Top Management Story

Writen by Mike Myatt

Process…even the word itself has come to hold a negative connotation for many. With the plethora of conflicting information that has been written about process management combined with the nightmares we have all experienced as a result of bad process, many executives fear the pain associated with flawed process more than they value the benefits created by good process.

Understanding what constitutes bad process is the first step in recognizing how to avoid business process pitfalls that plague many companies. Let's start by examining the three main misconceptions related to process:

1. Process is not a new software program or application. While toolsets are obvious byproducts of good process they do not in and of themselves constitute process. Don't get caught in the trap of perpetual spending or development as a solution, but recognize that if you're caught in this trap that it is a symptom of bad process not a reflection of good process.

2. Process is not a "Band-Aid" fix. Good process is not reactionary. A series of "bubble gum and bailing wire" solutions put in place in haste as a knee-jerk reaction to the latest problem is not good process design. Process by default will never provide the benefits of good process engineering by design.

3. Process is not a panacea. While good process will help optimize any business it will not make up for shortcomings in other disciplines or functional areas. Process is not the main driver in business but a critical support system built for enablement, delivery, accountability and measurement.

Good process comes as an outcome of top down management. It is the natural extension of vision, mission, strategy and tactics. It is in fact working down through the aforementioned hierarchy that allows process to be engineered by design to support mission critical initiatives. Recognition of the fact that you don't start with process design, but rather you finish with process design is critical to the development of good process. Process is the part of the value chain that holds everything together and brings and ordered, programmatic discipline to your business.

Good process results in a highly usable infrastructure being adopted across the enterprise because it efficient for staff and provides visibility and accountably for management all of which increases the certainty of execution. Good process across all areas of the enterprise will result in elimination of redundancy and inefficiency, shortening of cycle times, better knowledge management and business intelligence, increased customer satisfaction, and increased margins.

I encourage you to not let apathy, negative experience based upon results of bad process or flawed implementations, or the fear of complexity keep you from benefiting form the numerous advantages created by good process engineering.

Mike Myatt is the Chief Strategy Officer at N2growth. N2growth is a leading venture growth consultancy providing a unique array of professional services to high growth companies on a venture based business model. The rare combination of branding and corporate identity services, capital formation assistance, market research and business intelligence, sales and product engineering, leadership development and talent management, as well as marketing, advertising and public relations services make N2growth the industry leader in strategic growth consulting. More information about the company can be found at http://www.N2growth.com