical conditions (?).
5. Processes have a customer-relevant and unique purpose.
6. A process can be divided into sub-processes, but that does not change the process.
7. A process model organizes the processes.
8. An integral process model includes all service management activities.
9. In an integrated process model, each activity occurs only once.
10. ALL ACTIVITIES ARE STEERED USING PROCESS CONTROL

In the previous posts we’ve learned that practices are not processes, that a customer-focus requires that processes should be defined holistically from a customer-relevant perspective for maximum effectiveness, that a process model should include all relevant activities to avoid having two or more captains on the ship – and that an integrated process model has no redundancy in its activities. The final requirement handles the concept of process control.

Process control refers to steering and informing

The task of process control?is twofold:

• direct supervision (steering), aimed at the correct (prescribed) handling of a process
• indirect supervision (informing), aimed at providing information about the process, for the sake of improvement and accountability.

To be in control of your daily routines, all organizational resources should be controlled, and especially all interactions between these resources (Systems Thinking). This means that processes should be controlled primarily from the perspective of the integrated routine (the 8 USM workflows) that they contribute to, together with the other two organizational resources: People and Technology.

Process control through steering

Processes can be steered from two perspectives:

• the process manager perspective – focused on the logic of the process
• the coordinator perspective – focused on the execution of the process

In the USM method, the process manager only steers on the logic of the process that is laid down in the agreements about the way the process is executed. These agreements are made with the (internal and external) parties that operate the process: coordinators and operators. This means that the process manager doesn’t coordinate the actual process: the manager only directs (steers) the way this is done.

The coordination can then be organized from two different perspectives (see the image on top):

• the logic of the process – this concerns the profile of the process coordinator
• the power of the hierarchy – this concerns the profile of the team coordinator

The outcome of this steering is the adjustment of the process execution.

Process control through informing

For improvement and accountability purposes, we need data on the execution of the actual calls in the process. This can again be approached from two perspectives: the process manager and the coordinator.

The process manager will again agree with the coordinators what data will be gathered, and the coordinator will then gather the data and make it available for the process manager, as well as for internal purposes.

Process data serves two purposes:

• improvement of the way the process is set up and executed
• accountability for the way the calls in the process have been executed

Improvement is the ultimate responsibility of the process manager. The data is used to analyze the process, look for opportunities to further improve it, and agree with the coordinators on those improvements. The process manager can use the USM process Risk Management to handle all improvement initiatives, using the agile USM deployment model.

Accountability is expressed in terms or reporting: service reporting to the customer (covering the reporting on the delivered facilities and the delivered support in the form of the 8 USM workflows), and process reporting to the internal management.

The outcome of this informing is the improvement of the service delivery (effectiveness as well as efficiency) and of customer satisfaction.

Closing remarks

This is the last post on the topic of "Demystifying the term process". Applying the 10 requirements will inevitably lead you to the USM Process Model, its 5 processes and 8 workflows. Hopefully, this has demonstrated the power of the methodical approach specified in USM, the Unified Service Management method. If you spend some energy on this, you’ll soon find out how USM enables you in a much more effective and most of all more efficient way of applying the popular guidance from best practice frameworks such as ?ITIL, FITSM, or COBIT, and to find a much simpler, cheaper, and more sustainable route towards any certification against popular standards like ISO27001 or ISO9001. Tons of free information are available at the USM Portal. Compliments of the SURVUZ Foundation.

The next posts in the USM newsletter will be on other topics of general interest in service management.

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