Managing in a Post-Pandemic Economy
As the world grapples with how to manage in a post-pandemic economy process and systems management enthusiasts are already a few steps ahead of the rest of us.
What is Process and Systems Management?
Evangelists of process and systems management spend their time analyzing how to make organizations more sophisticated and efficient. Without question, great processes and systems have separated the winners from the losers in normal business cycles and will again in the post-pandemic economy.
Software Companies
Software companies likely spend the most time contemplating process and systems management. In 1990, the US Department of Defense, funded a program to examine how software development could be improved.
Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
The US Department of Defense project evolved into the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) which is now housed in Carnegie Mellon University. It began the “Capability Maturity Model” (CMM). Bottomline, the SEI/CMM work resulted in a model of five stages that software developers routinely use today to understand and manage processes.
The Five Stages of Capability Maturity Model
Level 1: Initial – The process is characterized by a loose set of activities. Processes are not well defined and success is determined upon individual effort in an organization.
Level 2: – Repeatable – Here the basic project management process are in place that can track costs, timetables, and efficiencies. Discipline is required to repeat any gleaned successes.
Level 3: – Defined – At this stage processes and activities are documented for both management and developers. Teams work together to implement defined standard approaches.
Level 4: – Managed – Detailed analysis and tracking are implemented to measure both process and product quality. Development and products are quantitively understood and collected.
Level 5: – Optimization – Systems are put in place to continuously improve processes. Strong optimization includes introducing and implementing new innovation and technology as a mainstay.
Options – Business Process Change
The Capability Maturity Model is only one example of a process and systems management plan. However, there are many ways of solving business processes and systems issues. If you are tasked with designing a system that can measure process efficiency in your organization, remember that all you need to do is be focused on creating value rather than automating redundancy.
Elaine Allan, BA, MBA
Technology & Business Blogger