Strategic Execution

Should a role be dedicated to realizing the benefits of digitized business processes? Should this fall to the Chief Operating Officer, COO, if one exists? Ultimately, the role needs to drive adoption and ensure that business leaders are engaged. ...

... "Problems arise not so much from the technology as from the management challenges of driving the business-process changes once systems are in place. Installing and using companywide information-technology business processes requires cooperation and sharing of resources across businesses, regions and functions. " ...

Via WSJ: Role of SEO

End-to-End Process Design: ERP Implementation Approach

Ergon Energy implements ERP to replace collection of legacy systems, leveraging new business process design. ...

... "We started off with business processes and designed 19 new end-to-end processes that would conduct all the business transactions within the footprint of the ERP. " ...

Via Australian IT: Utility Industry ERP Implementation

Process Maturity Made Easy

I was going to report on an interesting article by Michael Hammer in the April Harvard Business Review, but I see Dave Garrett at Gantthead has beaten me to the punch. I've included a link below to the Gantthead article.

Basically, the Hammer article is about the new Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) that Hammer has been working on with the Phoenix Consortium. It's the result of a research project they undertook to develop a process implementation roadmap.

In the Gantthead article below, Garrett has some helpful links, as well as a summary of the five process enablers and the four enterprise capabilities in the PEMM framework.

Let's see, with PEMM along with the Business Analysts Body of Knowledge (recently announced by the International Institute of Business Analysis - IIBA) , there should be plenty of complimentary models to go along with the PMBOK and ITIL. This should keep consultants busy for a while.

Meanwhile, here's the Gantthead link...

Beyond CMMI... PEMM

Business Analyst Body of Knowledge: Help at Last

AllPM has a great theme going this month. It's all about the integration of business analysis and project management. As it points out, especially during the early phases of a project, the project manager often works very closely with business analysts.

Three years ago, an organization called the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysts) was formed to do for business analysts what PMI has done for project managers. It has grown to 3,500 members in 62 countries. They now have a certification exam as well, plus their own "Body of Knowledge" (BABOK).

The article below from AllPM outlines the relationship to project management. Well worth reading...

Theme of the Month: From Project Management (PM) Certification to Business Analysis (BA) Certification By Greta Blash, PMP :: ALLPM Project Management :: Project Manager - Project Management - Information - Forum Manager- PM Tools - Ar

Innovation: More Than Products

Recent study on innovation shows that it is top of mind for executives and means more than new product development. ...

... "Companies are infusing innovation throughout their organizations. Seventy percent of senior business leaders use internal communications to promote innovation among employees, and more than two-thirds believe that driving innovation in their business processes and customer experiences are more important than innovation in product development. " ...

Via Weber Shandwick Worldwide: From Corporate Buzzword to Business Imperative in 2007

Chief Innovation Officer: Get Trained

Attend training on the Chief Innovation Officer role. The Chief Innovation Officer course is targeted to push the frontiers of the field and brings into focus fostering innovation talent, creating portfolio techniques, and enabling business processes necessary to execute innovation projects in support of growth. ...

... "BMG's Chief Innovation Officer seminar is designed specifically for business leaders who are leading the charge for innovation inside their organizations. This 2-day interactive seminar features emerging strategies, tools and techniques from some of the foremost thinkers in innovation today.

Upcoming Seminar Date: 4/30/2007 2 days Denver, CO " ...

Chief Innovation Officer Seminar

ITIL Accelerator Tool

Tool accelerates ITIL implementation through reusable business process models. ...

... "ITIL, published by the British Office of Government Commerce, is grounded on fundamental principles such as client orientation, service level agreement, and quality management. The MEGA ITSM Accelerator is a graphical, ready-to-use repository of ITIL best practices. It enables IT managers to deploy these best practices in a consistent framework, thus reducing project risks and implementation costs. " ...

Via MEGA International: MEGA International Releases Advanced MEGA ITSM Accelerator

Project Management Imperatives: Ten Keys to Success

Someone recently asked me what I felt the critical success factors were for any project (i.e. what were the top "must do's"). Although I can think of many more, here were what I felt were the top ten:

1) Get the roles right. (Insure accountability; use a RACI chart or Responsibility Matrix so roles are clearly defined. Insuring people understand their commitments up front will avoid problems later.)

2) Get the goals right. (Make sure all the key stakeholders agree on the goals. I've seen more projects go wrong for this reason than any other. Time spent here will pay dividends later.)

3) Get the current scope right. (I say "current scope," because change should be expected. Projects by default contain change because they are unique in nature. It's not whether you'll experience change, it's how you analyze the potential impacts and manage the approval of the change that counts. Agreed-upon and approved scope changes are perfectly acceptable, with one caveat: It's often wise to set a limit to the number of times scope can be changed for the current product release, and defer some changes to a subsequent release, else value gets delayed.).

4) Obtain commitment from the business, customers, and other stakeholders as to their part in the success of the project. (Many projects derail because the customer doesn't live up to their side of the bargain, doesn't understand their side of the bargain, or some other necessary constituent isn't cooperating for various reasons. Obtain the right commitment up front, starting with senior management.)

5) Determine the critical success factors and risks. (Critical success factors and risks go hand in hand. Many people ignore this or sweep it under the rug, and accept any related risks as a given. The critical success factors will identify related risks and help set expectations).

6) Set expectations. (This is frequently overlooked and is a key cause of failure. The sponsor, customers, and anyone impacted by the project must be given realistic expectations for what is needed from them, how long the project will take, how much it will cost, what the uncertainty factor is, what the available resources are, and anything else necessary to avoid surprises and/or an under-equipped effort.)

7) Beware of conflicting directives. (I call this the "Robocop Syndrome." In the film, Robocop, the titular robotic policeman goes on full tilt when he encounters directives that conflict with his primary directive. I see this happen often in organizations where a project sponsor demands something that is in conflict with other key stakeholders' wishes and/or top organizational directives. This could be covered under "goals" or "expectations," but it's so important that it warrants its own point. The project manager must head this off at the pass before the project goes down a rat hole it won't recover from.)

8) Plan Collaboratively. (The act of planning is not an isolated exercise. It's a collaborative exercise and should be done with the project core team and subject matter experts via some sort of facilitated brainstorming session---possibly with sticky labels on a wall.)

9) Beware of unilateral and granular "one-size-fits-all" solutions. (This is often ineffective, both as a project management methodology and a process implementation policy. Look at the big picture, and the potential variations. Keeping a framework high-level can allow for greatest flexibility and adaptability. Aim for principles over rules wherever possible. Use rules when safety is involved, regulatory requirements exist, or exact accuracy is needed---per Marcus Buckingham's guidelines from "First Break All the Rules.")

10) Don't let rank set you off course. (Often, a senior manager pulls rank and makes requests that are either detrimental, unwise, or in direct conflict with organizational goals. When this happens, see rules 6 and 7. It is the project manager's responsibility to set the right expectations, warn of potential risks, and head off potential conflicting directives at the pass.)

There it is. My list of "must do's." Project management isn't rocket science. In fact it's not a science at all. It's more of an art. Hopefully, the guidelines above can serve as a useful palette.

Event Map: Mind Map Technique

Nifty approach to mapping events using mind-map model ... Inputs are converging factors and outputs are diverging consequences. Think project go-live events, product launch, etc. ...

... "Many business people are primarily concerned with events that change the status quo. This could be launching a product or service, commissioning a process, solving a problem, delivering a physical event (such as a seminar), or establishing a new behaviour. " ...

Via Beyond Crayons: Template for Visualising Events

IT Governance: Steady Progression

IT governance is a journey and CIO realize they cannot implement the process overnight. A wise choice is to implement a few basic building blocks and then expand through cycle of learning and continuous improvement. ...

... "While expectations about the role of IT in growing the business and governance are expanding dramatically, CIOs are cautious about how quickly they can rise to the challenge. " ...

Via CFO: Link

IT Governance: Data Security Matters

Take data security seriously and dedicate time in the IT governance agenda for it. Define security policy and create roles / accountability for it through postion of information security officer. ...

... "Formalize an IT governance process with documented policies and controls. Representatives from different departments, including IT, should develop this manual together as a task force led by the ISO. " ...

Via Miami Herald: Link

Growth Business Process: Program Management

Must-read HBR article is an interview of Jeffrey Immelt on GE's growth as a business process. Includes a well-developed process wheel, personalized to GE, but applicable to most enterprises. ... Link (PDF). Way at end of the article (pg 10), note that Jeff Immelt admits GE's weaknesses and identifies program management as a skill needing development --- the ability to manage significant high-profile investments.

SOX IT Compliance: Verizon Exemplar ...

Verizon honored as an exemplar in IT SOX compliance. The company was noted for their use of work process and systems to enable the high-level of performance through its SOX program office. Best practices cited: strong finance dept partnership, leadership committment, and proactive auditing. ...

... "Verizon Business strives to be a role model in IT governance and compliance, said Judy Spitz, Verizon Business chief information officer. Spitz heads the company's Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Program Office, which is responsible for maintaining and improving IT controls and monitors more than 30 of the company's largest revenue and transaction volume applications. " ...

Via Verizon Business: Verizon Business Honored With Prestigious Technology Managers Forum Award ...

IT Governance Conference: Financial Controls Emphasis ...

IT Governance conference will focus on the financial compliance enablers of the IT organization. ...

... "Pink Elephant, the world's leading provider of IT service management conferences and education, will be presenting IT Governance 2006, a three-day symposium that will address the complex legislative environment dictating new organizational business practices, and offer strategies for meeting compliance challenges. Taking place from August 6 – 8, 2006 in Orlando, the Symposium's primary goal is to raise awareness of the crucial and now accountable role of IT in the financial reporting process. " ...

Via Pink Elephant: Less Than 2 Weeks To IT Governance 2006

Project Management Winds Are Changing

There's an excellent article by Betsy Morris in the current issue of Fortune Magazine about how the Jack Welch way of winning is---dare we say---a thing of the past.

How is this relevant to the project management field? Well, for one, it means recognizing the winds of change in the industry, and how projects are selected, promoted, and managed. Above all, this impacts program and portfolio management. Particularly, note four trends in management thinking:

Innovation:

Let's take Welch's old rule of being number 1 or 2 in your market (or else fixing, selling, or closing the business). The new rule is to find a niche and create something new. The article uses CocaCola as an example of a company that was basking in their glory as number 1, but eventually realized (although it took a while) that energy drinks and bottled water were about to pass them. As the article points out, energy drinks "are now expected to outearn every other category of soft drink within three years." Parhaps marketing guru Harry Beckwith said it best in Selling the Invisible when he said that it's fine to do something 10% better until someone else comes along and does it 110% different.

Customer-Centric Management:

Welch started a whole movement of focus on the shareholder, which led many organizations to ignore the future amid pressure to appease shareholders and "make the numbers." Now, organizations realize that the customer is king. The article references several companies that have made this realization, and the trend is heading in that direction. After all, statistics show that even a minor improvement in customer retention leads to a major increase in profitability. The days of short-term thinking may be finally coming to an end.

Reinvention vs. Incremental Change:

Since it seemed Jack Welch could do no wrong, everyone imitated whatever Jack did---and Six Sigma was no exception. The problem is that, according to the article, of the 58 large companies that announced Six Sigma programs, 91% have trailed the S&P 500 since. As the article points out, that's mostly because Six Sigma is intended to "fix an existing process," whereas innovative companies that developed new and unique products (or reinvented their business) took the lead.

Stop Ranking Your Players; Inspire Passion:

Once of Welch's most controversial systems was to constantly rank his employees and regularly weed out the "C" players. But companies have had difficulty getting productivity and innovation out of "increasingly disenfranchised employees." In the article, Christopher Bartlett of Harvard Business School put it best:

"People don't come to work to be No. 1 or No. 2 or to get a 20% net return on assets. They want a sense of purpose. They come to work to get meaning from their lives."

Side editorial: For the "enlightened" approach of finding the hidden strength in everyone (something Peter Drucker always suggested), read Marcus Buckingham's Now Discover Your Strengths (or any of his books for that matter). Or read Dennis Littky's The Big Picture: Education is Everyone's Business. I assure you, you'll never be the same.

Meanwhile, I highly recommend the article (the link is below) for those looking for the latest trends in management thinking, and who want to remain one step ahead.

From a project management perspective, the handwriting is clearly on the wall. The traditional "execute to a set of deliverables" approach won't cut it. Today's project manager needs to be thinking about things like innovation, customer focus, business transformation, business acumen, change leadership, and team passion. Those focused on merely schedule, budget, and scope will soon be dinosaurs.

Fortune: The new rules - Jul. 11, 2006

ITIL Business Case ...

Evergreen offers whitepaper on the business value associated with ITIL implementation, with benefits seen in operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and risk minimization. ...

... "The white paper references a number of data points taken from current research and enterprise IT process improvement case studies consistently documenting a 20-40% reduction in the effort required for ongoing IT operations, powered by the implementation of ITIL process improvements. The same research clearly links ITIL with strategic gains in customer service quality, accuracy and efficiency and IT risk and compliance work. The development of an ITIL strategy is also discussed and an incremental approach is recommended, one which starts with small steps but shows measurable gains quickly. " ...

Evergreen Systems Releases White Paper on Building the Business Case for ITIL ...

Elusive IT Project Value: Book Tells How To Achieve It

I've just finished reading an excellent book on achieving value from IT projects, The Information Paradox: Realizing the Business Benefits of Information Technology, by John Thorp and the Fujitsu Consulting's Center for Strategic Leadership.

Thorp and company claim that today's IT projects are evolving more and more from simple automation efforts to complex "information" initiatives, and even further---to complete business transformation initiatives. This calls for a different approach and requires IT and Business collaboration.

As the book points out, the classic "let's buy a product and assume it comes with automatic benefits" approach doesn't work in today's more complex arena (and in fact it probably never did). In a complex business transformation initiative, trying to assume that an IT project in isolation will deliver value is wishful thinking.

The book also points out the four critical dimensions of complexity, which it says are blind spots in traditional thinking:

1) Linkage - to other related initiatives and to business strategy
2) Reach - those areas of organizational structure or supply chain processes that may be impacted by the change, or that need revisiting in order to bring about the benefits
3) People- those affected by the change and/or that need to be engaged (i.e. proactive change leadership and stakeholder analysis)
4) Time - the time it takes to manage the overall initiative, including the above dimensions, to fully realize the benefits (most companies grossly underestimate this)

Unfortunately, many IT projects just focus on on-time and on-budget delivery (resulting in a situation that the book describes as, "the operation was successful but the patient died"). Thorp and company refer to this as "investment myopia."

Instead, a committment to business value, ongoing process improvements, frequent iterations of delivery, and better project selection techniques are key. Most of all, we need to be aware of the blind spots mentioned above.

The book goes on to describe how a system of program management, portfolio management, and governance, with a focus on benefits realization, can bring about results. It also cautions about the dangers of treating selections as a one-time annual event, making selections in isolation (instead of in the context of investment programs), and not looking at all aspects of value (i.e. going beyond simple financial measures).

I highly recommend the book for those struggling with determining the value of IT, or trying to bring about collaborative change in their organizations. If you look at any major successful transformation, it was brought about by a marriage of technology, business process, and organizational change, and with full backing from senior management. This book can go a long way toward helping make this happen.

ITIL Service Management Acceleration ...

Many leading IT vendors have launched some type of ITIL accelerator. CA introduces its approach to ITIL acceleration, including a configuration management database, CMDB, and visual process maps. ...

... "This new solution, the CA Service Management Accelerator, will empower IT organizations to reduce costs, improve service levels, and more closely align IT and business by unifying and simplifying activities across ITIL processes. Manual ITIL implementations are costly and time-consuming, and they can compromise the uniformity of critical management processes. The CA Service Management Accelerator enables customers to unify people, processes and technology while automating all ITIL processes across both Service Support and Service Delivery—enabling low-cost delivery of superior service.



The CA Service Management Accelerator offers unique three-dimensional visual maps for ITIL processes based upon an underground transit system or subway system metaphor. ITIL Service Support and Service Delivery processes are presented as "tracks" and "subway stations," providing IT executives, strategists and implementers alike with a common reference point for viewing and prioritizing ITIL processes for automation. " ...

ITIL Service Management Acceleration: Via CA: CA Accelerates Mainstream Adoption of ITIL ...

One-Page Project Status Report; Keeping it Brief

There's a great writeup in Projects@Work about project status reports, including tips on meeting format and frequency as well as a format for a one-page status report.

According to the article, there are 5 Project Status Best Practices:

1. Consistency — The status process should be basically the same for large and small projects, and consistent with their measures of success
2. Escalation — The status process provides a mechanism for escalation of key issues.
3. Simple — One page with the ability to drill down for details when necessary
4. Public — Status is available to all (as appropriate) in order to communicate issues, risks and corrective action measures
5. Inclusive — All projects are required to provide status on a consistent set of metrics

For busy managers who see loads of project status reports, it's much easier to have a consistent, brief summary of what's really happening on each project. They don't need a dissertation on all the details, nor will they get a clear picture just looking at performance metrics. Much like on a business case, most just want the executive summary. Simpler is better. Less is more.

For those looking to improve their status reports (and their credibility with management), read on...

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/231704.cfm

The Making of a PMI Standard; Behind the Scenes

For those who wondered what goes on behind the scenes of creating a PMI global standard, there's a nice writeup in the latest PMI Community Post, which gets sent to all certified PMPs.

In the article, titled Evolution of a PMI Global Standard, PMI reveals the standards creation process, from the project approval and charter through the team selection, standard development, and exposure draft process.

Having served on the leadership team for PMI's new Standard for Program Management and Standard for Portfolio Management, I can say that volunteering on a standards creation project is very rewarding.

It's an opportunity to work with the best in the business and get involved in a large virtual project with people from all over the world. I definitely recommend the experience. Plus you get to earn PDUs if you're a certified PMP.

For those interested in volunteering, here's PMI's Volunteer Opportunity website, which has a link to the Opportunity Page. Tell ' em PMThink sent you.

PMO Process Primer

Last month, I mentioned a four-part series on Projects@Work about establishing PMOs. The first installment was on defining the role of your PMO up front.

Not sure what took so long for the second installment, but it's finally here and worth the wait (maybe it's a monthly series). This installment talks about the types of processes your PMO might undertake, and offers some food for thought with each process area. According to the article, a PMO might consider:

Project Processes (including demand management, approval, portfolio management, project/application lifecycle, and risk mitigation)

Analysis Processes (including business analysis, business case development, and process redesign)

Planning Processes (including planning and tracking, and capital planning and budgeting)

Administration Processes (including methodology management, training, tool development/ownership, and knowledge management)

To date, this series is an excellent primer on PMO startups. It's insightful and obviously written by someone who has had some varied experience in PMO implementation. I'm looking forward to the remaining two parts and will be sure to post the links here.

Kudos to the author, Ted Stephens, an associate principal at Intellilink.

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/231627.cfm

The Project Manager and the Business Analyst

There's a superb article on AllPM about the importance of understanding the separate, but related, roles of the project manager and the business analyst.

While it's true that project management has evolved to the point where a project manager must be more like a mini-CEO, with an understanding of marketing, finance, business process, etc. and the ability to speak the language of senior management, we should not confuse that with the need for a separate business analyst that has a deep understanding of the subject matter and requirements.

In my experience, it's foolish and counter-productive to expect the project manager to serve both roles on a large project, even if they are capable.

Here's a link to the article----well worth reading...

Why Does a Project Need a Project Manager and a Business Analyst by Barbara Carkenord :: ALLPM Project Management

IT Governance: Accomplish Prioritization ...

Chandler, Arizona project management leader recognized. Sees IT governance as recent memorable accomplishment. ...

... "Forming the IT Governance Committee for the city was interesting. We created a process through which we work together to prioritize projects with limited resources, he said. " ...

Via AZ Central: Honoree merging business, tech operations

New IT Security Courses for Project Managers

Alan Calder and IT Governance Limited are now offering two courses for those saddled with trying to bring their organization up to the new ISO 27001 security standard.

One is a one-day introductory course for IT managers, project managers, and business managers. The fact that it's priced at about $720 and explains how to implement the standard in-house without expensive consultants makes it very appealing.

The other is a three-day intensive class that covers the whole implementation process and framework.

Both courses are in London in June.

For those that are managing IT security initiatives, these courses look well worthwhile.

ITIL Shared Services: Achievement Recognized ...

Infra is recognized by the Helpdesk Institute for its implementation of ITIL-enabled service desk process for shared service functions at LexisNexis Butterworths. ...

... "The Helpdesk and IT Support Excellence Awards recognise outstanding achievement within the IT Service Management industry at the largest event of its kind in Europe. Winning finalist Infra demonstrated how implementing the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) ready infraEnterprise allowed LexisNexis Butterworths to create a single point of contact for staff with the IT department that reaches across the business and includes support teams from other departments, including Finance and HR. " ...

ITIL Shared Services: Achievement Recognized: Via Infra: Infra wins prestigious Helpdesk Institute Excellence Award 2006 ...

Business Reengineering: Motivate through Recognition ...

Need to motivate people during a challenging reengineering effort? Understand your context and adapt your recognition techniques. Bob Nelson offers guidance. ...

... "Has there been a merger, acquisition, or down-sizing? Is any business-process reengineering occurring? All these factors can hamper the reception of recognition in your organization. " ...

Business Reengineering: Motivate through Recognition: Via The Business Journal of Phoenix: Return on People: Avoiding Motivational Sabotage ...

IT Strategy: Business Process Innovation ...

Can IT innovate by seeing future business possibilities for technology? Can IT help the enterprise create new business models? To remain relevant, it must. Chris Koch explores the future IT organization and strategy in CIO article. ...

... "IT will need to be a full partner, if not a leader, in business process innovation. " ...

IT Strategy: Business Process Innovation: Via CIO: The Postmodern Manifesto ...

Service Oriented Project Management (SOPM); Bridging Three Worlds

With all this talk about Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and the latest industry focus on innovation, I've been piecing together a model that brings together the best of BPR, Innovation, and Project Management (and even borrows elements of ITIL). I call it Service Oriented Project Management or SOPM. I believe the term has been used, but not in this context, and not as a formal model. I think it's important enough that it needs to be formalized.

There are some that view these three disciplines as separate, or even mutually-exclusive, but they're not. In fact, to be successful, these disciplines need each other. It should go without saying that BPR needs innovation in order to break new ground (resulting in dramatic and radical change, as opposed to incremental change). And project management skills are needed to keep a team on track and manage risk.

Certainly, there are situations where incremental change is quite appropriate, and, for these cases, process "improvement" disciplines such as Six Sigma and TQM are fine. But especially when radical change is needed, we need a superstructure of good project management to lead all phases of a BPR initiative, from the as-is state exploration, through the to-be state development and validation, and to the actual implementation of the initiative.

Likewise, project management in general needs the strong customer focus that BPR brings (usually sorely lacking in most projects). Almost any project can benefit from a BPR-type approach of getting to the root of the customer's problem first-hand, and bringing about dramatic results through innovative thinking. This also takes project management beyond the realm of simple "execution and control".

Using a BPR lifecycle, innovative thinking, and an overall project management approach, we get a holistic methodology that uses the best of each. And, if this is driven by overarching principles from all three disciplines, we can boost our chances of success exponentially.

And finally, there's the customer. EVERYTHING in all of these disciplines must have a relentless focus on the customer. With any initiative, the glue that holds all of this together is a service owner--- someone who understands the customer's needs (and their business) and owns the initiative from cradle to grave (just like an ideal order fulfillment process should be, according to Michael Hammer, the inventor of BPR). Whether or not this should be the project manager is a whole subject in itself, but it should be someone.

If the project manager does assume this role, then they had better have a strong customer and business focus, and be relieved of any project administration duties that aren't adding value to the customer (which can be assigned to a project accountant). In many companies, the project managers may not have the right skills for this role, but that's not to say that shouldn't change.

More to come, as I flesh out and develop the model. Meanwhile, I'm open to your thoughts on this.

Business Process Mapping: Good Reference ...

Here is sage advice and good references on the topic of business process improvement, which includes mapping the current and future states of the process. Ben Graham and team highlight, in this article: The Key to Good Process Mapping (PDF), the importance of organizational alignment and involvement of the key stakeholders of the process: namely the folks operating it. ...

... "There are three essentials that must be handled well to assure good process mapping. ...
1. The operating people whose work is being mapped must supply information for the map and must understand and support the reasons for the mapping. 2. The map itself must be organized in a way that enables everyone involved to clearly understand the process. 3. The information that is assembled in the map must be valid. " ...

Business Process Mapping: Good Reference: Via The Ben Graham Corporation: The Key to Good Process Mapping ...

Process maps are as important as organization charts, according to this article. ...

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING: A CONSOLIDATED METHODOLOGY (Subramanian Muthu, Larry Whitman, and S. Hossein Cheraghi, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University): "Talking about the importance of processes just as companies have organization charts, they should also have what are called process maps to give a picture of how work flows through the company. Process mapping provides tools and a proven methodology for identifying your current As-Is business processes and can be used to provide a To-Be roadmap for reengineering your product and service business enterprise functions. "

Business Process Reengineering Project: Assessment Guide Reference ...

Here are sample screening criteria from GAO guide, when considering whether a business process reengineering project should be undertaken. ...

... "Is the process of strategic importance to the agency's mission? Does the process urgently need dramatic improvement in order to meet the agency's own performance goals?

Is there a high level of customer and/or stakeholder dissatisfaction with the process (quality, timeliness, cost)? Does the process have a long cycle time with many sequential activities, multiple hand offs, checkpoints, and significant waiting time between work steps (e.g., processing a benefits claim)?

Did benchmarking show that other organizations can do the same (or analogous) process much better? Is the process highly dependent on information, so that information technology might be used to speed the work flow, collapse work steps, and improve real-time decision-making? " ...

Business Process Reengineering: Assessment Guide Reference: Via GOA: Framework Part A