Process Owner--Person or Collective?

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

 

So many times when I read approaches to process improvement the concept of process owner is discussed. Each time, I find myself scratching my head wondering if such a person exists. Who owns a cross-functional process within an organization? Who owns the sales function or the purchasing function? The mere nature of a cross-functional process implies multiple owners. Does the head of sales own the sales process? Do they have domain over warehousing and shipping functions? Last time I looked this was never true. The whole concept of process owner seems to pull us back to silos within the organization. So I submit that the concept of process owners is not appropriate for any process improvement initiative.

Every cross-functional process has many stakeholders (internal and external). Some have a greater stake than others in the outcomes the process produces. It is the internal collective, not the person, that owns the process. Therefore it is imperative that this ownership be recognized by the internal stakeholders and each be held accountable for its quality and effectiveness. This accountability should be reflected in how their performance is measured. It should be reflected in the way they are compensated and rewarded. Part of their objectives should be to continually collaborate with each other on how to improve and innovate ways to add greater and greater value to the …

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