Business Process Management: Profiting From Process

A Few Fundamentals

If there had to be only one factor to get right in any change effort, it would be getting people to make and keep the required commitments. It sounds easy, but we often conduct process projects without it. We don’t know how to figure out what to ask for. We don’t know what to do when we don’t get what we want and need, yet the deadlines and expectations don’t change. We don’t know what to do when changing conditions affect our ability to deliver or—worse—when we aren’t equipped to deal with getting commitments renewed when conditions change.

Business commitments seem to be easy to make, even if done irresponsibly. Typically, expectations are set, agreements are made, dates are established, and budgets are cut before the full ...