Workflow Processes

Processes are the actual workflows in which people engage. They have an objective that is usually some type of result and consequent work output. For example, a maintenance process has “working equipment” as its result and “the issuing of a record noting the work that has been done” as its output.

But note that “working equipment” is not the sole objective of a maintenance process. The objective of the process may be to be online 24/7/365 (to meet a strategic objective of being the most reliable supplier in the market) but there may be another objective to increase worker safety, requiring safety inspections. This may actually slow down the maintenance process, but the worker safety program requires this. This means that optimizing purely at the process tier without regard to the program tier’s business rules can result in delays when someone notices that the dictates of the safety program haven’t been followed.

Return to "The Target of Change: The Workflow Process"