If you Change the Processes you will need to Process the Changes

A BIT OF NOSTALGIA TO KICK THINGS OFF

Just as a bit of background it was at the Royal Military College of Science (now the Defence Academy) many moons ago when I was first introduced to process work. In those days before the advances in technology-related process solutions we used what were called ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) symbols to map processes which consisted of a perspex template with punched symbols ... see the article main graphic above:

Processes were manually drawn using the ASME template … it sometimes took bloody hours I can tell you.

SOME RESEARCH VIA GOOGLE

OK enough of that nostalgia here are some of the things I found while I was googling …

?In an article from the APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center) called the “Seven Tenets of Process Management” they include:

1. Strategic alignment

2. Governance

3. Process models

4. Change management

5. Process Performance

6. Process improvement

7. Tools and technology

Then in a supporting blog called “Change Management: The Heart of Process Management” they say:

“Another way to manage change and gain buy-in is to create core design teams made up of members throughout the organization. These teams help design the implementation and help customize process models to match the needs of the organization. Their feedback is rolled up to the group in charge of the process management implementation, and in turn, core design team members act as ambassadors in their departments who can explain the changes as they roll out.”

Sounds good to me.

In another article called “The Importance of Business Process Change Management” from the McCormick School of Engineering they say:

“Change is hard for organizations, even when the “to-be” state will be significantly better than the “as-is” state, because change is personal. People are asked to change the way they do their jobs. Some jobs are no longer necessary because the improved process is more efficient. These realities can create fear and resistance in an organization. In class, we use Dr. John Kotter’s eight-step process to create a plan for implementing process redesign in the organization.”

Again, sounds good even using a proven Change Management approach

Finally, in an article called “Change Management Made Easy Through Continuous Improvement” from GBS Corporate Training they say:

“As organisational change management strategies typically look at the people within the organisation, most of the key steps of managing change should be focused on them. Involving people early on and during implementation, plus continuously adjusting for improvement is critical to success. This includes thorough planning, buy-in, process, resources, communication, and constant evaluation.”

ASK A FRIEND

I also asked some of my LI connections who are knowledgeable in the process arena:

First from John Bishop (sorry I couldn't tag you) who works on the contract market in the UK and who I had the pleasure of working for me on a couple of previous projects.

John said:

“I worked with Ron as a Process Manager on a couple of previous large projects and right from the beginning he clearly stated that he was following a "process driven change approach” with which I was fully supportive. I even went through his Fundamentals of Change Management course last year to capitalise on his change experience and add to my skill-set. Change Managers and Process Managers are cut from the same cloth and establishing a process baseline is essentially the start of any change initiative. How can you tell where you want to go if you don't even know where you are?"

Then from Karl Walter Keirstead (sorry I couldn't tag you) from Canada who is the Managing Director of Civerex Systems said somewhat candidly

Re change managers and process managers working together. I think that "process gurus" are headed for the dust bin for the simple reason that we have, today, platforms that allow a facilitator to host process development sessions (more and more at a distance) where the end-users (the ultimate owners of the processes) actually build their own processes

Thirdly from David McKenna (sorry I couldn't tag you) who runs an outfit called Adaworx in the UK whose first reaction when I asked him the question was

?“Ahh - difficult one … as they say it can be the same person” … I think that about says it all."

?OK but what do I think:

Given my history as a “process person” and the fact that my change approach is “process driven” I’m going to say that Change Managers have a raft of work to do anyway and would find it difficult to manage if the process work if they were to get fully involved but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t understand the discipline and the importance of it and then use the outputs to drive things like Organisation Design and Impact Analysis plus input to Training Management and of course Continuous Improvement

PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK APPROACH TO CHANGE

Even the first “building block” in my Practical Framework Approach to Change, after the Foundations is Process Change which goes … “Identify, understand and analyse the processes impacted by the change, map the “as is” and critically examine each process, devise new “to be” processes, undertake an impact assessment of the changes and gain agreement to the new processes”

Then guess what the last “building block” is Continuous Improvement … “Design and implement a Continuous improvement programme (Plan, Do, Check, Act) to regularly review changes to new ways of working bought about by the change initiative and implement efficiency improvements on a regular cyclical basis”

So we kind of come full circle

Processes are also key to other components of the framework such as "Organisational Change" and "Training Management".

WHY BOTHER MAPPING PROCESSES

Some people will say why the hell bother? My answer would be to get the following benefits:

• ?Analysis of the process for efficiency – could it be done better?
• Analysis of the process for effectiveness – is it doing the right things?
• Identification of where technology could assist the process
• Matching the process to the goal and identifying a business case – should it be done at all?
• Comparison of required process (based on business rules) to practice (what actually happens)
• Provides a basis for training and induction for new employees
• Provides a benchmark for all services provided in a service led organisation

PREVIOUS RESOURCES

I have previously published a couple of my “storyboard” style posts which include some of this information which you can find here by following these links …

The importance of “processes” in Change Management

Why Model Processes?

Also, you can watch this video on my YouTube Channel ...

How do you see Change Managers and Process Managers ideally working together? Thank you to Nina Fritsch for the original question and inspiration

Once again any reactions, comments, re-shares etc are always welcome.