Organization vs. Process
An interesting question was raised when the prime for the opportunity we are pursuing asked for input regarding the project organization chart. On the first draft that was sent to us, the chart almost reflected the tasks rather than the organization. Were they implying a seperate group for each component of the project life cycle? So I got to thinking about the linkage between process and organization.
Quite often the process improvement work we undertake leads to re-organization. In the days of re-engineering this was the harbinger of “downsizing.” It gave process analysts a really bad name.
So what comes first, the process or the organization? Should all organizations be structured around business processes? Or do processes need to be modeled to fit the organization? I suppose the business driver of both is the business itself. What is the goal of the business? What processes are needed to support the goal? And how do we structure the organization to follow the processes?
From a project perspective, the same method could be followed. What are the goals of the project? What are the business processes that deliver on those goals? And what structure best fits?
It would be great to hear from others on how they see the interaction between organization and process and how the process community sees this chicken and egg scenario.
