Notes

Outline

Steven Marcus Marcus Software Designs, Inc 216 “F” Street, #88 Concord, CA 94521 Voice- (530)758-3478 Fax (530)758-0448 smarcus@MarcusSoftwareDesigns.com http://www.cal.net/~smarcus Business Process (Re)Engineering

Business Process (Re)Engineering Introduction and BPR Concepts Methods Tools and Techniques Summary

BPR Introduction – Roots      Hammer & Champy’s* BPR Fundamentals distill to:      1. Organize around outcomes, not tasks. 2. Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritize them in order of redesign urgency. 3. Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the information. 4. Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized. 5. Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results. 6. Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the process. 7. Capture information once and at the source.

BPR Concepts – Fundamentals A successful new process is not about workflow; it is about people. Improve or Innovate? This fundamental question dictates the profoundness of the result and the ultimate impact it may have on the organization, that is.. The impact of change.

BPR Concepts – Fundamentals - cont. Systems perspective – a Process does not occur in a vacuum; it flows through an ever-changing environment that has an affect on the predictability of the result. Process improvement or innovation will not always result from computer technology. Policies often discourage process change or process improvement. Early analysis of current process (procedures) and the rationale of its heritage will determine the feasibility of process change or improvement.

BPR Concepts – Constraints The ability to improve or innovate is constrained on two levels: Sociological Technological

BPR Concepts – Sociological Constraints Sociological constraints are posed by the various stakeholders and participants of the process. These can include the officers, policy-makers, workers, producers, and consumers, and their ability and/or willingness to participate. Legal constraints fall under this category.

BPR Concepts – Technological Constraints Technological constraints include: Ability to retool infrastructure (hardware/software/communications) Train knowledge workers Train software engineers However, technological constraints find themselves masked as business policies. For example, “a Vendor can have only two addresses” – this business policy is the result of an old technology constraint that only allowed two seventy-two byte punch-cards in 1968. Every new version of the application built from 1968 until the present only allowed two addresses.

BPR Concepts – What’s in it for me? A new process will fail if stakeholders and participants do not ‘buy in’. BPR requires knowledge about each stakeholder and participant in the process –the producers and consumers. Each stakeholder’s expectations and participant’s expectations must be documented and rationalized. Frequently there are competing or contradictory expectations.

BPR Concepts – What’s in it for me? – cont. Before embarking on the BPR effort the change agent must first understand the context of the effort, that is:  why perform the BPR and what’s in it for the enterprise? What is the problem that the a (re)engineered process solves? To determine this you need to understand the context.

BPR Methods –High-level Steps Context Stakeholders and participants Expectations Process “As Is” Process “As Desired” (Envision) Design Change Management

BPR Methods – Context Having a documented framework (context) provides guidance and ensures that you understand the upstream and downstream effects of a problem. Likewise, it helps to predict the effect of a solution.

BPR Methods – MSD Strategic Framework

BPR Methods – Determine who cares? Stakeholders The individuals or individuals that represent organizations that have specific expectations usually around cost, quality, and policies. These individuals can be internal and external to the process-owning organization. Participants The individuals that participate in the process. These individuals can be internal and external to the process-owning organization.

BPR Methods – Determine expectations Conflicting expectations are the reason for failed or abandoned process reengineering or process improvement efforts. Having methods to diffuse conflicts is key to improvement or innovation. This also includes ‘measures of success’ (that may be among the objectives in the framework).

BPR Methods - Concepts Lay the groundwork by building the framework, which includes gathering the objectives, critical success factors, and identifying the key enabling process or processes. Again, this exercise is key to ensuring the right problem is solved; that is, detail the right process that solves the right problem that meets the objectives.

BPR Methods –Concepts cont. Facilitated workshops A dispassionate facilitator must conduct workshops to ensure that the voices of the participants and stakeholders are heard and documented. A dispassionate facilitator also manages the emotional climate as process discussions ‘heat up’ and assumptions are tested.

BPR Methods –Determine “As Is” Capture “Process As Is” Small group of subject matter experts collaborate in a facilitated workshops to collect and document high-level and several “special-case” lower level process flows using Rummler/Brache diagrams. Develop Stakeholder / Expectation matrix. Determine bottlenecks on process flows. Determine contradictions on Expectation matrix.

BPR Methods –Envision – cont. Envision several candidate “As Desired” processes Facilitate workshops with subject matter experts which now include wider group of stakeholders and participants. Quickly brainstorm candidate “as desired processes.” Apply and compare stakeholder expectations matrix and determine conflicts. Resolve conflicts using tools such as those provided in the Theory of Constraints. Review each candidate applying “de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats” style analysis, which includes determining barriers.

BPR Methods –Sidebar - TOC The Theory of Constraints provides several ‘thinking’ tools to help define and focus on the problem: Current Reality Tree – determines core problem Evaporating Cloud – resolves conflict Future Reality Tree – tests the validity of a solution Pre-requisite Logic Tree – identifies obstacles and potential ways to overcome them Transition Logic Tree – represents the sequencing of objectives and highlights obstacles and ways to overcome them. Serves as an implementation plan

BPR Methods –Sidebar – Six Thinking Hats For those wondering about the “Six Thinking Hats” … White – facts, figures, and objective information Red – emotions and feelings Black – logical negative thoughts Yellow – positive constructive thoughts Green – creativity and new ideas Blue – control of the other hats and thinking steps (the facilitator wears this)

BPR Methods –Design Design or prototype the new process. Through simulation, prototyping, or a complete software development life-cycle effort (though not recommended), implement the design to test feasibility. The designs can be paper story-boards, mock-ups or any technology that facilitates animating the process. Remember, the improved/innovated process does not necessarily have to be enabled by computer technology. Although rare, it can be procedural.

BPR Methods –Change Management It all ends with the organization’s ability to facilitate change. Spot change-points. Measure change. Develop strategy for change, e.g. job changes and training. Assess ability to change and adjust.

BPR –Tools and Techniques Theory of Constraints Throughout the “as is” and “as desired” activity determine the ‘bottlenecks’ or problem areas and use the TOC tools such as the “evaporating cloud” to resolve the conflicts. Simulation Through story-boards, “test” the effectiveness of the candidate “as desired” process or processes. Role Playing Individuals assume various stakeholder and participant roles and simulate collaborations, conversations, and workflow hand-offs to detect potential flaws.

BPR Tools and Techniques – cont. Benchmarking Compare to other like-processes in disparate businesses. Develop patterns of collaboration types. Several diagramming tools and techniques help to communicate flow: Rummler/Brache diagram* UML Activity diagram* UML Collaboration diagram* *supported by various modeling tools such as Visio, Systems Architect, Rational Rose)

BPR –Tools and Techniques – Rummler/Brache Diagram Example

Business Process (Re)Engineering –Summary Process improvement/innovation is constrained more by people and their policies rather than by technology. Facilitated discussions bring people together to achieve goals. Test your assumptions. Resolve conflicts by applying the right tool, e.g. TOC. Ensure that you have a ‘map’ and clear idea of why you are trying to improve or innovate by developing the context for the process. Success depends on the ability of the stakeholders and participants to collaborate. The collaboration is achieved by managing everyone's expectations.

Business Process (Re)Engineering –Summary – cont. Make sure you don’t “pave the cow path,” so clearly document the process “As Is”. Make sure the process “As Desired” meets everyone’s expectations and achieves the objectives of the organization as documented in the framework. Test the feasibility of the process by quickly designing a prototype or simulating the process. Test all dimensions by role-playing. Adjust as necessary. Understand the impact of change across all stakeholders and participants. Develop a plan for achieving the change. Test the feasibility and adjust. Reflect after implementation.