Meaning of Process Organization 2
Process organization concepts
Process organizational concepts differ from the structural organizational variant by a special characteristic. Because this is not about the relationship between a superordinate party and a subordinate party. While the organizational structure deals, among other things, with subordination relationships and processes from the area of the authority to issue instructions, a different focus is set here. Strictly speaking, you can split the process organization into three different areas and thus ensure even clearer relationships within your operational processes.
Process organization as work organization
The process organization is an important aid in the field of work organization. Because on its basis you can ensure that your employees see their respective skills and activities as part of the whole. At the same time, you can organize your work to the extent that you can logically build the individual steps on one another and thus act even more economically.
| Organizational structure | Process organization | |
| elements | the organizational units are subject to a higher order, various positions such as line positions, staff positions, management positions and executive positions | Activities or tasks |
| Reactions | Here there are subordinate relationships that also relate to areas such as authority to issue instructions and decision-making as well as reporting | here there are predecessor-successor relationships that relate to the meaning of the activity. These are supplemented by the flow of information and the flow of materials |
Process organization as a process plan
In order for your company to work economically, it is also important to keep distances as short as possible and to plan the use of raw materials sensibly. With the help of a functioning process organization, you can optimize the processes in your company and at the same time define the relationship between the individual departments even better. Don’t forget to rely on a transparent flow of information.
Process organization as process organization
When you deal with the process organization as a process organization, you begin to see the individual work steps – for example in production – as part of a “big picture”. This change of perspective enables you to make fundamental decisions about the individual work steps even more well-founded. Since the process organization – as already mentioned above – is a dynamic construct, you can of course also make subsequent improvements.
What are the dimensions of the process organization?
When it comes to process organization, you differentiate between three different dimensions:
- room
- time
- crowd
These dimensions must be taken into account when providing services. These dimensions are derived from the objectives of the process organization and they are differentiated as follows:
Function-oriented process organization
In this part of the process organization, all work processes have to be broken down into individual work steps. You determine which activities are to be carried out in which order. How detailed this breakdown of the work steps is depends entirely on the type of task at hand. In practice, mechanical work is usually divided into smaller work steps than is the case with intellectual work steps. Practice also shows that you use the function-oriented process organization for the reorganization of existing work processes. Of course, you can also use it to represent new workflows for production. When it comes to reorganization, you first have to record the current situation. You can only reorganize process structures if this is known.
In order to be able to grasp the current situation, you can use various methods.
- A survey in the form of an oral interview or by interviewing a questionnaire
- Through observation, either through continuous observation, through a multi-moment method or through many individual individual observations
- By writing yourself down
In order to be able to present the work processes in an easily understandable way, two forms are recommended for you:
- Representation by workflow map : This map shows the individual work steps in the correct order. To do this, you work with a table. Contents are the exact description of the activity, the duration in minutes and possibly also the distances to be covered in a single work step. In order to be able to better recognize possible weak points, you have to represent the activities with five symbols for processing, transport, control, storage and delay. The main thing for you is to avoid the symbols transport and delay. They are usually the greatest weaknesses.
- Representation by flowchart: You probably also know flowcharts as data flow plans or program flow charts from data processing. You can also use the flowchart to show the work flow.
Time-oriented process organization
With the time-oriented process organization, you focus on the beginning and the end, as well as the entire duration of a work step. This does not always have to be a work step, it can also be a project. The challenge for you here is to optimally coordinate the workflow. You have to pay close attention to the technical, machine and personal conditions. Bar charts or network plan technology are generally used as instruments for planning time-oriented process organization.
Space-oriented process organization
With the room-oriented process organization, you deal with the design of the workplaces and the arrangement of the rooms. Important! You must always observe the routes for the transport and movement of materials, but also information, according to the principle of the shortest route. That is, in the ideal case, everything is as close together as possible. However, a distinction must also be made here between areas in production and areas in administration. In production, materials are moved; in administration, this is information. The different situations in the areas are presented as follows.
| Production area | Administration area |
| The arrangement of workplaces is often determined by technical necessities. | Exchange of information between individual bodies. |
| Final assembly often along conveyor belts. | The flow of communication cannot be represented as clearly as the flow of material. |
| Machines and people assemble individual parts. | Differentiation between contact relationships and information relationships. This is done as part of a communication analysis (recording of personal, telephone or written contacts using a tally sheet) |
| Influence of the workplace arrangement also depends on safety regulations. | In the workplace arrangement, not only personal preferences, but especially safety regulations are decisive. |
Process organization dilemma
So that you can organize the flow of your work processes, you have to carry out two steps. The first step involves determining which elements and parts make up a work process. In the second step, your task is to make a design of the relationship between the elements. These two essential dilemmas in process organization are distinguished as follows:
- Work analysis – analysis of work processes
- Work synthesis – design of work processes
Analysis of work processes
It is important for you to do the job analysis accurately. You have to analyze even the smallest process for weak points. The following procedure will help you:
- How much time do you need for a work step? How is this carried out and which intermediate steps are necessary for this?
- Is there a work step that takes too long? Or are there problems with the execution, for example because it is too cumbersome?
- Where can you identify possible sources of error?
- Are there any workflows that you can simplify? Can work steps possibly be summarized? Is it possible to standardize work steps?
- Which processes need special attention?
- Do you notice any work steps that may be out of date, outdated or even unnecessary?
