Process owner

Process owners (including process owner or process owner , English process owner ) is a term from the process management and quality management .

The process owner is the person responsible for a process or sub-process. He is determined by the responsible management and receives from it the authorizations required for his task ( decision-making competencies and resources ). Resources include personnel (employees, man- days ), financial ( budget ), organizational (rooms, means of communication, etc.) and time (deadlines). It makes sense to make the process owner the person who has the most employees in the process or who has the greatest interest in making the process work. According to a study by the Technical University of Graz in 2008, in which Austrian industrial companies were surveyed, 56% of the companies surveyed defined process owners for every business process. 16% of the companies surveyed have only partially defined process owners for their business processes. 28% of the companies have not implemented the role of process owner at all.

Responsibility and tasks

The process owner is responsible for:

• Definition of process boundaries and scope with other process owners (delimitation of the process)
• Management of the employees responsible in the process
• Planning and implementation of the process, education and training of the process participants
• successful execution of the process
  • Achieving the process goals
  • suitable measured variables and measuring equipment ( key figures )
• Cooperation with the neighboring process owners ( interfaces )
• continuous process improvement (CIP): DMAIC , Six Sigma etc.
• complete and correct documentation of the process
• Leading teams to create and develop processes
• Monitoring and auditing
• Planning and applying for the budget and resources necessary to complete the task

Knowledge and skills

Fundamentally required knowledge and skills of a process owner are a deeper understanding of the structure of a process-oriented company structure. The advantages as well as the problems of a process associated with the demand for a certain process loyalty (acceptance, motivation, but also training and documentation) must be known. Knowledge of the hard process requirements ( standards , laws , customer requirements , input and output, etc.) as well as the soft requirements ( corporate culture , employee training, etc.) are necessary. The goal-oriented handling of these problems requires knowledge and skills in the areas of presentation , communication , leadership experience , motivational training, discussion and argumentation . An analytical approach is required for process analysis. In the course of training courses, the process owner is required to work as a trainer . Process implementation and improvements require knowledge of project management for structuring upcoming tasks and estimating the corresponding expenses and resources. Basic technical knowledge of the subject area described by the process landscape round off the requirement profile.

Framework

A process owner alone cannot act as an isolated task holder. In addition to the tasks listed above, which he could optimally fulfill with the knowledge and skills mentioned, certain framework conditions are necessary. It is only when they are fulfilled that the process owner can fully perform his duties.

Responsibility of the management

The company management must demand and promote the introduction of a process-oriented corporate structure and be committed to this.

exemption

the process owner must be released from day-to-day business in order to carry out his tasks. This can easily account for up to 25% of regular working hours.

Provision of resources

Time, money, employees, machines, material, means of communication, computing capacity, advanced training.

Granting of competencies

The process owner must be given the skills necessary to fulfill the task, e.g. B. Decision-making authority, inspection of data, authority to issue instructions, etc.

Provision of team resources

The process owner must also be provided with resources for the formation of a process team that processes the corresponding task packages. Process improvement is teamwork.

Provision of area resources

The training of employees in processes requires their participation in appropriate events. This effort must also be taken into account.

The process owner is supported by a process team, i.e. by people who take responsibility for sub-processes.

Example: For the procurement process , the head of procurement / purchasing is ideally the process owner. This process consists of sub-processes such as supplier contracts , order , incoming goods inspection and warehouse . The members of the process team work in these sub-processes. Ideally, responsibilities and interfaces are clearly regulated.

More roles

Process customers are all persons and organizations who receive a result (output) from this process. Using the example of procurement, for example, production or manufacturing that wants to process fault-free supplier material. Process users (process participants) are all persons who according to the process description act .

literature

• Guido Fischermanns: Practical Guide to Process Management . 11th edition. Giessen 2013, ISBN 978-3-921313-89-3 .

Web links

• Process management roles. process window blog.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Guido Fischermanns: Practical Handbook Process Management . Pp. 402-404.