Process

What is a process?

A process is the practical description of what activities should be performed, in what order and by whom to produce a wanted outcome. The process should both provide an overview of how all activities in the organisation relate, and at the same time act as a foundation for training roles working in the process as well as designing supporting tools (Technology).

Processes are typically internal and only for the eyes of the employees and auditors. It can contain company secrets that can give competitors and advantage if leaked. The exception is if the purpose of the process is to integrate work between organisations, in that case it should be shared between both organisations with clear accountability and responsibilities defined.

Process Levels

Processes are typically organised into layers to enable both overview and drilling down. A common structure are 4 layers:

1. Process Overview – Includes all processes into one process map to give an overview of the complete process landscape
2. Process Steps – A high level overview of the process as a whole and the different steps that are part of the process
3. Activity – The activities to be performed in each step required to complete the step and move to the next one
4. Work Documents – The manuals, templates and other documents that describe how to perform each activity
   (Work Documents in this context are the same as the Work Documents in the Asset Structure)

The number of levels and the definition of each layer can be modified to fit the organisations context, but the above is a good starting point.

Accountability, Responsibility & Lifespan

A Process is a document that should be “alive” and change frequently as improvements and optimisations are identified, designed and implemented. Some processes are of course more static than others in nature, but most processes can be optimized further or needs to updated to be compliant with changes to laws or regulations.

Good practice is to make regular process updates on at least quarterly updates (for relevant processes). Otherwise they should be reviewed at least on a half-year basis.

Typical Content

The format and content of a process can vary, but most processes descriptions have some common components:

The title should describe the action that the process contains and should be formulated as an action to make it easy for both internal and external stakeholders to understand its content and purpose. An example can be: “Send invoices” instead of “Invoicing” or “Invoice distribution”.

Processes must be strictly controlled. This means that information such as:

• Effective date (from when the document is in affect)
• Document owner (accountable role and approver)
• Sensitivity (public, internal, confidential or equivalent)
• Version history (summary of previous versions and changes)

The introduction should provide a short description of the process and state the process context and purpose.

The scope should define the boundaries and extent of the process. It is good practice to clearly state areas that are not in scope for the process.

Most processes requires input in the form of data, information, materials, decisions or an event. All necessary input to the process should be stated (which helps identify process dependencies).

Process steps are typically refers to the documentation of process level 2 and 3:

• Level 2: The steps are documented in sequence to provide an overview of the full process
• Level 3: Lists activities to be performed for each step in order and responsible role for executing the activity

Good practice is to use the RACI modell to document responsibilities for each activity.

The purpose of a process is to produce an output that has some type of outcome value. All output of the process should be stated (which helps identify process dependencies).

The roles and responsibilities for the processes should be clearly stated. Good practice is to have a single generic role for process responsibilities.

List metrics that kan be used to measure the quality, efficiency, effectiveness and consistency of the process. These will help with identifying deviations and improving the process.

By having a clear, crisp and unified structure and way of working for all processes, the ability to establish an efficient and effective operations that produces high outcome value consistently is much higher.

Processes are an important part of most standards and clarifies what activities should be performed, in what order and by whom.