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BPM Congress 2008by Michélle Booysen Pétanque participated in the 5th Annual BPM Congress early September, which presented a great opportunity to meet with colleagues and find out what is new in the BPM environment. For the past 5 years I have been to and fro-ing with where we fit or should fit in the Enterprise Architecture, Business Process Management world. On the one hand, there is the definitive Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) elements of Enterprise Architecture, causing process to be the stringent deliverer of usually massive, people unfriendly change with the focus on process outcomes, regardless of who loses their job or who supports the process, or not. This side of the environment, as in left hand side the pic below, heavily affects people. On the other hand there is Business Process Management, which umbrellas aspects like Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and all the supporting IT applications. This side is IT focused. Then there are all the tools and techniques: Six Sigma - which is about heavy re-engineering (throw out the old, make new!); Lean - which is about improvement of the current; Theory of Constraints - another set of rules to remake process. At the same time, the environment is divided between business and IT. IT is much more progressed in process thinking and BPM (compared to Business), hence the fantastic applications. Business has been slow on the uptake. So IT kind of says to business, “you don’t know what you need, we are cleverer, let’s create a solution then you don’t need to know your problem”. Business says: ”I have no idea what IT is trying but I know that what they are doing is not what I want”. The result of this: business blames IT for all that goes wrong and IT blames business for their incompetence. The story unfolds on this picture. Here is the wow moment: VizPro® sits “nicely” in the middle.
The link between people and IT is process. VizPro®
delivers process that speaks equally well to business and
IT. VizPro® enables knowledge to be captured as related by
the master of knowledge: business, i.e. the people who work
in the process in a format which business understands and
relate to. This comes from a place of TQM and BPR, but with
full involvement, therefore, less harsh on the people
element. VizPro® provides the knowledge and masses of
information to IT who now can do all the cool applications
that will deliver powerful Business Process Management - IT
takes the info, (which is informed by business on a business
level), puts it into applications and generates management
information. An Enterprise is like a truck that needs to deliver goods and services. What the truck should look like, depends on what services and goods it needs to deliver and what the Enterprise’s Strategy and Goals are – i.e. what type of road it will travel. If it is a tar road, the truck can be built to travel fast and zoom around bends. If it needs to travel cross country along winding, mountain roads, it needs to be built robustly and have the ability to steer around tight bends on mountain roads. This is what Enterprise Architecture does: it creates the right vehicle to deliver the stuff given the road it needs to travel. The executive board sits in the cab and drives the vehicle, making sure that the necessary support (day to day management) is there to ensure that there is air in the GoodYears, and oil in where oil must be and the right diesel for the engine. Process is the gearbox of the vehicle. One does not see
the gearbox, it is embedded deep somewhere in the vehicle,
but without it, the wheels won’t turn. If the gears are
good, the vehicle runs. If not, it makes noises, it stalls,
it stops, it jerks. All the effort of people will not drive
the vehicle if the gears seize. The high tech Garmin will
mean little if the gearbox does not work. The fuel injection
computer will not work if the gears are not gearing. Need I
say more? VizPro® is the Castrol of gearboxing: it uses
people knowledge to make sure the gears turn and gives IT
the goodies to make sure the journey is slick and managed
and dashboarded.
The BPM Congress has been a valuable event. Thank you to everyone that came to meet with us! VizPro® Boot Camp
We will workshop in small groups to help you understand VizPro® and to enable you to apply it immediately in your job. VizPro® is a unique process architecture methodology that is customised to specific requirements, presenting process diagrams in “wow!” visual format in order to define new or existing processes. If you are new to -or need a refresher on- process mapping; want to apply processes to deliver strategy; are a Business Analyst, Business Process Engineer, Change Management Practitioner, or Risk Management Practitioner: VizPro® is for you. Our trainers are Dr. Michélle Booysen and Jeanne Fredericks. Michélle has developed the VizPro® methodology, has been a VizPro® Practitioner for almost 7 years and has more than 20 years experience in the business world. Jeanne has been a VizPro® Practitioner for over 3 years, and has a passion for skills development. The VizPro® boot camp is offered both as an open course, as well as in-house programme. Please contact us for more information. Are you large and in charge?I attended a PMP prep course offered by TenStep Inc last August. The part that I enjoyed (apart from learning how to prep for the exam) was the interaction with the course leader and fellow project managers. One learning that really stuck in my mind, was the principle that the project manager “is large and in charge” as the instructor put it. I am not sure who coined this phrase, but it is a good one to remember! The principle behind this is that during the planning phases of a project, the project manager should consult widely with stakeholders. During execution, the PM should let the team get on with the job and not call a meeting for every decision that must be made – be “large and in charge” and don’t be scared to make decisions within your power of authority.I read an article today published by Projects@Work about “The Good Enough Mindset”. The author warns against time wasters and gives excellent advice. This reminded me of a project I managed in my early years as PM and quite frankly, one that I’d rather forget. It was not a complicated project at all, but involved in-house software development, using new technology. I recruited the team, did the planning and the project took off! After we created some code and we were beginning to see the end in sight, the techies convinced me that they need to rewrite some code to improve efficiency. I allowed it. And it happened again and again! The project delay started to be embarrassing... I finally reached a point where I realised two technical team members’ egos were causing this – they were each trying to outsmart the other and I indulged them! Once I put my foot down, we proceeded to the finish line! I learnt the “good enough mindset” the hard way.
Struggling to negotiate your best deal during the economic slow-down? Even managers with many years of experience may find it
tough to negotiate the best deals, now established
relationships can’t be taken for granted anymore. Clients
are more likely to walk away if they can get a better deal
somewhere else.
Tom Beasor,
renowned negotiation consultant, trains professionals in
negotiation skills and explains how to strengthen the
business relationship by collaborating, rather than
competing: “Ask a class of buyers when was the last time they told a seller their
real budget number and the hands in the air are easy to
count on the fingers of one finger. No buyer ever told a
seller their real budget number, it seems. Now ask a classroom of sellers when was the last time
they told a buyer their real costs and profit margins. Stony
silence. Now...I’m not a simpleton and I know that it’s a tough
life out there but let’s look at what might happen if this
interchange of information did take place in a context of
trust and a good collaborative relationship. The benefits of this are obvious. The downside is also
obvious. What I’d suggest is that you take a health check of
your most important business relationships and see what
benefits might accrue if you put some work in on creating a
better business relationship where buyers and sellers are
collaborating rather than competing.” Tom developed the Strategic Negotiation HowTool™ that is
available for only ZAR149, and prepares you through audio,
text and templates for your next negotiation. Please
contact us for more information.
Frogs – Beyond the Pond; a new gallery in Cape Town
Frogs - Beyond the Pond is a themed and highly interactive gallery which the Aquarium is creating to raise awareness of the plight of frogs, to inform you on what you can do to create frog-friendly environments and to raise funds for the Amphibian Ark. Featuring an enchanted garden where everything is larger than life, the exhibit includes a giant touch screen, the first of its kind in South Africa, and sees the return of the ever popular puppet theatre. In a new show, Your Friend the Frog, a western leopard toad undertakes a journey, fraught with the dangers of impenetrable garden walls, speeding cars and hungry herons, from a suburban garden to a beautiful wetland to find his mate. Throughout the ages frogs have captured our imaginations and have inspired numerous myths, legends and folk tales. More importantly, frogs being sensitive creatures are key indicator species in all the environments in which they are found. Globally frog species are disappearing at an alarming rate and we should take heed of these warning signals. Losing frogs means that we are losing our natural systems - the very systems on which we depend for our existence. | New Pétanque Non-Exec DirectorWe welcome Yvonne Finch as the newly appointed non-executive director to our team. Born and educated in the UK, Yvonne left England to teach English Language, English Literature, Spoken English and Drama in Zambia. Four years later she was approached to join an office equipment company as part of the sales training team. The following year she was promoted to National Sales and Marketing Manager. In 1978 she moved to South Africa and fulfilled various top management positions. Yvonne started independent business consulting mid 2001 assisting companies with marketing, sales, business plans, strategic change including all staff training. In addition, she advises the Department of Trade & Industry. Yvonne is married with one son and loves the theatre. Read Yvonne’s full bio here Obituary: Michael Hammer 1948 - 2008Dr. Michael Hammer, a definitive leader on business process thinking and the role that process plays in business, died on the 4th of September at a Boston hospital after collapsing from apparent cranial bleeding Friday, August 22. He was 60 years old. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues. He will continue to inspire our work to improve business performance through business process transformation. Performance Management AfricaMeet Pétanque at Performance Management Africa: a 4 day event with workshops and presentations around successfully aligning company strategy and performance development; integrating your performance management system with other H.R. processes; creating a high performance culture to achieve world-class excellence; linking conversion and non monetary incentives to performance management through personal development; and the challenges and obstacles that managers face in effectively managing under-performance of subordinates. Michélle Booysen will speak about the importance of communication around performance management initiatives. The event takes place from 25-28 November 2008, in the Gallagher Estate, Midrand. Download the full programme of the event.
OfficesThe Colosseum |
We are launching our first VizSchool™ boot camp soon!
VizSchool™ is the division within Pétanque which brings you
interactive, fun and skill-focused training, where we share
what we know so that you can start applying VizPro® process
management skills in your organisation. 
One of the organisations Pétanque is contributing to is
the Two Oceans Aquarium. The Two Oceans Aquarium, in
collaboration with the City of Cape Town, is set to open a
major new exhibit hall in September 2008 in recognition of
WAZA'S (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Year of the
Frog 2008.
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