Human Centric Business Process Management is one of the many LinkedIn groups I am a member of and find myself posting ideas and replying to discussions. Recently, a very interesting question was brought up regarding the use of Organizational Charts in companies and whether they will one day be replaced with process maps.
While process maps are key for business process management (BPM), Organizational charts and structures play a vital role in business processes in terms of maintaining your company's ability to adapt to internal changes with little process rework. Establishing a link between process participation and job function roles, rather than specifically named users, allows business processes to sustain functionality when employees eventually role off / role on.
Interestingly enough, I find some companies still have not invested in organizational charts with defined and nested reporting relationships. Many companies with whom I talk still have large Active Directories where all of their users sit in a single flat list. This can be costly as every time a there is a change in role, a process champion must update the Organizational Chart and business processes with a new employee name from the Active Directory list.
Ideal Organizational Chart models are ones that support:
- Multiple departments
- Departments as well as Group entities
- Primary job functions as well as secondary job functions
- Nestings (sub-charts and sub-groups)
More importantly, however, I believe Organizational Charts have their place as a vital part of being a backbone to effective application security, application involvement, and business process participation. I see Organizational Charts being more widely adopted if the Organization Chart application itself has a supported, openly documented API to allow for fluid and seamless integration.
How is your company currently mapping processes? Do you find yourself completing lots of rework when there is an internal change?
Relevant Links:
Building Your Ultimus V8 Process Library Quickly: Reusable Process Libraries
Mitigate Risk by Modeling Your Business Processes
Controlling Process "Rework" with Lean Six Sigma Practices
Chris Adams
VP Product and Technology
Ultimus
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