If you stay in business long enough, you might actually see the reorganization of a corporation. If you have experienced this type of change then you likely know just how significant is the undertaking. Sometimes this type of change is necessary. When it is necessary, we need to be clear-sighted about what actually changes related to the processes used to deliver value to the customers and within the organization.
Sometimes, as the organization structure changes some individuals move around. That shuffling around of resources introduces a sense of chaos and confusion at the process execution level. Sometimes this confusion leads people to think that the process itself has changed dramatically. Who-Does-What might have changed. What-Gets-Done, the actual work content, has likely stayed the same.
From a process documentation standpoint, the workflows that show which functions or departments do what work content might need to be updated to reflect the new organization design. However, to build those process maps with sufficient resolution to be helpful to the organization, I submit to you that the combination of two common tools might be used together to shed light on “who-does-what”. Then, based on that understanding the process flows can be updated at the action level with an understanding of who is responsible for what and where in the flow are the handoffs placed. Those two tools are the adapted-SIPOC and the RACI.
If your organization has used SIPOC in the past, then you have a detailed understanding of the work content at the action-event-task level of resolution. The level of resolution depends on how detailed you were when creating SIPOC. This variation in resolution is OK. The key is, you have the work content listed in the SIPOC and that becomes the starting point for RACI discussions with the leadership in your organization. Unless the process tools/technology has changed, it is likely that the action-event-tasks needed to fulfill the work are the same. What changes as a result of the organization design is who-does-what. To get a handle on that, the conversations need to be with the leadership.
The leadership, who have likely been a part of the design of the new organization structure, have a clear understanding of what work each department or function is responsible for in the new structure. This knowledge of the organization design needs to be coupled to the actions-events-tasks from the SIPOC diagram. I would suggest keeping the conversation at the “action” level of resolution and add to that elements of RACI. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
To navigate through understanding how the work gets done in the new organization, the process expert (belt or LEAN practitioner) needs to do five things. First, I suggest you develop a matrix in a spreadsheet with the Process Steps or Actions (from SIPOC) listed in a column and across the top include the function and departments (or sub-teams) that reflect the new organization structure. Second, once this matrix is created, then leadership can weigh in on which sub-teams are involved in the doing of each action. I would capture this information in the matrix using an “X” to identify the “who” needs to be a part of doing the work. Third, then I would ask the leadership (likely the Director or Manager level) to shed-light on who is “Responsible”, “Consulted”, “Informed” for each action in the list. I would capture that information by changing the “X” in the matrix to the appropriate letter in RACI (intentionally omitting “Accountable” as it is not helpful here). Fourth, I would ask the resources that actually do the work to validate the level of involvement from RACI. For this, sometimes you need to include resources who did the work in the past as well resources who do the work in the present. This collaborative discussion can enable knowledge transfer about the doing of the work as well a validate the level of involvement for the action in the process. Fifth, based on this combined understanding, the process flows can be updated to reflect who does what the new organization structure and where in the flow are the handoffs placed. The Supplier and Customer information in SIPOC might also need to be updated to reflect the new structure.
Change happens. When it happens, shifting the focus to the process enables clarity and better understanding for all actors involved. Knowing what process tools to use for the situation at hand is key. In this case, SIPOC and RACI come together to help enable the conversations and navigate through the changes related to organization restructuring.
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