Who's a process owner and how do you know him if a process involves more than one department? What is his role and is he responsable for developing, updating and documenting a proccess or is it the QAs job?

Sorry for too many questions :o
I'm new to this
:thanx:

Who's a process owner and how do you know him if a process involves more than one department? What is his role and is he responsable for developing, updating and documenting a proccess or is it the QAs job?

Sorry for too many questions :o
I'm new to this
:thanx:

Welcome and we love lots of questions!

The process owner in an organization is usually the most senior manager (or similar person) who is held responsible for the performance of the process. You probably already have someone like a human resources manager, a manufacturing manager, engineering manager (or VP's, directors, etc). These are the natural process owners.

It's true that many processes cross over departmental boundaries - that's what is so great about defining processes, it can force people out of their silos. But it's at the departmental boundaries that problems occur. The Process Owners can ensure these are corrected and improved for the good of the business as a whole and for the customer too, of course!

In developing the quality system of processes, the role of the process owner is to work with the people who implement the process, to capture its 'current state' (warts and all) and to document that in terms of inputs, outputs, resources needed and controls. Also to ensure it interfaces correctly with other business processes. The process owner shouldn't say 'this is how it is', because they are often wrong!

The measurement and monitoring requirements - both of the process and the product - are often their responsibility, because that's really what they have to report on - so it's in their interests to ensure the process is working effectively. Which leads us to their role in leading process improvements.

Taking this into consideration, the QA people have a role, but mainly to get the work done, perhaps facilitate the document control aspects and auditing the processes and reporting to management.

Who's a process owner and how do you know him if a process involves more than one department? What is his role and is he responsable for developing, updating and documenting a process or is it the QAs job?

Sorry for too many questions :o
I'm new to this
:thanx:

Various definitions of "Process Owner (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=process+owner+&btnG=Google+Search)."

However, make the definition, roles and responsibilities of this person fit the needs of your organization.

Stijloor.

Thanks for your helpful replies.

One thing though. I noticed that in the definition provided for the process owner in the
[processdriven] page
"the process owner is responsible for the process design, not for the performance of the process itself" while other pages state that he is.
So should he be responsable or not?
And if he were, and because usually processes cross departmental boundaries, how can he be responsable for the performance of others not under his supervision? Or is the preformance of the process not related to/effected by the performance of the people who are part of it?:confused:

Thanks for your helpful replies.

One thing though. I noticed that in the definition provided for the process owner in the
[processdriven] page
"the process owner is responsible for the process design, not for the performance of the process itself" while other pages state that he is.
So should he be responsable or not?
And if he were, and because usually processes cross departmental boundaries, how can he be responsable for the performance of others not under his supervision? Or is the preformance of the process not related to/effected by the performance of the people who are part of it?:confused:

Your questions go to the heart of the process vs. departmental approach.

Of course the process owner should be responsible for the performance. If he is just designing a process, and not responsible for the performance, it kind of defeats the point.

If multiple departments are involved, it is up to management team to define the lines of responsibility and authority. Football teams have multiple coaches with clear responsibilities and authorities, but they overlap a lot. The teams just have to "learn how to play together better," which is how I like to describe the process approach.

Finally, defining what criteria are important and are going to be measured, helps tie it all together. The poreformance metrics will show it is performs, and will drive improvement.

Thanks for your helpful replies.

One thing though. I noticed that in the definition provided for the process owner in the
[processdriven] page
"the process owner is responsible for the process design, not for the performance of the process itself" while other pages state that he is.
So should he be responsable or not?
And if he were, and because usually processes cross departmental boundaries, how can he be responsable for the performance of others not under his supervision? Or is the preformance of the process not related to/effected by the performance of the people who are part of it?:confused:

That's why you are better off here, getting a qualified answer, than just using a google search. And, yes I know anyone can post here, but someon's going to step in and give a different idea and you can decide.

Helmut is totally correct. Of course performance is as important as design. Just like with product design, it's no good what it looks like if it doesn't perform. We all know that's true, don't we?

That's the benefit to the organization of 'forcing' the process to work for all departments, achieved by collaboration. Indeed, it really shows how ineffective and inefficient management by departments is. Businesses which are process centric are much better performers that silos.....

Hi there :)

Within our organisation the Process Owners are responsible for the documented procedures relating to their processes. However, QA write up the procedures. It is therfore vital that the PO ensures that QA have the correct details and that the documented procedures are a true reflection of the PO's processes. Which is why review and approval is used to check the viability of the produced drafts prior to issue.

HTH :)