Looking at Gartner’s definition, Process management is a discipline that uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve and optimize business processes. A business process coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information and things to produce business outcomes in support of a business strategy.
Initially, I was under the impression that Process Management and Project Management were similar. Processes are not limited endeavors as might be said for projects. They are comprehensive and integral to our company’s operations, serving as a guiding force for our projects.
Quoting a metaphor by Rentzhog (1996), the process can be seen as a channel and the projects are boats passing through that channel, i.e., the project manager is using processes when planning and executing the project.
A process is a set of activities, steps, and procedures to act. This metaphor effectively illustrates how processes provide the framework in which projects live.
If you only look at project management, you often find topics such as project charter or Quality Assurance, to name a few. But think about being in a large organization and start doing all this stuff without a guide.
How can you find the right tool to properly submit a project charter? What is the procedure for budget approval and money spending? Here is where process management comes into place.
A process must support and improve another process, taking inputs from project managers.
Here is an example I am making up, but I hope you get the point.
Let’s consider the need for unforeseen less-than-100$ expenses. The current process is filling out a specific form that at least two stakeholders must approve. This is very inefficient as you are wasting precious time from very busy people for an expense that does not have a big impact on the organization.
A process improvement could be allowing the Project Manager to allow extra expenses worth less than 100$ without stakeholder formal authorization. Such an improvement not only leads to a faster project delivery. It could be the start of a potential ripple effect on organizational agility and responsiveness.
Making a change like this can significantly improve a project’s execution. Organizations can then prioritize valuable resources to enhance overall efficiency and focus.