It has been a while since I added a new Blog. Living in Malta has got me into the Mediterranean ways, the holiday period here is full of festivals, with excessive drinking and eating, making me laid back and, perhaps, a little lazy. Now we are moving into winter, there is a motivation to get back to work.

I hope all those that have been following my blog have realised the importance I place on getting commitment from the top when engaging in a Performance Management project. There has to be someone with authority who has a vision of where the organisation plans to be within the next few years, and has the drive and motivation to execute plan successfully. Having Goals and Objectives for the organisation is a great way of setting an expectation with the Shareholders, Stakeholders and Employees. With a highly motivated community of people investing in an organisation the confidence and energy shines through giving customers and suppliers, assurance in the ability of the organisation, and let’s not forget they too are also investors in the organisation. They are betting their livelihoods as investors in our capability and reliability to manage our organisations successfully. We are all so intertwined, one fails and we all feel the pinch.

It takes a hiccup in the economy to focus all of us on the vulnerability of each of our lives, and how we depend on the stability, growth and profitability of the organisations in which we are employed. I am constantly reminded of the fragility of the situation each of us find ourselves in, and the utter dependency we have on the management of our counties and employers.  It has to be time for a major shakeup; we cannot rely on governments, politicians are notorious for wriggling their way out the mess they have created. It is time for all of us as individuals to demand a work environment where the performance of the company is monitored against a plan and strategy. That the plan is made available to all investors in the organisation, employees are investors, and ratified by those who depend on it. Ensuring all that have stake in the plan and benefit for its success are rewarded for their contribution. None of us have the right of employment; we have to earn the right and contribute what contracted to do.

Ok, off the soap box. Since coming back to work in Europe, I am finding things a little slower, and there is less innovation in the workplace, than I experienced in Asia. I am not going to comment on this, as the economies are more mature in the west and values are different. This will equalize out overtime, I was starting to see major changes in the work style of employs in Asia when left Asia a bout year ago.

One of the biggest failings in adopting a performance management initiative is the inability to assign accountability.

With ownership and accountability performance of the organisation cannot be measured. There have been many approaches to drive accountability through programmes such as Lean and Six Sigma initiatives. But going back to my earlier point this will happen we realise as employees our livelihood depends on our competitiveness and energy to perform. This is a mindset change and those organisations that drive change consistently through the bsuiness will the ones that succeed. Innovation comes through creating an open mindedness amongst those engaged in a common cause to succeed.

Whilst working at my current company, I was given the responsibility of developing the To-Be Business Processes in a major Project. I had to think carefully about how I was going to approach this project because I wanted to take into account that I was entering it after a considerable amount of work had already been completed.

I wanted to try and introduce into the project a more modern approach to Business Process development. The As-Is processes had been developed in Visio but not in a conventional way, never the less, they were easy to read and detailed. The To-Be processes would be built to support a new software architecture centred on a new ERP system which utilised Workflow both to support procedures in application areas and external supporting activities. 

This was a great opportunity to introduce BPMN as the process mapping notation, as I foresaw that in the future additional services would need to be developed to support the selected ERP solution. Also the internal workflow in the selected application used a BPMN like notation. In looking for a Tool I came across Aris Express, which support BPMN diagrams but had an additional advantage as it included Process Landscaping, Organisation Charting, IT Infrastructure and produces RTF documentation. This was important as I intended to include in my design some of the tools we have previously discussed in the Blog.

I will now run through the approach I have taken to the project and hope it will help all who have taken the time to read my Blog.

The Approach

1.       Analyse the RFP and tender documents plus the response to the tender and structure the key information in a mind mapping tool. The one I use for this is Freemind it’s a really great open source mind mapping tool.

2.       Map the As-Is Organisation and the To-Be Organisations recommend changes along with any changes in responsibility. This exercise was carried out in Aris Express

3.       Map the Core Application software areas that the To-Be processes will be interacting with. The new software was very different from the old software in that the Master Data was build up in a particular sequence. Also Master Data had to be in place before the in-built workflow could be executed.

4.       Build the Entity Business Model, this provides an overview of the high level processes for a particular Industry and Company. It also documents the external influences on the Core Processes. I try to align this to the Value Chain.

5.       Next step was to build a Value Chain, this provides with the means of having a clear understanding of how value is created with an organisation. Also it provides a view of the end to end process which is often forgotten.

6.       Having completed the Value Chain the next step is to agree the Nomenclature which I usually base on AQPC- PCF (Process Classification Framework)

7.       Once the Framework is in place then I will investigate the quick win areas, and focus my attention in starting to build the processes. Obviously at this stage you need to review the As-Is processes and new application requirements.

8.       When building Processes with Tools that have no database I build a folder structure that represents the AQPC Nomenclature to store the processes and design documents. I also number each activity within a process; this is to manage changes that may occur through a BPI exercise.

9.       The next step in this case was to create a report that documents the process for signoff.  To create this document I combined the Aris RTF document with a template I created taking into account the Entity Business Model.

In Summary

The project is ongoing and will take some time yet before I get any feedback on the both the approach. There many hurdles still to overcome, but the project team I a working with have very receptive to the approach and results so far. There will be workshops with the various parts of the organisation to introduce the new approach to creating Business Processes. We have decided to focus primarily on one area of the organisation that has been identified as a quick win and will start piloting very soon. It is complex project and as such will be a good test of whether the approach I used in Asia can be accepted and adopted here in Europe. I will keep you posted as the project progresses and feed back to you the results as they come in.

Working as an Employee can be frustrating and at times seems pointless without direction and reward for success. Many Organisations, who do not share with their workers their aspirations and drive for success, reward their workers with yet another Dull Day in what has been a Dull Week, Month and Year. The Grey and Dull environment percolates through the business reaching the very top and very bottom of the company.

In contrast an Organisation that states it’s Goals, articulates its Strategy and the Value it intends to deliver to its Customers, Suppliers, Workers and Investors is Bright and Shines. It is a self motivating environment that touches all who come into contact with it. This way of thinking is what motivated me to focus on Business Performance, and by way the term Business can be substituted for all the things we do that can be improved upon. The focus on performance, eliminates waste, it questions product introduction strategies that threaten our environment, health and the future of this planet. It provides stability, sufficient financial reward and a community pride in our collective work environment. By training to optimise performance you are bringing value to your organisation and community you serve. There is no better thing to do!

All employees, Stakeholders and Owners have a right to know the goals, objectives and the delivery strategy. That said if the organisation does share its insights with you then be prepared to take ownership of your positions contribution to the success of the plan.

Currently as previously stated I am working on new project in Malta. I am learning a lot from the project, and from the cultural changes of working in a new country. That aside I am confident I can make a difference and will strive to deliver what I have employed to do. What I am enjoying most at the moment is that it’s give a me a great opportunity to investigate new Business Process Tools and some of the more well known  Open Source Workflow Management systems. Of the next few weeks I will share some of this experience with you.

In the mean time, think positive, think performance, think I want to be measured and rewarded for contributing to the success of the organisation or project. Back soon

It’s been a few days since my last posting, for which I apologise. This has been due to starting work on a new project, which entails mapping the To-Be processes for a Maltese Government Department project.

The original As-Is Processes were previously mapped in Visio, as part the early stages of the project.  I am not great fan of using Visio for mapping business processes. It is difficult to manage standardising of conventions, and in this case the Visio cannot be imported into the tool I am working with because it has been developed using a very basic nomenclature.  

That aside I decided to try, in this case, to drive them towards using BPMN (Business Process Management Notation) using a Business Process development tool. In looking round for a tool I came across ARIS Express. I have used Aris and Oracle BPA (Oracle BPA is built on Aris) on a number of projects but using their EPC convention. Since the acquisition of Aris by Software AG it seems they have become more open to using the BPMN standards. I was delighted to find ARIS Express which is a free version of Aris, all be it with a reduced functionality that also supports BPMN V2.0.

ARIS Express is a simple tool to use and I find sufficient for documenting processes. There is no database with ARIS Express and so the diagrams have to be stored in a folder, which means that the links between objects have to be redefined if the folder structure is changed. The other inconvenience is the Pools and Swim lanes are placed in the workspace and objects are dropped onto the pool / swim lanes objects rather than defining the pool / swim lanes as attributes in the process activities objects. The limited number of attributes on the objects is a problem as this prevents swim lane analysis by multiple dimensions i.e. Organisation, Department, and Role etc.

One thing I do like is the ability to use traditional ARIS conventions with the BPM Notation as this provides a means of linking the Value Chain Diagrams to the BPMN detailed processes improving navigation. Also I the documentation generated by ARIS is good providing very detailed process information.

As I build more processes, there will be around 80 to 100 processes in all, I will get a better idea of the capability of the tool but, my first impression is good.  The link for ARIS Express download is http://www.ids-scheer.com/en/ARIS/ARIS_Platform/ARIS_Express/151392.html , also I have below is a attachment with the standard BPMN convention defined in ARIS Express.

 BPMN 2 Elements.doc (285.00 kb)

I apologise for being off-line for the last few days. We had a technical glitch, that could only be resolved by reloading the site. So I have taken the time to upgrade the version of BlogEngine.Net to version 1.6.1.

Hopefully over the next couple of days I will start Blogging once more. If you have combed through the Blog site you will see that I am currently based in Malta. Since moving here some 3 months ago I have found myself some work and starting to get engaged in a few BPM opportunities. This is taking a little of my time, but will enhance my experience and give me the opportunity to share with you some more of my experiences.

Catch up with you all later

David

Strategy maps provide the means of linking an organisation’s Goals and Aspirations to their Operational Scorecards. Although strategy maps were originally developed by Kaplan and Norton to support the balanced scorecard they can be applied to any scorecard framework. The strategy map, thus, provides a roadmap linking the operation performance indicators to the strategy of the company.

Strategy maps without a destination statement, or ultimate goal, are of little use.  This important addition to the strategy map was added at a later stage giving it a purpose and set of stretch targets over a period of 2 to 3 years. As show in the diagram above for each perspective there are a set of objectives. Measures within the scorecard framework are aligned to the objectives and targets set. An action plan is linked to the objectives and along with this an associated budget.

Frameworks for linking strategy to the measures and defining actions have been around for a long time. Many eminent researchers have developed ways of grouping the processes resulting in an assortment of metrics based frameworks. Some frameworks however are operational, such as SCOR, without an obvious link to the financial process types. Others like balanced scorecard do not push down far enough into the operational processes. I personally like to mix and match, using the Balance Scorecard and industry specific Scorecards to link the operational measures to the financial measures. Because the Balanced Scorecard has a Financial and Customer perspective this provides a link from sales through the value proposition to finance driving asset utilsation and revenue.

The Strategy map provides a link between the Business Modeling and the Business Intelligence and Business Process Management activities. It establishes the objectives and their corresponding Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Knowing the performance expectations provides the means for designing optimal business processes and driving the business performance improvement programmes.

I have had a number of comments regarding the use of Entity Level Business Modeling. So let me try to explain why I use this method of describing the business.

This type of model is used by accounting firms to provide a means for their audit staff to understand the characteristics of a business and assess the risks associated with none performance. We often view our business from an internal perspective and do not consider how external organisations see us as a business. It is important if we need to attract investors, appease the regulatory bodies and convince internal stakeholders to describe our business in a manner that provides a risk assessment on non-performance and the steps management will take to corrective the situation.

What I will try to do is use a Telco example shown below extracted from one of the models I have created to illustrate how the Entity Level Business Model works. After this you can make your judgment as to how usefulness of this approach might be to you.

The overview diagram is a succinct way of showing a typical business model illustrating clearly the external factors that impact the internal processes. When reviewing a Business Process Management or Business Intelligence project it is advantageous for the Business Architect to have a clear understanding of the business drivers. This diagram although simplistic provides a good overview and is used to obtain an agreement with the client on their understanding of their business. This can be taken one step further to gain agreement with the customer on the Value Chain.

Once we have the overview diagram and value chain agreed we can then move to a specific level 1 process (End-to-End) and put together the information required to start building the detailed process diagrams. There is a template for doing this which I have described in a previous blog. However, what I will do now is select a level 1 process and show a generic completed template form. The process I have selected is “Customer Care and Billing”

The methodology provides a framework for setting the Process Objectives and linking the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) to both the objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This is important as quite often I am asked how to define the operational KPIs, which hopefully now is explained.  Another important consideration is that the main functions groups within the End-to-End process are defined and linked to their Inputs, Outputs and Systems for maintaining the data along with the main transaction groupings.

The risks of non-performance are also discussed and their impact on achieving the objectives along with how management perceive their responses to mitigate the problem. The document also tries to identify the areas to be considered for performance improvement. This can be very useful information when identifying the “Quick Wins” during a Business Process Improvement project.

The information for the input to the “Entity Level Business Model” is captured during workshops with Process Owners and Stakeholders. Usually the workshops will include those process owners and stakeholders that interface to the Level 1 Process under discussion. In preparation for the workshops I consider competitive companies and how they are structured as well as their financial performance. This is useful benchmark data and helps with understanding the businesses competitive pressures. There may also be specific industry frameworks with predefined industry processes that can be considered i.e. SCOR (Supply Chan) and eTOM (specifically for Telcos).

This question in the Blog Title was posed by one of the readers. It never ceases to amaze me how we only react to external factors after they have happened. In my humble opinion we should always be looking to improve the Business Processes with our organisation. Business Process Improvement is not something we do to prevent an event from happening again, as it is very seldom that an identical event will happen more than once. We need to be vigilant when monitoring our processes and take the necessary steps to ensure we can identify quickly an adverse occurrence and be resourceful in correcting it.

I read an article which was published during the recession, unfortunately I cannot remember who wrote the article, defining a number of rules on how to handle the recessionary situation:

•       Rule 1: Protect Your Best Customers, Products & Channels

•       Rule 2: Refocus the Customer Experience Around the Value Equation

•       Rule 3: Sweat Your Customer Management Assets

•       Rule 4: Cut Non-value-adding Costs while Protecting Value

•       Rule 5: Support & Incentivise Staff to Deliver Value

•       Rule 6: Focus on the Long-term while Supporting the Short-term

These six simple rules do not just apply to recession, they apply to all organisations doing business when ever or whatever the situation. These are drivers for significant drivers for implementing a Business Process Improvement culture within a business.

There are many methodologies for analysing process and activities within an organisation with the aim to continuously improve the performance of the business and reduce waste. One of the early advocates was Edward Deming who modified Walter Stewarts’ concept of Plan, Do, and See to create the Deming Cycle (PDSA). This concept has been utilised and modified by many, to create continuous improvement cycles. There are many different methodologies available for continuous process improvement:

1.       Six Sigma

2.       Kaizen

3.       Lean Manufacturing

4.       Total Quality Management

5.       Toyota Production System

6.       Theory of Constraints etc.

Many of these methodologies were originally developed for manufacturing companies have been adopted for other industries. In my limited experience though the problem I have seen with many implementations of continuous improvement, it has not extended to the management level.

In one of my earlier Blogs I did touch on the Business Process Improvement Cycle (BPM is an essential part of a Continuous Performance Improvement Project). This is also an adaptation of the Deming Cycle. I would also state that in some cases, and this would depend on extent of the changes to the Business Model, it may be better to create another division and re-design the Business Processes from the beginning.

Over the past 3 to 4 months there have been a number of questions posed by Subscribers, in the “Comments” submitted, to my Blog. In the future I will add a few additional pages to aid subscribers in accessing the content of the Blog.

Question 1 - I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the content and would like to understand the direction the Blog is taking?

The Blog is based on my experience as Performance Management Consultant. The extent of the content may not be entirely in-line with some the books or theories on Performance Management. I define Performance Management in four areas as the diagram below shows

The Blog will take these four categories and expand on them raising interesting discussion points on the various topics under each group. In the future I will re-categorise the blog content so that each submission falls within these four groups.

Question 2 - What Blog Software are you using?

The Blog software is BlogEngine.Net, I selected this Blog Engine for its comprehensive functionality and also because I wanted to host the Blog at my current web site hosting service. There was one other reason, my website was developed using Visual Studio and I wanted a Blog Engine that was compatible with my exiting web site development tools.

Question 3 - How did you develop the look and feel on your Blog site?

The Blog functionality is standard Blogengine.net, however the content layout and colours scheme is a custom built Theme.

Question 4 - What hosting service do you use?

My Blog is hosted at IX Web Hosting . The site hosting service is excellent and most problems I have had with the set up of the Blog have been resolved by their support team in very timely manner.

Question 5 - How do you set up an RSS feed from your Blog site?

The easiest way to access an RSS feed is to click on subscribe in the main menu bar. A web page opens with last 10 blogs, click on subscribe, and this will added to your favourites. Alternately if you have an RSS Viewer, click on add feed and enter RSS Syndication URL is http://biz-perfblog.biz-performance.com/syndication.axd  .

I hope this helps, and please keep the comments coming.

The Business Process models are usually built at a high level in this stage of the Business Modeling process. For those of you who are familiar with the Supply Chain Council Reference Model (SCOR) or APQC – Process Calcification Framework (PCF) it would be comparable to their Level 1 and Level 2 process maps i.e. Process Category or Group.

The starting point for me is usually developing an Entity Business Model, this enables the Major Categories of Business Processes to be defined, to support the Business Model, within a standard framework. I have a number of standard models developed for various industries that I have accumulated over time which I use to accelerate the process. The Entity Business Model illustrated is an example of Shipping Industry Model. When working for a number of Container Shipping companies I refined the diagram to just focus on a specific segment of the Shipping Industry. After an agreement has been reached on the categories of Business Processes a value chain diagram is created for those process categories that create value for the business and those that support value creation. At the same time the organisation structure defined in the Resourcing Model can be mapped to the Processes Categories so that high level responsibilities can be considered.

When mapping Business Processes I recommend that a BPM/BPA system is used so that conventions can be standardised and change management can be addressed through the development and aligning of the processes to the specific business requirements. Many of the systems have simulation capability which can be useful, plus it keeps a history of the changes, capturing how you arrive at the Process Model.

The Value Chain is defined by the Value Proposition and Profit Model. Since we are concerned at this stage with the Value we bring to our customers and how we diferentiate oursleves from the competition the focus initially will be on the Core Processe. The Value Chain Core Processes manages suppliers, internal product development, production and logistics as well the Sales and after Sales Service. Therefore they manage the cash-to-cash process which is ultimately captured and reported in the Financial Management system.

Also I would recommend that a CPM software solution is considered for Financial Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting as it allows business drivers to be defined and “what if” simulation to applied to various test scenarios. Also in some industries pricing and product strategies play a significant part in the Business Modeling process and may also need further maintenance through the business year. Also history plays a large part in prediciting future forecasts and demand plans which require sofisticated algorithums to be applied to provide a more accurate result.