Meaning of Process Organization

If you want to run your company not only efficiently, but also transparently, you need a good organization. With it you create clear structures and rules that should prevail in your company. It is important for you to ensure that the processes for working in the company are clearly structured right from the start. The best way to do this is through a process organization.

Process organization – what does that mean?

The term process organization is understood to be a hierarchical structure. This describes both local and temporal processes, also referred to as work processes and information processes. With a well thought-out and implemented process organization, you can ensure that all work processes run and are implemented in an orderly manner. Maybe you are not so familiar with the term process organization. This is not surprising, because nowadays one speaks more of a “workflow management” or “process management”. These two terms mean the same thing and have more or less displaced the word process organization in everyday language.

What does the process organization regulate?

The process organization defines and regulates work processes both in terms of time and location. In order to create a process organization, the individual subtasks that were defined and described in the organizational structure must be supplemented. The additions take place in the form of the factors times, rooms, material resources and people. This means that the process organization is responsible for the orderly flow of all work processes in your company. The organizational form can be represented graphically either by a flowchart or a one-line system.

Difference between process organization and organizational structure

The two terms “process organization” and “organizational structure” are still often confused with one another in everyday life. There are clear criteria that distinguish the process and structure from one another. And yet both areas are connected to one another in a special way and are accordingly dependent on one another.

Using the following graphic, you can quickly see how you can separate “process organization” and “organizational structure” from one another.

At first glance, it can be seen that the organizational structure is a static structure. On this basis, for example, the tasks and competencies are distributed within a company. The – certainly the most classic – result of a successful organizational structure? The different positions and departments that are entrusted with their respective tasks within a company.

In contrast to the organizational structure, the process organization is a dynamic construction. With their help, the work processes that are required, for example, to manufacture a product, can be designed down to the last detail. If you have set yourself the goal of precisely planning a process organization, it is important to proceed step by step and to build on the individual stages.

The first step is to organize the various work contents, then you devote yourself to the chronological sequence. This should of course be structured logically and include the:

• Work sequence
• Duration of the individual work steps
• respective times

consider. With regard to the spatial workflow, it is then important to ensure a quick turnaround on the basis of short transport routes, among other things. Finally, you have to answer the question “Individual assignment or group assignment?”

What tasks does the process organization have?

The main task of process organization is the ideal coordination of work steps and subtasks that run individually, one after the other or in parallel. The process organization structures the sequence and performance both in terms of time and space. There are various criteria for differentiating the order of the work processes:

Distribution of tasks

The distribution of tasks shows in a wonderful way to what extent process organization and organizational structure are linked. Because the competencies of an employee or the fulfillment of specific tasks can be used both statically and dynamically.

Basically, the distribution of tasks is primarily – as can also be seen from the illustration above – assigned to the classic organizational structure. On this basis, it is permanently determined which department of a company is entrusted with which processes.

However, the distribution of tasks in question can also play an important role in connection with the process organization of a company. This is especially true when the corresponding tasks are to be integrated into a larger production process.

Production can only be carried out efficiently and economically if the respective activities take place in the correct sequence.

Influencing variables

The factors that must be taken into account in connection with the organizational structure and process organization in a company depend on several factors. But which influencing factors should you consider when it comes to working economically?

To be on the safe side here, it is important, among other things, to consider:

• the number of products to be manufactured
• current trends
• the general structure of your company and the individual departments
• the available equipment
• the skills of your employees
• the logistical conditions on site

to take. They all determine how you can even optimize your processes and the structure of your departments if necessary. Accordingly, it is impossible to speak of a standardized, “perfect” solution. Rather, the factors mentioned above play an important role when it comes to finding specific solutions again and again. Typically, however, the corresponding changes take place increasingly in the area of ​​the process, while the structure remains largely the same and is only changed in exceptional cases – for example in the course of a merger of two companies.