1. Assessing BPM Capability
Measuring the ability of individuals, processes, and the enterprise to achieve high performance
Some of the material in this presentation was drawn from the following source:
Hammer, M. (2007), “The Process Audit”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 85 Issue 4, pp

2. Why assess BPM capability?
Work by Michael Hammer found that executives wanted to harness the power of processes, but were unsure about what exactly needed to be changed, by how much, and when
This resulted in hesitant decisions and confused planning, in endless debates and unproductive discussions, in unwarranted complacency and equally unwarranted despair, in errors and rework, in delays and abandoned efforts
People kept asking one another questions such as:
Did we start with the right thing?
How do we know we are making progress?
What will the organization look like when we finish?
Without knowing what they must concentrate on and when, executives have been unable to master the science of transforming business processes
BA 553: Business Process Management

3. Variations of BPM Assessments
Many areas can be measured with process assessments:
Individual employee process competency
used to help identify gaps in knowledge, and to select candidates for process jobs within the organization
Process health or maturity
used to measure the effectiveness of a selected process
Organizational process capability
used to measure the process capability of the enterprise as a whole
BA 553: Business Process Management

4. 1. Individual Employee Process Competency
It is important to develop ways to measure individual competency for those who will occupy process roles in the organization:
This enables the initial selection or hiring of skilled candidates
It helps management make promotion decisions
It also assists with the identification of gaps in knowledge that need to be filled with additional training or experience
BA 553: Business Process Management

5. Examples of Individual Competency Measures
1. Individual Employee Process Competency
Examples of Individual Competency Measures
Process Modeling Competencies:
The ability to personally perform or facilitate a team in the following activities:
Documenting the "as is" processes
Understanding and documenting a process network
Developing systems diagrams showing the inputs and outputs, customers and suppliers, and enablers and constraints of the process
Understanding, gathering and documenting the components of a process specification:
Identifying and collecting process metrics (input metrics, in-process metrics, output metrics)
Identifying performance metrics / KPI's and show how they relate to process metrics
Integrating process efforts with other ongoing organizational efforts to leverage existing work and avoid suboptimization
In addition, the ability to train/apprentice others in process thinking and process documentation
BA 553: Business Process Management

6. Examples of Individual Competency Measures
1. Individual Employee Process Competency
Examples of Individual Competency Measures
Process Improvement Competencies
All of process modeling competencies on the previous slide
A history of improving processes, including leading improvement teams
The ability to lead a process benchmarking effort
The ability to personally perform or facilitate a team in the following activities:
Brainstorming problems with "as is" processes
Reviewing systems diagrams to find problems with the inputs and outputs of the process
Identifying process problems from the process flowcharts
Improving processes with an understanding of the process network and the impact of changes on related processes (process dependencies)
Developing improvement recommendations for management based on detailed analysis including cost-benefit information
Conducting root cause analysis of process problems
Using QFD (“House of Quality”) or similar methodology to prioritize the results of the root cause analysis and determine potential improvements
In addition, the ability to train/apprentice others in process improvement
BA 553: Business Process Management

7. 2. Process Health or Maturity: Signs of a Healthy Process
1. Adoption – A process that no one uses is a process that is clearly not working. Granted, many processes don’t need to be referred to on a regular basis but adoption is about adhering to the defined business process without deviation.
2. Clarity – An ambiguous process is a potential sign that the process has not been well thought out. This will hamper productivity and the successful completion of the activity.
3. Collaboration – Healthy communication leads to a healthy process. Multiple memos may seem like a sign of an immature process, but in actuality, it shows evolution, interest, and commitment to improve.
4. Ownership Participation – Having process owners take responsibility means accepting accountability for the outcome of the process. Without that commitment, there is little assurance that the process will achieve its intended goals.
5. SME Participation – Having the right people contributing their knowledge to the process design or improvement is critical to organizational performance. Having ongoing contribution by the most experienced guarantees staying on track.
6. Best Practice Adoption –Take advantage of lessons learned by countless others.
7. Updated and Valid Metrics – A truly valuable process is one that can be measured. One could argue that a process that directly influences leading/lagging indicators defines the success of your business.
8. Continual Improvement – A process is never complete. There will always be a better way to do something. Failure to capture new ideas, changes in business, and evolving roles will lead to process that loses relevance.
Nimbus (2007), 10 Signs of a Healthy Process, internal document provided to clients.
BA 553: Business Process Management

8. How is process maturity measured?
2. Process Health or Maturity
How is process maturity measured?
Many assessments exist for measuring process maturity
One example is Hammer’s Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) assessment, which measures both process maturity and enterprise capability
Another well-known tool is the process CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration)
CMMI has become a well-known term even for those who aren’t involved in organizational improvement and don’t exactly know what it means
BA 553: Business Process Management

9. Quantitatively Managed
2. Process Health or Maturity
CMMI: Five Levels
Level 5
Optimizing
Processes continually improved
Level 4
Quantitatively Managed
Processes measured and controlled
Level 3
Defined
Processes characterized for the organization (proactive)
Level 2
Managed
Processes characterized for projects only (reactive)
Level 1
Initial
Processes ad hoc and chaotic, poorly controlled
BA 553: Business Process Management

10. The CMMI Process Maturity Assessment
2. Process Health or Maturity
The CMMI Process Maturity Assessment 1 2 3 4 5
What does this mean?
BA 553: Business Process Management

11. Moving Up in CMMI Levels
2. Process Health or Maturity
Moving Up in CMMI Levels
There is a distinction is between those who think BPM is a management philosophy (and are committed to the development of a business process architecture and the establishment of process managers) and those respondents who are more focused on improving processes, one at a time.
In essence, companies that conceptualize BPM as a process redesign and improvement methodology are working at CMM maturity level 2 and are generally focused on departmentally-focused process work. This is especially true of companies whose BPM efforts are led by IT groups that are focused on automating specific processes.
Companies that seek to move from CMM maturity level 2 to level 3 or 4 put more emphasis on integrating processes across departmental boundaries, on enterprise architectures, and on managing processes as a corporate asset.
Only a few companies have attained level 5, but, clearly, many companies are focused on moving to levels 3 and 4.
Harmon, Paul and Wolf, Celia (2008), The State of Business Process Management, white paper, BPMTrends.
BA 553: Business Process Management

12. Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) Assessment
2. Process Health or Maturity
Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) Assessment
Companies need to ensure that their business processes become more mature—in other words, that they are capable of delivering higher performance over time
To make that happen, companies must develop two kinds of characteristics:
process enablers, which pertain to individual processes, and
enterprise capabilities, which apply to entire organizations
Companies can use their evaluations of the enablers and capabilities, in tandem, to plan and assess the progress of process-based transformations
BA 553: Business Process Management

13. PEMM Assessment Areas 2. Process Health or Maturity
There are five process enablers…
Design: The comprehensiveness of the specification of how the process is to be executed.
Performers: The people who execute the process, particularly in terms of their skills and knowledge.
Owner: A senior executive who has responsibility for the process and its results.
Infrastructure: Information and management systems that support the process.
Metrics: The measures the company uses to track the process’s performance.
…and four enterprise capabilities
Leadership: Senior executives who support the creation of processes.
Culture: The values of customer focus, teamwork, personal accountability, and a willingness to change.
Expertise: Skills in, and methodology for, process redesign.
Governance: Mechanisms for managing complex projects and change initiatives.
BA 553: Business Process Management

14. 3. Organizational BPM Capability
An example of enterprise process capability assessment was just shown from Hammer’s Process Audit
My company has also developed an enterprise assessment, which is based on the tools and techniques of process modeling and improvement taught in BA 563, and of process management taught in this class
The categories measured in this assessment include:
Process definition capability
Process improvement capability
Process management capability
BA 553: Business Process Management

15. OLC’s Process Definition Assessment Areas
3. Organizational BPM Capability
OLC’s Process Definition Assessment Areas
Process Definition Assessment Areas
Establishing Process Scope/Objectives and Process Requirements
Preparing Systems Diagrams
Developing Flowcharts
Preparing Activity Tables
Assigning Process Management/Improvement Roles and Responsibilities
Process Improvement Assessment Areas
Establishing and Utilizing Process Measures
Identifying and Prioritizing Process Problems
Performing Root-Cause Analysis of Process Problems
Identifying and Prioritizing Possible Process Improvements
Implementing Process Improvements
Process Management Assessment Areas
Establishing the Organization’s Process Framework
Linking Process Measures to Organizational Performance Measures
Monitoring the Network of Processes
Aligning Improvements with the Organization’s Strategy
Improving the Organization’s Process Network
BA 553: Business Process Management

16. All Work is a Process
As mentioned previously in this course, everything we do is part of a process, and can be documented as such
The same is true of designing a process, improving a process, or assessing process capability
All of these activities have the steps of P2DCA:
Purpose
Plan Do
Check
Act
BA 553: Business Process Management

17. Planning the Approach to Assessment
Whatever tool or model you choose to use (or combination thereof), you will need to develop a plan for the assessment
This activity includes:
Step
P2DCA
Identifying the requirements for the assessment before developing the plan
Purpose
Developing the assessment plan
Plan
Selecting the team and preparing for the assessment Do
Collecting and analyzing information
Reporting the results of the assessment
Planning for next steps based upon assessment results
Check, Act
Documenting and closing out the process, and noting lessons learned, as input to continuous improvement
BA 553: Business Process Management

18. Steps in Conducting Assessment: Example
1 Plan and Prepare for Appraisal
1.1 Analyze Requirements
1.1.1 Determine Appraisal Objectives
1.1.2 Determine Data Collection Strategy
1.1.3 Determine Appraisal Constraints
1.1.4 Determine Appraisal Scope
1.1.5 Determine Appraisal Outputs
1.1.6 Obtain Commitment to Initial Appraisal Plan
1.2 Develop Appraisal Plan
1.2.1 Tailor Method
1.2.2 Identify Needed Resources
1.2.3 Develop Data Collection Plan
1.2.4 Determine Cost and Schedule
1.2.5 Plan and Manage Logistics
1.2.6 Document and Manage Risks
1.2.7 Obtain Commitment to Appraisal Plan
1.3 Select and Prepare Team
1.3.1 Identify Appraisal Team Leader
1.3.2 Select Team Members
1.3.3 Document and Manage Conflicts of Interest
1.3.4 Prepare Team
1.4 Obtain and Inventory Initial Objective Evidence
1.4.1 Obtain Initial Objective Evidence
1.4.2 Inventory Objective Evidence
1.5 Prepare for Appraisal Conduct
1.5.1 Perform Readiness Review
1.5.2 Re-Plan Data Collection
2 Conduct Appraisal
2.1 Prepare Participants
2.1.1 Conduct Participant Briefing
2.2 Examine Objective Evidence
2.2.1 Examine Objective Evidence from Artifacts
2.2.2 Examine Objective Evidence from Affirmations
2.3 Document Objective Evidence
2.3.1 Take/Review/Tag Notes
2.3.2 Record Presence/Absence of Objective Evidence
2.3.3 Document Practice Implementation
2.3.4 Review and Update the Data Collection Plan
2.4 Verify Objective Evidence
2.4.1 Verify Objective Evidence
2.4.2 Characterize Implementation of Model Practices and Generate Preliminary Findings
2.5 Validate Preliminary Findings
2.6 Generate Appraisal Results
2.6.1 Derive Findings and Rate Goals
2.6.2 Determine Process Area Ratings
2.6.3 Determine Process Area Profile
2.6.4 Determine Maturity Level
2.6.5 Document Appraisal Results
3 Report Results
3.1 Deliver Appraisal Results
3.1.1 Deliver Final Findings
3.1.2 Conduct Executive Session(s)
3.1.3 Plan for Next Steps
3.2 Package and Archive Appraisal Assets
3.2.1 Collect Lessons Learned
3.2.2 Generate Appraisal Record
3.2.3 Provide Appraisal Feedback to the SEI
3.2.4 Archive and/or Dispose of Key Artifacts
SEI (2011), Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI), downloaded from
BA 553: Business Process Management