nintex promapp : process playbook procedure documents don ... · accessible process knowledge can...

Updated May 2019. P v.

Why the time has come to improve the process of process management.

Nintex Promapp™ : Process Playbook

Procedure documentsdon’t work.

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Why the time has come to improve the process of process management.

Process improvement methodologies and techniques have evolved over the years, but when it comes to communicating and managing our process knowledge, many businesses haven’t really changed the way they’ve managed processes since the 90s.

Often, key knowledge is still stored and shared in Word documents, spreadsheets or Visio diagrams. Why is that an issue? Because, almost universally, staff aren’t accessing or using these documents.

This failure to engage comes from trying to get by with Microsoft Office tools to manage process knowledge, an approach that falls short on seven fundamental process management business requirements.


Procedure documents don’t work.

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Where static documents fail.

1. The user experience.

Complex flowcharts, pages of text, data that’s difficult to understand – these are typical of the knowledge and procedure documents that have been used by organizations over the years.

Staff who are used to simple, user-friendly tools like Google and YouTube are not likely to be engaged by a complex flowchart or Word document. They’ll also be frustrated by poor functionality and accessibility. These documents aren’t easy to search, update or access remotely.

2. Easy to create, impossible to manage.

Using Word for procedure documents works up to a point. It’s certainly easy to create a document. But the process falls apart when it comes to making changes and edits.

Making a simple change to a procedure might require searching for and updating several documents, for example a summary, a flowchart, and a more detailed information document. These documents are often stored in multiple locations, like the company intranet and on individual staff computers, making it almost impossible to find and update them all.


Staff who are used to simple, user-friendly tools like Google and YouTube are not likely to be engaged by a complex flowchart or Word document.


3. Notification of changes.

Change management is critical. To perform effectively, staff need access to accurate, up-to-date process information. It’s essential to be able to quickly communicate any updates or changes to processes.

With static procedure documents, notifying staff of changes and ensuring they are using the most current version of a process is critical. Effective process management depends on personalized notifications and reminders, like a personal dashboard that triggers emails to a dynamic list of affected stakeholders.

4. Dynamic process content.

What happens when you need to change a job title that appears in multiple processes? Or a training document that is referred to in many different processes? Who is going to hunt through all those documents to find and update the impacted processes?

Process changes and updates often require edits to objects, or activities that appear in many different processes. Process owners just don’t bother with this non-value adding administrative activity, and nor should they.

5. Finding and using key information.

Data isn’t helpful unless it’s accessible. That’s why search, tracking, reporting and analytics are an expected part of many BPM tools – without them BPM tools would be all but useless.

Because static documents don’t come with these functions, it becomes incredibly time consuming to answer even simple questions about process management: how many process documents do we have? How many documents are out of date? When were these last updated?



Notifying staff of changes

and ensuring they are using

the most current version of

a process is critical.


6. Process ownership.

A healthy process improvement culture depends on a process owner stepping up and taking responsibility.

Usually, after a procedure document has been written it’s considered ‘finished’. Nobody touches it again. Without an expert taking responsibility for each process, it’s all too easy for procedure documents to stay the same – even when the actual process needs changing, or has already been changed in practice.

Drawing tools for flowcharts are simple for project teams, but have proven too hard and too onerous for business teams to update. If teams don’t feel they own their processes, it also limits their ability (and belief) that they have the right to change their processes.



7. Multiple points of access.

When businesses realize they have a problem with information management, they’ll often start by bringing all their process information together in one place. This is a start, but it still often fails to engage staff or ensure they use the information.

A central database alone doesn’t give staff easy access to the process knowledge they need. Process information needs to be available and updated in real time across the multiple platforms it is accessed from. These might include a central repository, intranet, CRM menu, ERP menu, tablet and smartphone. The easier information is to access when teams need it, the more likely they are to use it.

The easier information is to access when teams need it, the more likely they are to use it.




A new approach to knowledge management.

Today, effective knowledge management isn’t just helpful

– it’s essential for business growth and survival.

Here are 5 must-haves for a sustainable approach to process management that will win engagement with business teams:

1. Governance and visible leadership.

Before you think about selecting a process management tool, you need to establish executive buy-in and leadership. Without visible leadership and support at a senior management level and throughout the business, process management software might help but it won’t enable you to effect real change in your business.

2. Engaging and useful information.

Making information engaging is half the battle. Present process information in a user-friendly format and make it relevant. Each user should have a personalized dashboard where they can see the processes they use every day.

Processes need to be laid out in simple steps, with more detail available if required. A good test for ease of use is whether users are able to read and understand process information in less than 30 seconds.

3. Information when and where you need it.

Making information accessible from multiple points is important. Information needs to be available where staff already are – so it becomes part of their daily routine rather than another task they have to perform. Process knowledge should be easy to access and share using email, your company intranet, or through the software programs staff already use for example, SAP software for finance teams.

Information on the state of your processes should also be readily available. You should be able to see at a glance how many processes you have, and when they were last updated.




4. Process ownership by users, not specialists.

Process information is only useful if it really reflects what happens on the ground. That’s why it’s important for staff in the trenches to have ownership of their processes.

The process owner should be responsible for changing and improving their processes to keep them relevant. Because most processes are used by multiple people across the business, you should also make sure it’s easy for other staff to give feedback and suggest changes. It’s about empowering the people who actually use process information to help improve it.

5. Change management.

Change is one of the biggest challenges of process management. Making sure that process documentation is up to date, and that stakeholders are kept in the loop when changes are made, can be complex and time consuming.

You need to adopt a process management approach that makes change management fast and simple. Editing a process shouldn’t be difficult, and if you choose a cloud-based solution, updates will be rolled out automatically – which means no more laborious updating of multiple documents.

Ideally, the solution you choose will easily keep all stakeholders up to date. Individual dashboards highlighting any changes can help keep track of updates. This type of functionality can also be used for signoff and managing compliance.


It seems simple, but providing teams with engaging, accessible process knowledge can make a huge difference to the way your business works. It can create a culture of improvement, giving teams a competitive advantage over companies that are stuck using slow, inaccessible static documentation.


The competitiveadvantage of anew approach.


Using process management software isn’t just about making it easier for your teams to access information. It’s about using that information to drive improvement and move your business forward.


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