subject: How To Control Responsibilities Using Bpms [print this page] In a recently published blog post we discussed the idea that, in order to succeed with the implementation of process-based management, a company needs to have its directors, managers and operational team realize the importance of keeping a balance between three key elements: technology, processes and people.
Point in case in that same post, people are extremely relevant when executing the workflow designed by the BPM tool, which stipulates activities to be carried out within processes. People are responsible for manipulating the tool and controlling the activities it shapes.
According to Wagner Nakano Rost, experienced process-based management consultant, a very common question posed by businessmen is whether problems they find in their companies are consequence of not designing the processes correctly or of people not executing them correctly. A lot of businessmen wonder if the problems faced in their companies is a matter of processes or people. The answer is clear: people. People can make or break processes, the consultant comments.
To the consultant the use that businessmen make of BPM systems is an assurance that the activities will be executed in a standardized way. These tasks can be monitored and measured in a transparent way so that expected outcomes are attained. If the activities within your company are well-defined, but people don't execute them correctly, with each worker doing it differently, the first measure to be taken is to give employees proper orientation and training so that they are enabled to standardize the execution of activities and tasks in processes. And, if you don't have a standard, there's no way to pin indicators down and the results will drift apart from what you expected to reach, he remarks
The lack of a tool that standardizes activities makes it hard for the manager to work. Because it is impossible to monitor operation and strategy at once, he ends up choosing to focus on productivity (operation), since he believes the profit surfaces from that area of action. Lost and without knowing what to look for the manager commits the classical mistake of not planning ahead and only acting back, passively responding to new events. He doesn't prevent mistakes from happening, he works to fix the mistakes that keep coming up. Hence the importance of BPMS as a system capable of controlling people inside processes, enabling these processes to be executed just the way the company needs them to be, Wagner assures.
The use of BPMS can aggregate several benefits to companies and to people who work for them, since just as there are routine tasks which get repeated everyday, companies often face unusual challenges that are not part of the routine, but need to be equally remembered and carried out successfully. The most complicated thing for human beings is to remember their responsibilities. This way, if they have a system to remember their tasks, they will execute them in the best possible way, as they can concentrate on what needs to be done, with no need to worry about remembering what should be done. This means an optimal use of time, better service quality, not to mention productivity gains and recognition for a job well done, the consultant explains.
The advantages do not stop there. Not only activities execution time is optimized, but BPMS allows for professionals to be trained within the system itself, rendering external training sessions unnecessary. BPMS is self-explanatory, that's why companies can train their employees in other areas and teach them new skills. We'll have people evolving as professionals, being more prepared and educated and, as a result, we'll be working on the continual improvement of processes, Wagner adds.
When implementing a BPM system companies interestingly count on consulting firms to aid the understanding of processes without the bias from people that are involved with them on a daily basis. When a company notices non-conformities in their processes, it needs help from a consultant. This consultant will look at the processes from an outsider's perspective, identifying bottlenecks, developing improvements and all sorts of necessary adjustments, reducing failures and peeves among departments, working towards a scenario where everybody can easily create a project to improve the processes, which are nothing more than the connections between people in the activities they perform. The focus of consultancy will always be the improvement of productivity and end results, Wagner concludes.
