Role of the Process Manager

Summary

A Process manager is a vital role in the organization, with responsibilities spanning process design, process measurement, continuous improvement, and training. The process manager can also provide input to (or serve as) a process architect for your Planview Enterprise implementation, someone who can ensure that process lifecycles are effective and lean. The best practice outlines the role of the process manager and offers guidelines for success. 

More and more, organizations are designating process managers to oversee and maintain business processes. Sometimes the role is called Process Owner, Process Consultant, Process Architect, or another similar name, with slight variations in the degree of authority. Some organizations even have a Chief Process Officer, Vice President of Process Engineering, or a similar high-ranking position, especially if they are responsible for enterprise-wide processes.

As mentioned, process managers, or process architects, are also important for refining the project, portfolio, and resource management processes that will be supported by Planview Enterprise lifecycles and functions. The key is to have a lean process that is flexible and scalable for different types and sizes of projects, and not to create overly burdensome lifecycles. Often, simple checklists can take the place of a number of workflow approval steps, which tend to slow down an implementation.

Involving all parties of an end-to-end process in the refinement or creation of it is central to success. First, it ensures that redundancies and gaps will surface and be addressed. Second, it gets everyone on the same page in terms of why all the process steps are needed. Third, it gets their input in terms of opportunities to streamline. And fourth, it engages people, which helps gain their buy-in into the new process, which in turn helps adoption.