Processes vs Departments
Are we describing processes or departments?
Finance takes care of finance; Account Management manages clients and Personnel looks after staff. It sounds too easy, and it is…
One of the first questions we ask our clients is: "How do you work?" A common reply is: “We work in departments, but we would like to work in processes”. Actually, after a few minutes of brainstorming, the obvious becomes clear. The response should have been: we work in processes, but we think in departments.
Organisations have goals. Typically they are detailed in different objectives and tasks for each department like taking care of finance, selling products or expanding the market. The same applies to processes. However, they are more specific e.g. raised invoice, sent interview letter or updated website.
There are many ways to achieve a goal. If we take the example of hiring a new employee, the ultimate goal is that the new employee is identified and recruited. The contracts are signed, that his or her workplace is set up and that he or she knows what to do.
Let’s take a closer look at this example. This is the way we describe it when we think in departments:
• The HR department places an advertisement.
• The HR department reviews the CV’s and interviews different people.
• The HR department chooses and hires a new employee.
• The HR department asks Facilitating Services to set up a new desk.
• The HR department gets notified by Facilitating Services that the new desk is set up.
• The HR department provides the necessary training.
The Facilitating Services department might have a separate process to set up a desk for a new employee. The IT department might have a process to install a new PC on request of Facilitating Services. Actually, they all work together to achieve the same thing!
So wouldn’t it better to write it down like this? And to see it represented like this?
• The HR department places an ad.
• The HR department reviews the CV’s and interviews different people.
• The HR department hires a new employee.
• The Facilitating Services department sets up a new desk.
• The IT department installs a computer for the new employee.
• The HR department provides the necessary training.
In this second example, we can see clearly which departments are involved. We can also identify the dependencies: if the Facilitating Services department fails in setting up a new desk, the IT department can’t place the computer and the HR department will be unable to train the new employee.
Another example: when a product is sold by the sales department, the finance department might be involved in sending the invoice before the logistics department sends the products to the customer. Again, we see that different departments work together in one process.
Don’t just work in departments. Start thinking and working in processes. As a first exercise, you could gather a group of people from different departments and describe one of your main processes. You will see that this not only results in a clear process description, but also opens people’s eyes and creates awareness of the impact of their work elsewhere in the company. Procedurally and culturally this can be a powerful and significant way to improve service levels while increasing job satisfaction.
Text by Jan Kouwenhoven, consultant at Mavim
