subject: The Importance Of People When Implementing A Process-based Management System [print this page] Nowadays it's hard to miss the increasing number of companies that worry about implementing tools capable of automating and optimizing the execution of their internal activities, guaranteeing effective gains and improvements on their services for the companies themselves as well as for their clients.
For the implementation of a process-based management tool to actually generate such improvements, however, managers and directors ought to be aware that the balance between technology, people and processes is the most important factor for this tool to perform successfully. Cultural barriers are commonly found along the way, though; improvements mean change, and people aren't always fond of dealing with new and different.
According to Andreia Luz Oliveira Meirelles, process consultant, the main challenge to be overcome when a company decides to deploy a process-based management system is, simply put, people. The main challenge is related to people. People that are part of the process need to get involved with its elaboration and have their responsibilities laid out very clearly, so that they feel they are part of the whole procedure. That way we can accomplish cultural change and break widespread paradigms, such as the one that says that the implementation of processes will bureaucratize work.
The implementation of a process-based management system doesn't involve only getting people to participate, but also establishing good communication and reliably supporting every employee that is directly engaged in the activities designed for the new workflow. Such support might include training sessions, workshops, and so forth. Besides getting people to take part in, we need to pay attention to how we communicate propositions about the implementation of processes, as the whole project becomes more transparent, Andreia comments.
The balance between technology, people and processes, mentioned earlier as a key factor for the success of a process-based management system, has also been highlighted by Venki Technologies CEO, Wallace Oliveira, during the webinar how to foster a process-oriented IT department. He remarked that this balance is vital. Technology and processes demand the investment of money and time. People, on the other hand, require special attention, since they are the unpredictable element of the trio, which can mean conflicting interests and vanity.
We can notice, thus, that independently from the trio, the people item plays a big part on a process-oriented management system, and it is its engagement within the project that makes it possible to build successful management, capable of reaching excellent results.
