Organization of control points in a business process
The method of organization of control points in a business process helps to provide the compliance of the results of a business process to appropriate requirements. Very often control points are defined only after business process optimization. However, their existence is important not only when you want to monitor the implementation of something new or different, but also when you want to be aware about effectiveness of a business process all the time.
What is a control point?
A control point is work which is aimed at checking of the compliance of the results of certain work in a business process with formulated requirements to its results. In case of non-conformity a feed-back is arranged and the result should be corrected.
In order to provide a quality implementation of a business process, there should be areas which need to be under the control defined. And control points by means of which the quality of business process implementation will be controlled should be organized.
Control points implemented into a business process
A control point implemented into a business process is one procedure included into the chain of a process which can “block” the following implementation of a business process if the result of the work performed isn’t produced properly and doesn’t meet the requirements. The example of an implemented control point is the procedure of checking of a contract by law department. If conditions of a contract do not meet the requirements, then law department “blocks” following procedures and arranges a feed-back informing a performer about non-compliances and the necessity of its improvement.
Implementation of informational systems and technical systems during a business process optimization simplifies a business process and eliminates the number of probable mistakes. Besides, these tools are perfect bases for control points. If a mistake is done, or a task is implemented improperly, such systems won’t allow a business process to keep on. In other words, these tools are control points themselves.
“Observing” control points
There is one more type of control points: those points which “observe” a business process. They are created in order to study and control a business process within some period of time or after a business process optimization. In this case, a control point is not able to “block” a process, but it records statistics on the process. This information is analyzed and appropriate improvements are provided.
In general, control points are tools for business process management. They get all necessary information on the process which can be used for the following analysis and necessary improvements. These tools can help to keep business processes optimized.