Dealing with Human-Driven Processes

Current BPM deployments focus on routine work and low level knowledge work, lacking integration with higher level knowledge work such as research and development, marketing, complex sales, services delivery, complex problem resolution, organizational change, new initiatives and other strategic management activities. To gain full benefit from operational improvement via a process approach, higher level knowledge work must also be brought under process control and integrated with lower level operations (For a report on the evolution of BPM also see Harmon (2014) in the first volume of this Handbook). However, this requires a new approach to process management – one that not only has the right balance of structure and flexibility, but that also allows collaboration across internal and external organizational boundaries. As a solution, this paper presents a means of describing adaptive, collaborative human-driven processes, and supporting them with software, that streamlines interactions between colleagues to reduce costs, focuses on goals to be more effective, and improves organizational memory by tracking work, keeping the knowledge and re-using best practices. The approach is based on the theory of Human Interaction Management (HIM), which facilitates the management of teams, communication, knowledge, time, and plans. HIM also shows how to automate processes involving human collaboration across organizational boundaries of any kind. HIM can be introduced into the enterprise, and integrated with both organizational strategy and mainstream BPM, via supporting Human Interaction Management System (HIMS) technology and an associated change management methodology, Goal-Oriented Organization Design (GOOD).