Process office as a tool of process improvement

This article tells about such a structure as a process office. This organizational department helps to provide activities directed on improvement and optimization of business processes.

Initiatives on improvement of operational effectiveness of business should have a cumulative effect, first, thanks to improving of cross-functional cooperation and pass through business processes, but not only because of improvements within the frames of certain functional directions. The ambition to enlarge effectiveness and optimize business processes within the system very often leads to the fact that managers become more focused on cross-functional direction and pass through business processes within the frames of which customer value is created. Besides, traditional functional structure concentrated on management hierarchy should be also taken into consideration.

For a successful implementation of projects and programs on business process optimization companies create a special management unit implementing management and regulating authorities of decisions. Actually, a company creates an additional management subsystem which takes upon itself problems of process management implementation in order to enlarge customer centeredness and operational effectiveness. Such a structure aimed at coordinating of activities of different departments on business process optimization and management is a process office, of business process management office. It coordinates all activities of departments and creates methods, chooses tools and sets standards of business processes.

The necessity to organize specialized structures in order to coordinate implementation of process management elements is enshrined in business process management common body of knowledge, which was developed by association of business process management professionals. Besides the process office, the body of knowledge includes information on business process management center of excellence. However, it usually has a virtual structure, when a process office is represented in a form of an organizational department. These structures play a significant role in priority setting and distribution of critical resources of the company when implementing of works connected with improvement and optimization of business processes.

Most process offices build their work on the analogy of project management offices. They gather and consolidate information on different projects connected with optimization of business processes in organization and also provide a reporting on them. Process office can implement such functions as:

  • Setting of standards of modeling and process rulemaking;
  • Provision of general tools of analysis and methods of business process optimization;
  • Training and upgrading of qualifications according to the principles and practices of process management;
  • General management of process development;
  • Procedures of integration of business processes on the level of the whole enterprise.

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