Intro to Process Innovation Management (PIM)

By Valinda Rose

What is PIM? It’s another acronym–just what we need. It’s a life cycle for managing processes. Huh? Why do we need that? Are you trying to tell me we have a process to manage processes? Yup! Now before your eyes roll to the back of your head, give it a chance. How can we formalize processes in OIT unless we have guidelines for standardization? How can we ensure processes don’t get documented and then put on the shelf to gather dust—often before they’re even communicated or made available to the broader organization? How can we ensure a common readability and understanding of processes throughout OIT? Well, I suppose we can’t ensure anything by simply introducing a new process, but we can certainly provide a mechanism, sanctioned by OIT Leadership Council, by which processes can be documented, trained, communicated, made available to all OIT employees, and continually improved.

PIM, or Process Innovation Management, includes the following life cycle phases: Evaluate, Analyze, Design, Implement, and Manage. The first four phases are used when a process needs some significant level of attention resulting in changes to the process. The final phase, Manage, is ongoing work delineated by the acronym MITAR. MITAR breaks down the component steps of the “Manage” process as follows: Monitor, Investigate, Take Action, and Report.A few of the deliverables of the PIM process include:

• OIT Process Roadmap – An inventory of all processes that need to be Formally Managed along with timing and prioritization. Not unlike a technology roadmap or a product/service roadmap, this document contains a list of OIT processes and when they are slated for standardization, formalization, and/or innovation. OIT Leadership provides guidance to the process by validating which processes will be focused on when.

• Published PIM Process – A collection of process documents for Process Innovation Management that describe such things as the goal of the process, policies, expectations, process flow, stakeholders, key process steps, critical success factors, key performance indicators, roles and responsibilities. Once published, this process is available for use throughout the organization to guide process innovation activities.

• Process Package Templates – A collection of templates that support the PIM process. Representative templates include:

• Process Overview
• Policy
• Roles and Responsibilities
• High level process map
• Detail process map
  
• Detail process steps

As you follow the PIM process you will find a clear path to make sure your process is documented, communicated and understood organizationally. Whether a process is running well or whether it needs serious work, the PIM process has tools, templates and guidelines to help you achieve vibrancy and the appropriate level of management with your processes.