59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good basic practical advice, July 14, 2006
This review is from: Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management (Paperback)
Overall, this book is solid practical advice and a generic methodology for process improvement. It is obvious that the author has extensive experience in applying traditional industrial engineering practices for process improvement. A good guide for those just beginning this kind of work and some parts, particularly the 38 design principles, that even an experienced professional can find useful.
As someone who has been doing this kind of work for over 15 years, I found four of the chapters in the book particularly interesting, Chapters 1, 7, 10, and 14. Chapter 1, "The Importance of Process", presents a framework for "styles of work management" which is a kind of organizational structure maturity model that progresses from (1) traditional management, (2) involvement management, (3) process management, (4) cross-functional management, (5) matrix management, to (6) process-focused or "F-Type" management. I found this to be a useful framework that can be used to assess an organization's orientation and commitment to business process management. In case you are wondering, the difference between the "process organization" and the "process-focused organization" is that in the former, "processes" are managed within functional areas while in the latter, cross-functional processes are managed by process owners.
Chapter 14, "Building Cross-Department Process Management" has a table, "Levels of Interdepartmental Cooperation" (IDC), that is complementary to the "styles" in chapter 1 and could be viewed as a way to judge which level or "style" an organization matches. The table is labeled Level 0 - Level 6 and has columns for a brief description, examples, "forcing work conditions", and "forcing environmental conditions" that gives you a set of criteria to evaluate and determine which "maturity level" or style an organization matches.
At 44 pages, Chapter 7, "The Four Lenses of Analysis", is more than twice as long as any other chapter in the book and is probably the most thorough discussion of any of the topics covered. The four lenses discussed are: Frustration, Time, Cost, and Quality. The author presents several techniques for evaluating a process from these four perspectives, but the techniques presented are pretty basic. Interestingly, the author omits any discussion of statistical analysis although he mentions Lean and Six Sigma repeatedly throughout the book, and there is a whole chapter, Chapter 15, that touts the value and benefits of simulation. Unfortunately, that chapter was all about how useful it is and where to apply it. Unlike the rest of the book, that chapter did not present any "how-to" information - neither how to do it nor how to apply it in process management. I think that kind of information on simulation would be of tremendous value.
Chapter 10, "Design Principles for Process Redesign", along with chapters 1 and 14, really distinguishes this book from other basic process improvement tomes. In this chapter, the author presents 38 "design principles" that he organizes in 5 categories: work structure, information flow, design guides, organizing people, and general guidance. While many of these are "common sense" to a process management practitioner, it is always good to have a checklist to follow to make sure that you haven't neglected anything. Some of the "principles" are "Mom and Apple Pie" type statements for process oriented workers, such as "Redesign the Process First, Then Automate It", or references to other methodologies that aren't presented in the book, for example, "Use design for Six Sigma (DFSS)". However, I really liked the idea of keeping a list of design principles and plan to start my own list for use in the future. A modified version of the author's list will be a good starting point.
So, in summary, if you are new to process improvement, this is a good introduction with a generic "one-size fits all" methodology that will get you started. If you are a seasoned practitioner, you probably have at least one more robust methodology than you will find in this book, but there is plenty of other valuable material in here that would be worth your time. I bought two copies for our team library.
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62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Introduction to Process, that acts as a Refresher too!, November 24, 2005
This review is from: Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management (Paperback)
It would appear that 2005 will certainly go down as the year of the process book. With the steadily increasing number of titles, it becomes increasingly hard to be objective and find interesting things to say about a book in a review.
At first glance this would appear to be another "me too" title, and while in some ways that may be true. However there are a couple of things that set this book apart and mean that it can be of value to those experienced in process improvement as well as those new to the subject.
For anyone new to the subject I would say that reading as many books as you can, even if they appear at first glance to overlap is a good thing. You will need to find an angle and perspective that works for you and it is only through distilling the thoughts from a number of sources that you can achieve this.
From a reading perspective this book is well written and easy to digest. It is also very applicable to any type of process related improvement project and so should have broad appeal.
For me the most important part of this book is the 38 design principles that Dan lists in the appendix. These provide great value and can act as a great check list on any project to ensure you get the maximum value from a project. Checklists are something else I found useful in the book, Dan provides a great many work sheets and check lists, all of which can be put to use quickly with the aid of the clear explanations he provides. In my opinion the check lists, work sheets and design principles alone will justify the cost of purchasing the book.
Particularly useful is the section on the "lenses of analysis" - this helps the user to remind themselves of what problem they are actually trying to solve. A great way of ensuring that analysts remain focussed on the business problem at hand.
I did not feel that the chapters provided by the guest authors really added to the good work in earlier chapters written by Dan himself. Although the chapter on organisational issues talks of an important aspect of change and provides some useful information, I felt the style was just different.
In summary I would suggest that this is a good book for anyone involved in any kind of process improvement project. It will provide a good introduction for those new to the discipline of analysis and design. While acting as a useful refresher for those with more experience.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for starting with process improvement, January 31, 2007
This review is from: Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management (Paperback)
This book has all you need not only to start, but also to continue with process improvement. It covers all basic steps you need to fulfill, gives you a broad overview about what you have to have in mind and also gives nice examples. I'm sorry I didn't have it much before, it could save me a lot's of mistakes I did.
Of course, I wouldn't call it a Bible, for more details in any area you'll need more detailed literature, but it can be used as a very good checkbook and guide when starting with process improvement. It's very simple and systematic. Highly recommendable not only for those who start with process management, but also for everyone who already works in this area.
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