Page 29 - EngineerIT June 2022

AUTOMATION AND CONTROL

Process-led
Before we dig a little deeper into real-time mapping, let’s look at what does and doesn’t
work. For starters, a process-led approach gets to the most beneficial outcome. It talks to
the need for having no substitute for actually doing the work. We’ve seen it time and time
again where people don’t necessarily take a process-led approach and it turns out that at
some point you have to actually come back and redo that work at a later point.

Context
In other words, there are quick ways to get things done but that most often leads one
into an incomplete solution, or a situation where you are continuously making changes
in order to get to where you need to be. This happens because the organisation doesn’t
develop that deep understanding of where it was and currently is, whereas with the
discipline of proper process modelling you get to understand that detail and you get to
understand the context in which you are operating. If an organisation short-changes this, Jeremy Chetwin
it becomes a problem from a change management perspective because people need this
type of context. They need to be taken on a journey. It may sound like cliche, but here’s
an example that best illustrates the point. mapping. While a client may well take
the repository after we have left and use
Journey and ownership it as they see fit, in terms of the actual
Once we worked with an organisation that had implemented an ERP solution. They’d modelling, Skore visualises and drives
done it well and they seemed fairly happy, but they called and asked us to retrofit some process mapping in a way that supports
crucial processes for them. And to do this we needed to understand that context: Where our philosophy outlined above.
does the technology fit? Where do the roles of the different people fit in, and how do When one presents and drafts
they do their work? So in essence, the systems were in place before we arrived but the processes in real time in front of all
people and departments didn’t quite know what to do. Importantly, after we did this, stakeholders so that they see what
and after we could visualise this journey we had buy-in and were able to leave them with you are mapping, and why, they are
something that they could own and use as a base for taking the organisation further. This able to confirm and interact with it
isn’t magic. It’s just the importance of being process-led. instantaneously. In other words, they are
At the end of a project there must be a repository for the organisation, something for being taken on a journey and seeing the
the business to own. For change to be lasting, there must be ownership; this is a central context. They see and understand the
piece of the puzzle. Without it you can get things done and tick the boxes but you can processes. This is fundamental because
forget about sustainable change and achieving the objectives you set out to achieve at when it comes to change, they can see
the start. the future being mapped and tend to
be far more accepting of the necessary
Capacity change.
It is crucial to start upfront, thinking about how you’ll create capacity within the Using this process, the systems
organisation’s teams. When you are undertaking a big change or implementing something integrator becomes integral as they
new, if you don’t look at your team and think about how your team is going to be put can see what’s being modelled and
together and how they are going to be resourced then you’re likely to find that there is mapped, and can then drive their own
always going to be that tension between people’s day jobs and the new implementation - configuration of the solution - which
that will remain a conflict. We’ve seen this countless times, where organisations invested doesn’t have to be held in any one
in sending staff on project management courses believing the key to sustainable change platform. This is where you want to
lay in competency alone, but they soon learn that without actual time and capacity, key be - ownership and understanding
managers will hate the work and be less than effective at seeing objectives met. of necessary change among all
stakeholders.
Sustainability While the fundamentals of process
Without ownership and capacity, you’re unlikely to create something that is sustainable. modelling have not changed, the pace
By creating sustainability, you leave a repository behind. In other words, systems and and interactivity of modern platforms has
processes that form a base for the organisation as it moves forward. This is crucial from made the process far more effective both
an IP perspective, as a repository of systems and processes builds a buffer against things in terms of sustainability and time. The
such as the brain drain and talent tsunami, or great resignation. Now, you hold IP in the days of endless workshops, interviews,
business itself and not exclusively in the human resources. reverts, whiteboards and A3 papers stuck
along office walls may have built the
Technology to map at the speed of sight foundations of a process-led approach,
Technology should never be used as an end, but as a means to achieve an end. In light but technology has enabled this all to
of this, we’ve found great success in working with a tool that enables real-time process happen at the speed of sight. n

EngineerIT | June 2022 | 27