How process oriented is your organization?

The development of a companywide process management is usually not happening from the one day to the other. Experience shows that most organizations have already implemented single aspects and modules of process management but that they are still far away from their objective of having a continuous and complete process cycle on all levels. Therefore, the starting position of each organization is different. Also the aspired arrangement of the process management system differs among the organizations. Due to that, it might be reasonable in some units to define the processes in detail (e.g. to control the process by means of a workflow-system) while in other cases rough requirements and rules are sufficient to specify a process.

In order to improve an organization it is therefore necessary to conduct an individual determination of the current position. Where is the organization with regard to business process management, where are gaps and deficits? How far has the organization developed in comparison to other organizations? Hereby, on the one hand the entire organization should be considered and on the other hand single core processes should be assessed.

A reasonable assessment is conducted with regard to the desired to-be situation. Due to that, it is necessary to define the to-be situation regarding business process management and to compare it to the as-is situation systematically. The outcome of this determines those areas with the biggest need for action.

The third step focuses on getting from the as-is to the to-be situation. For this purpose, an implementation strategy has to be developed. Should and could specific process management approaches be implemented in a companywide Top-Down approach? Or is it more promising to take care of the individual processes and to deliver the results to the organization at a later stage? This also depends on the individual requirements of each organization. The implementation strategy forms the basis to define concrete measurements and projects.

The determination of the current status and the target situation should be repeated on a regular basis. By doing that, it can be determined whether the taken measurements can be considered as successful and whether the organization is on the right track. In addition, the general framework of the organization is changing steadily. Due to that, the enhancement of business process management is a constant task.

Maturity degree models can be used as a tool for determining the current as well as the to-be situation. A maturity degree model comprises a set of criteria which can be evaluated by means of a questionnaire. Depending on the degree to which each criterion is fulfilled, the maturity degree for the considered process in the organization is determined. The better the single criteria are fulfilled, the higher the maturity degree.

There are a lot of maturity models which are more or less related to business process management. These have been developed by e.g. consultancies, software providers or industry associations. Some of these consider the entire organization while others only focus on specific processes. Some are suitable for all organizations, others only consider concrete industry specifications. A lot of models focus on single aspects such as the compliance and traceability of processes. In contrary, other maturity degree models have a holistic focus.

The maturity degree model eden, which has been developed from the practice, enables a holistic assessment of business process management.