Goal
The goals of process modeling in JGU's Central Management include creating more transparency for all of the participants in the process, more standardization of the processes, as well as clarification of the responsibilities for individual process steps and areas of intersection. Furthermore, the processes can be simplified by reducing redundancies and areas of intersection, while keeping in mind the effect such simplification would have on service quality.
In addition to creating the final products – such as the visualized IST and ZIEL processes – the project work across organizational units is also of central importance. The shared collection, visualization, and discussion of the processes promotes understanding for the overall process, as well as long-term collaboration with the other participating faculties, departments, and institutions.
Procedure and Responsibility
1st Project phase: IST-documentation
In the first project phase, the processes defined in the project assignment are recorded by Internal Auditing and Organizational Development’s representatives and the organizational units being examined in the evaluation, as well as other parties involved in the process (departments/institutes/faculties).
The examined organizational unit names one employee who will be a member of the project team and responsible for the implementation of the measures and processes for optimization after the project proposals are adopted, as well as for the documentation, communication, and further development of the processes.
2nd Project Phase: Development of Optimization Measures and Derivation of the ZIEL Process
Potential areas for optimization are already identified during the IST phase. In the second project phase, the processes are revised in detail and optimization measures are defined.
The organizational units participating in the process are responsible for the content-based development of the processes and optimization proposals. Internal Auditing and Organizational Development offers advice for the content-based development and supports the final documentation of the developed processes and optimization measures.
The second phase of the process modeling closes with the project team’s presentation of the results and the task for all of the participants in the process to implement the measures and processes agreed upon during a pilot phase.
3rd Project Phase: Pilot Phase to Implement the Optimization Measures and Introduction of the Goal Process
In the third project phase, the adopted optimization measures and processes are implemented by the organizational units participating in the process during a pilot phase (with a set time span). The person responsible for the process plays a central role during the implementation. They make sure that all of the organizational unit’s employees are informed of the changes and implement them. They remain in close contact with the employees and the representatives of the other organizational units participating in the process in order to identify problems in the implementation early and address needed adaptions.
The person responsible for the process publishes and curates the adopted, visualized processes in the intranet (and the internet, if applicable). The documentation of the processes on the intra/internet serves as a visualization of the responsibilities and areas of intersection, as well as to record the project results, not to portray the detailed processes within the individual departments. Process booklets are not planned.
During the project phase, the person responsible for the process will be advised and supported by Internal Auditing and Organizational Development. At the end of the pilot phase, Internal Auditing and Organizational Development writes a short report for the Chancellor on the implementation status, the experience with the new processes, and the necessary adaptions.
Implementation of the Continuing Process Optimization Cycle (“learning organization“) [3]
In order for the process modeling to be more than a one-time project with only a short-term effect, but for it to lead instead to a long-term and sustainable transition process, it is important to follow up the pilot phase with periodic discourse for the organizational units on their experiences, a reflection of the target achievement, and a continuing improvement of the processes.
The person responsible for the process has the task of initiating this process. Internal Auditing and Organizational Development advises and supports her/him as necessary.
[1] Excluding the organizational units with few areas of intersection in the process.
[2] The detailed process steps within the other organizational units are only represented insofar as they are important for the areas of intersection (for example, in order to understand the other organizational unit’s needs better).
[3] A learning organization is a system which remains dynamic. Events are interpreted as stimuli and used for development in order to adapt the knowledge basis and scope for action. At its base is an organization which is open and shaped by individuality and allows and supports innovative problem-solving. Ekkehart Frieling & U. Reuther (Hrsg.): Das lernende Unternehmen. Dokumentation einer Fachtagung am 6. Mai 1993 in München Neres Verlag, Bochum 1993.