Business Process Modeling

Mar 2nd, 2012 by TaskMap

This brings us to the major activity for many business process analysts, project managers and consultants; that of Business Process Modeling.

While many organizations don’t want to start there, we have to start somewhere. And that somewhere is the “as is” process. How things are done today, warts and all. When an organization wants to make change happen, they know change must happen, there is a general tendency to avoid documenting the existing process. Almost without fail this is a mistake. Without the institutional knowledge of the existing process, it is almost impossible to capture procedures, standards, methods and “the how” of how work gets done. Without this vital information all analysis will be based on assumptions that may not have any empirical value. So capturing the existing “as is” or “current state” process is an important first step in Business Process Modeling. If there are any plans for automation this is even more critical, as all elements needing automation will need to be carefully gathered to ensure the automated process does not introduce error or quality issues.

We have all been victim to revised automated computer processes that fell well short of their goals, adding time, frustration and customer dissatisfaction to the organization. Remedies are often expensive in the currency of finance and goodwill.

Once the data for the existing process has been captured, then the analysis can begin. In addition to reviewing the process for quality, efficiency and compliance we also can look at the process in the light of best practices in use in your industry or sector. This is often a great way to shorten and improve the analysis process taking advantage of what others have already learned in your sector. Measuring these against standards such as ISO, Six Sigma or others can also help the effectiveness of the analysis process.

Tags: adding time, assumptions, automated computer, automated process, automation, best practices, business process modeling, computer processes, current state, customer dissatisfaction, efficiency, frustration, goodwill, institutional knowledge, project managers, quality issues, six sigma, tendency, vital information, warts

Posted in Process Analysis, Process Mapping | No Comments »

Education

Feb 3rd, 2012 by TaskMap

Teaching and communicating others about your processes might seem like a no brainer for most of us, yet many look at processes and employee training as separate items.
If investment is made in developing and successfully documenting processes, it makes perfect sense to communicate those processes to those that need them.

Training new staff, linking procedures to existing processes and providing detailed instructions are all possible using your process maps as a basis for this important project. Maps that already documented can be repurposed for facilitating change (when new tasks are introduced or modified), and ongoing updates.

The additional benefit of using process maps for education purposes is you have one source of the current status of a process. This makes it much easier to keep changes and modifications to processes and procedures in line with the latest and more accurate practices in the organization.

Education is the gateway to standardizing processes and procedures. This will start to make institutional change take hold in the organization.

Tags: benefit, brainer, current status, education purposes, facilitating change, institutional change, perfect sense, process maps, project maps

Posted in Change Management, Compliance, Law Processes, Process Mapping, Project Management | No Comments »

The issue of organizational culture

Feb 2nd, 2012 by TaskMap

Processes are pervasive throughout every organization, even the smallest ones. The operation of an organization relies heaving on either institutional (sometimes called tribal) knowledge of these processes and procedures or will have spent a good deal of time ensuring that the process is known and training ensures everyone uses it in the same way.

The cultural aspect of processes in the organization should not be underestimated. Ever heard the phrase “that’s not the way we do it here”, or “that’s not right”, depending on the organization these may be red flags that information is not being shared openly. The willingness to share information might sound like an obvious virtue in an organization, but as we know that is not always the way of the world. I don’t know how many times I have heard the phrase Information is Power in my life, but is usually has some sinister application that follows whoever is spreading that Gospel. Mainly because if you look at information being power, then where there is power, there is often misuse of power. Anyway, before I head out onto some diatribe that doesn’t help our cause, just be warned that many don’t want to share the information you desperately need for your project, and be prepared with tools and methods to help them change their mind.

Tags: diatribe, information is power, misuse of power, phrase, power in my life, red flags, share information, tribal knowledge, virtue, way of the world, willingness

Posted in Change Management, Project Management | No Comments »

A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF PROCESSES

Feb 1st, 2012 by TaskMap

Why we need processes

In any organization we need processes for four main reasons:

1. Increase efficiency;

2. Control quality

3. Ensure the organization is meeting Governance or Compliance requirements

4. Help manage change

In early stages of process technology and method development, each reason for using process technology was different. If you have been around enough you may recall the “time and motion” studies for industrial applications. I recall my father, who worked in a British factory, was always wary when the Time and Motion specialists came in to time his work. Needless to say, work practices were different when the timing was going on, as most workers were being paid bonuses based on volume of output.

Short history of processes

This was an example of work in efficiency improvement, other programs such as Six Sigma began to identify areas of improvement in quality, Lean, Kaizen and others followed. Today we have a combination of these methods in use in different areas, but the overall message is now we need to look at our processes holistically; that is in a complete way. So when we have patient open for surgery in the efficiency area, we review quality and all the other reasons that should make things better at the same time.

In many ways this is a great improvement over sending teams of specialists in that are all looking at different aspects of the work. We have also learned from quality advocates like Deming and Japanese industry that quality is something that has to be built into the organizational culture as well as its processes to be truly effective.

Tags: compliance requirements, control quality, efficiency improvement, governance, holistically, industrial applications, japanese industry, lean kaizen, motion specialists, motion studies, organizational culture, process technology, quality advocates, six sigma, time and motion, work practices

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Process Improvement, Process Mapping | No Comments »

Process Dashboards: Identifying and flagging risk levels

Jan 23rd, 2012 by TaskMap

Identifying and flagging risk levels within tasks can be easily accomplished with TaskMap 4 Professional. There are two ways of flagging risk levels, manually and automatically through TaskMap Capture for Excel. In the image below, you can see that different colors are used to indicate the level of risk on a scale of 1 to 5. Five being the highest level with a red indicator and green being the lowest level, or a level 1.

Selecting the data graphics panel from your TaskMap ribbon or menu will allow you to create a real time instance of the risk levels within your process.

In addition, you can assign risk levels from TaskMap Capture from Excel, and display the results automatically as the TCE worksheet automatically updates the content of your process map. This is particularly useful if you are creating the risk assignment level based on other parameters within the TaskMap or external spreadsheet. This might indicate the work is going to be late or delayed, over budget or not within quality guidelines previously set by your team.

Tags: data graphics, different colors, quality guidelines, real time, ribbon, risk levels, spreadsheet

Posted in Process Analysis | No Comments »

Process Dashboards: Analyzing timeframes

Jan 17th, 2012 by TaskMap

In addition to creating dashboards the general progress of a project, it is also possible to create a dashboard for the analysis of an existing process. The first steps will include:

The number of tasks and their specific path in the process and
The time taken for each task and
Elapsed time between each task

The above process shows where tasks have been flagged where the take more than 3 minutes and then presented with a time threshold visual graphic. The result a simple dashboard of the process showing where analysis should be taken place for tasks and wait time between tasks.

Tags: dashboard, first steps, threshold

Posted in Process Analysis | No Comments »

THE CASE FOR PROCESS DASHBOARDS

Jan 16th, 2012 by TaskMap

Much is being written on the topic of process dashboards, but in reality there is not as much being done as is possible. I will start today by making the case for a process dashboard and we will pick up how best to go about doing this in detail in the coming days.

Process dashboards are going to become popular for several reasons:

Management and project managers want to see critical issues in summary format for reporting and action
The future will require individual projects using best practice processes to be based on the same methods and procedures
Problems remain hidden for tool long in a project, until it starts to affect, schedule resources and budgets adversely

Tags: budgets, critical issues, dashboard, dashboards, project managers, schedule resources

Posted in Change Management, Process Mapping, Project Management | No Comments »

Is 2012 the year that version control finally takes hold?

Jan 9th, 2012 by TaskMap

How many times have you saved a file, and had the system shut down or power run out, creating a moment of flat panic.

At our firm we have automated back up on our systems, use SharePoint for version control and an online back up service as well. However at the weekend, I worked on some files for a presentation I had on Saturday afternoon to a group of ski instructors. I could not find the file I had been working on for more than 4 hours in preparation for the meeting. With the room filling up with people I was beginning to sweat. Fortunately, the correct file had been saved, just to another default location. Phew! That discovery was two minutes before the presentation was to begin. Thank you God!

Anyway, got me thinking again about the importance of version and revision control. We really don’t have any excuses not to use it any more, however many organizations still don’t back up or track changes between versions of their work in progress.

Perhaps a good New Year resolution that will give us the following peace of mind:

Files and versions stored and backed up in a safe location
Minute but importance incremental versions of files can be tracked
Ability to undo unwanted changes
History of progress and changes easily managed

TaskMap Central version control and process repository based on hosted SharePoint services from HCG.

Tags: default location, discovery, god, nbsp, new year, new year resolution, peace of mind, revision control, saturday afternoon, ski instructors, track changes, two minutes, unwanted changes, work in progress

Posted in Change Management, Legal processes | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 8)

Dec 22nd, 2011 by TaskMap

Following skills (the details)

Door-openers

A door-opener is an non-coercive invitation extended to another to talk.

Open-ended questions

An open-ended questions is one which allows another to answer in any way or in any depth he or she choses. This kind of question does not invite a “yes” or “no” or a short response.

Open-ended questions can assist the other in exploring avenues that were not perhaps at “top of mind”.

Closed-end questions, on the other hand, tend by their nature to limit the other to short responses. Closed-ended questions usually begin with “are”, “do”, “is”, motives or justifications, and therefore tend to promote a defensive reaction in the other person. Closed-ended questions should be avoided when practicing reflective listening techniques in your meetings.

Examples of some open-ended questions include:

How to you feel about that?
Could you tell me some more about that?
What’s on your mind, Joe?
Could you give me an example?
Can you fill me in a little more about …?
Can you say more about … ?
How was that for you?

Tags: avenues, door opener, door openers, invitation, justifications, motives, open ended questions

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 7)

Dec 22nd, 2011 by TaskMap

Following skills (overview)

The three biggest barriers to more effective listening are:

The listener talks too much
The listener doesn’t listen for long enough before starting to talk
The listener remains silent and entirely unresponsive

All the tendencies make it hard for the other to tell his or her story or opinion.

If the listener finds that he or she is talking more than the speaker, the listener may not be listening effectively. The other extreme is passive listening, where the listener it too inert and inactive to be very helpful.

Following skills are elementary ways of responding during a conversation to let the other know that he or she is being heard. Here are four following skills that we will review in more detail.

Door-openers
Acknowledgement responders
Active Silence
Open-ended questions

Tags: acknowledgement, door openers, effective listening, listener, open ended questions, silence, tendencies

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Process Mapping, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 6)

Dec 21st, 2011 by TaskMap

Attending skills

Posture

The listener usually leans slightly toward the speaker in a relaxed manner. Relaxation is important because tenseness tends to take the focus off the other. An open posture is a sign that the listener is open to what the other has to say. The other should be faced during the conversation.

Gestures

The listener communicates much with body movements. if the listener moves excessively or rosses his or her arms over the chest, an unintended message might be communicated. The key is to avoid distracting movements.

Environment

The environment should be supportive of the communication. A space that promotes privacy for undisturbed conversation is essential. Physical barriers between the listener and the speaker should be removed or the individuals should choose an alternate space.

Tags: alternate space, attending skills, body movements, listener, open posture, physical barriers, posture, relaxation

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 5)

Dec 20th, 2011 by TaskMap

Attending skills (the details)

Contact

Eye contact is a way of indicated intense interest in the other person because the eyes are of other key modes of communicating. This does not mean that eye contact must be a fixed stare to be effective. If the listener is honestly interested and at ease, he or she will look naturally at the other throughout the communication.

Another element of contact is the distance between the listener and the other. Some experimentation is usually necessary before the most comfortable distance between the two is discovered.

Tags: element, eye contact, intense interest, listener, modes

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 4)

Dec 19th, 2011 by TaskMap

Attending Skills overview

Attending is giving physical and psychological attention to others in a communication situation. Effective attending conveys non-verbally that the listener is interested an is paying careful attention to the other.

Effective physical attending takes place when the listener adopts a posture of involvement, including facing the speaker and leaning slightly toward him or her, establishing good eye contact, and arranging to have an appropriate environment for the conversation or meeting.

Tags: attending skills, careful attention, communication situation, eye contact, good eye, listener, posture

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 3)

Dec 15th, 2011 by TaskMap

Benefits of reflective listening:

Lets the other reaslize he or she is heard, understood and supported and thereby helps the other stay in touch with others on the project.
Gives the other feedback on what he or she said and how it came off.
Lets the listener check the accuracy in hearing what the other has said.
Helps the other focus on self, ventilate, sort out issues, discharge and express feelings and deal with issues.
Allows the other to move to deeper levels of expression at his or her own pace.
Allows the other to think more clearly.
Helps the other arrive at a solution to her or her own problems.
Helps the listener clarify what he or she is expected to do.
Helps the listener deal effectively with the issue, problem and needs of the other.

Tags: accuracy, expression, feelings, listener, own pace, reflective listening, target

Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Process Improvement, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening skills overview (Part 2)

Dec 13th, 2011 by TaskMap

Reflective listening skills can be grouped into three clusters attending skills, following skills and responding skills.

Attending skills

These are Contact, Posture, Gestures and Environment.

These skills set up the environment for the meeting and encounter. We all can see when these are unfavorable, but the converse it setting them up so a friendly but productive atmosphere is created for the meeting.

Following skills

These are Door-openers, Acknowledgement responses, Active Silence and Open-ended questions.

Door-openers, acknowledgement responses, active silence and open-ended questions are used as appropriate during the listening process, with all but the open-ended questions normally used early in the conversation. The open-ended questions are used to clarify listener understanding and prompt the other to elaborate more in a particular area.

Responding skills

These are Paraphrasing, Reflecting Feelings, Reflecting Meanings and Summarizing.

The responding skills of Paraphrasing, Reflecting Feelings, Reflecting Meanings and Summarizing are the most effective in facilitating the listening process and are used more frequently throughout a communication session or meeting.

Tags: acknowledgement, attending skills, clusters, communication session, converse, feelings, gestures, listener, listening process, listening skills, open ended questions, posture, productive atmosphere, silence

Posted in Change Management, Process Mapping, Project Management | No Comments »

How to listen carefully to your team–Reflective listening (Part 1)

Dec 9th, 2011 by TaskMap

I had the good fortune recently to attend a reflective listening workshop led by an expert in this field. Although the purpose of this workshop was to improve my personal reflective listening skills, the content was so useful that I would like to share with you BPM buffs.

Over the next few days I will outline what this set of skills represents and how we can apply them to BPM projects.

What is reflective listening?

Reflective listening is a two-fold process which involves:

Really hearing and understanding what the other person is saying through words and body language, and
Reflecting feelings and thoughts you heard through your own words, tone of voice, body posture and gestures so that the other person knows he or she is understood.

Briefly stated, the essence of reflective listening is:

Hearing accurately what another is communicating
Understanding what the other is feeling
Accepting the other’s feelings
Committing to be with the other as he or she expresses a need or deals with a problem

Tags: body language, body posture, buffs, feelings, few days, gestures, good fortune, listening skills, posture, reflective listening, tone of voice, voice body

Posted in Change Management, Process Analysis, Project Management | No Comments »

TaskMap Update: version 4.0.5

Dec 7th, 2011 by TaskMap

Harvard Computing Group is pleased to announce the general availability of TaskMap 4.0.5, a minor update to the very successful release of TaskMap 4. We recommend that all current TaskMap 4 users update their copies of TaskMap to take advantage of this interim release.

TaskMap 4.0.5 includes a number of fixes that will improve the operation of TaskMap. As always, our goal is to ensure that TaskMap provides the simplest and most effective way for you to document, analyze and improve your processes.

For a list of the improvements in TaskMap 4.0.5, please visit the TaskMap 4.0.5 page on our website.

If you have questions about any of the issues that were fixed in TaskMap 4.0.5 or about TaskMap in general, don’t hesitate to contact us.

HCG sales department at sales@TaskMap.com or +1 978-800-4590 option 7
HCG support department at support@TaskMap.com or +1 978-800-4590 option 8

Installing TaskMap 4.0.5

If you have already upgraded to TaskMap 4 and have a current maintenance plan in place, you will receive a separate email from us containing the download link and instructions for installing TaskMap 4.0.5.

Upgrading to TaskMap 4

If you have not yet upgraded to TaskMap 4, this is an excellent time to do so. In fact, we are offering a 10% discount during the month of December for current TaskMap 2 and 3 users who are ready to move to TaskMap 4. Simply visit our TaskMap 4 Upgrade Page and then enter coupon code DecemberDiscount during checkout.

Upgrade now to take advantage of features like the following:

Check My TaskMap: validate the correctness of three key aspects of your TaskMap.
Visio 2010 ribbon: experience the easiest-to-use version of Visio yet and see how smoothly TaskMap takes advantage of the Office ribbon interface.
Automatic map creation: let TaskMap build your map for you, dropping pre-linked Tasks onto the page in an arrangement you select.
Automatic map creation from TaskMap Capture for Excel: simply enter Task data into Excel and TaskMap will drop fully populated Tasks onto the page (PRO only).
Customizable user-defined fields: create date fields, dropdown lists, text and numeric fields with your choice of names and descriptions (PRO only).
Save as PowerPoint: turn your TaskMap into a full-featured PowerPoint slide show with one click! (PRO only)
Save as Project: let TaskMap build a Microsoft Project plan from your map (PRO only)
Create TCE workbooks from existing TaskMaps: build a complete TaskMap Capture for Excel workbook from any existing TaskMap with two clicks (PRO only).

Still not convinced? Watch this one-minute video for more reasons to upgrade.

Other HCG News

HCG Partner Scott Helmers has been hired by Microsoft to film a series of five-minute training videos about Visio 2010. The videos will be filmed and edited in December and will be released by Microsoft during the first half of 2012.
Harvard Computing Group recently participated in two Chicago area events:
An enormously successful Visio Day run by Microsoft in conjunction with the Chicagoland chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis
A lunch meeting of the Chicago chapters of the International Legal Technology Association and the Project Management Institute; the luncheon was hosted by TaskMap customer Seyfarth, Shaw LLP
At both events, HCG gave away copies of TaskMap Professional and Scott Helmers’ book, Visio 2010 Step by Step.
HCG consultants are currently converting flowcharts and text narratives into TaskMaps for a $350M west coast construction company. Can we create TaskMaps for you? Please contact us at sales@TaskMap.com or +1 978-800-4590 option 7.

Tags: checkout, computing group, correctness, coupon code, email, harvard, improvements, interim release, maintenance plan

Posted in Law Processes, Process Analysis, Process Improvement, Process Mapping, Project Management, Uncategorized | No Comments »

BPM BLOG Summary for week ending 2 December 2011

Dec 2nd, 2011 by TaskMap

This was a short week on blog postings, will get back into the routine again next week after the Thanksgiving holiday. Any feedback on the tutorials will be most welcome.

The Tutorials are coming … the tutorials are coming

Posted in Process Mapping on Dec 1st, 2011

We are finalizing the tutorials for TaskMap 4 Standard and Professional Edition. Take a peak at the beta version from the links on this page. Feedback is welcome. Add Tasks to Page Drag and Drop Tasks onto a Page Use Quick Connect to Shoot Shapes onto a Page Add Blank Tasks (Multiple) to a Page [...]

The psychology of spending and how it can help BPM

Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Nov 28th, 2011

This long weekend in the USA, tied around the Thanksgiving holiday, is rooted in family renewal and enjoyment. In America, that also means an opportunity to get ready for the upcoming “giving season” of Christmas and Hanukah. Retailers typical get up to 40% of their annual sales in this period, so nothing is left behind [...]

Read Full Post »

Tags: beta version, category change, change management, christmas, drag and drop, family renewal, hanukah, left behind, postings, process mapping, professional edition, project management, psychology, shapes, thanksgiving, thanksgiving holiday

Posted in Process Mapping, Project Management | No Comments »

The Tutorials are coming … the tutorials are coming

Dec 1st, 2011 by TaskMap

We are finalizing the tutorials for TaskMap 4 Standard and Professional Edition. Take a peak at the beta version from the links on this page. Feedback is welcome.

Add Tasks to Page

Drag and Drop Tasks onto a Page
Use Quick Connect to Shoot Shapes onto a Page
Add Blank Tasks (Multiple) to a Page
Add Tasks to a Page from a TaskMap Capture Workbook

TaskMap Capture for Excel

What is TaskMap Capture for Excel
Create a Blank TaskMap Capture Workbook
Create TaskMap Capture Workbook from a TaskMap
Link a TaskMap to a TaskMap Capture Workbook
Update TaskMap Capture Data

Customize Role Names

Add/Edit/Delete Roles
Import Role Names
Export Role Names
Updating Roles in a TaskMap Capture for Excel Workbook

Renumber Tasks

How TaskMap Determines Task IDs
How to Renumber Tasks
How to Renumber Tasks in a New Numeric Order

Check My TaskMap

Verify task Link Connections
identify Duplicate Task IDs
Verify Connector Hyperlinks

Turn Task Details On/Off

Task Link Display Options

Change Task Link Display Options for All Task Links on a Page
Change Task Link Display Options for All Tasks Links in a TaskMap
Change Task Link Display Options for Selected Task Links

Save as PowerPoint

Save as Process Folder

Tags: beta version, customize, drag and drop, excel workbook, link connections, page feedback, professional edition, role names, shapes, task details

Posted in Process Mapping | No Comments »

The psychology of spending and how it can help BPM ;-)

Nov 28th, 2011 by TaskMap

A huge amount of market research and psychology is applied to this to ensure that little is left to chance, any factor that increased the amount you spend in a store (or online in the case of Cyber Monday which is today!) is mercilessly used as a tactic. I am going to list three of the important factors for retailers in getting our money, and show how similar principals can be applied to our BPM project. Comments are welcome.

You shop counterclockwise. Shoppers will spend 5-6% more by traveling around a store counterclockwise. Don’t ask me why, because the researchers don’t even know, but it works.

Show the members of the BPM team how things are being done today and let them come to some conclusions about how to do the work more effectively.

Play holiday music. Another 6% gain from playing holiday music while shoppers … shop.

Well playing music may not help us that much in a BPM project, but having a good environment for meetings, well prepared, organized, briefing materials send out in advance, an agenda … all will help your project meetings and project go more smoothly.

Don’t us gift cards. Retailers love gift cards, however more than a 1/4 of them go unused …. making them a gift for the retailer.

There are no short answers. Each improvement in our project should have a before and after; what is costs now, what it will cost later. So be specific in your project and don’t just lay out “trust me” benefits in any cost justification or change in your BPM project.

Tags: bank accounts, bpm, conclusions, credit cards, cyber monday, gift cards, hanukah, holiday music, important factors, last dollar, left behind, market research, music font, playing music, principals, project meetings, shoppers, tactic, thanksgiving holiday

Posted in Change Management, Project Management | 1 Comment »

Older Posts »

Following skills (the details)

Door-openers

Open-ended questions

Following skills (overview)

Attending skills

Posture

Gestures

Environment

Attending skills (the details)

Contact

Attending Skills overview

Benefits of reflective listening:

Attending skills

Following skills

Responding skills

What is reflective listening?

Installing TaskMap 4.0.5

Upgrading to TaskMap 4

Other HCG News

This was a short week on blog postings, will get back into the routine again next week after the Thanksgiving holiday. Any feedback on the tutorials will be most welcome.

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