Findings

                                                                                                    Credit: Julia Dragan

Time, Training, Consulting

Survey on the topic of process management: Initial findings

On the way to Administration 4.0, the Organizational Development department conducted a small survey in January 2022 among the process coaches of the pilot processes, their respective unit heads, and the department heads in order to find out how they fared in the first year of the process management subproject.

The survey included questions about the project in general, the training provided, the project team, the steering committee's support, process mapping, and project communication. It became clear that a constantly recurring challenge for all respondents was the time factor. Furthermore, process coaches do need and at the same time appreciate training and consulting.

The evaluation showed that more than 70 percent of the process coaches felt "good" to "very good" in their role, and just as many considered the support provided by steering committee and project team to be helpful. The majority of participants rated the training sessions as suitable, although not applicable all the time.

The method of process mapping - the analysis of the actual and target status by the participants in the respective pilot processes - was considered by all to be "good" to "very good". Explicitly emphasized in several places was the moment of process optimization tackled with the mapping:

The possibility to get all process participants within the administration together with colleagues from the computer center or faculty administrations at one table and to be able to discuss the problems was perceived by several respondents as very motivating.

Perseverance, willingness to change, transparency, and teamwork emerged as success factors. The overall complexity of projects, a lack of IT resources, pressure of expectations with regard to the result, or changes in the areas of responsibility of individuals were rated as risky. There was criticism of too little communication with regard to kick-off and in the start-up phase of the project, for example about what is required and expected of a process coach.

Major challenge: Time

The major challenge for all respondents and a central recurring theme was the time factor. Time resources were an issue for all of those involved in the respective process. More than 71 percent of the respondents estimated that they spent between eleven and 20 hours preparing for the workshop, and even more on follow-up work. As a result, many of the coaches worked beyond the normal working hours.

It was heard that more resources were needed for process management. Respondents commended that the organizational development department always had an open door and provided them with training courses and extensive feedback opportunities.

What happens next?

Organizational developer Martina Fischer wants to take a close look at the evaluation and its results together with other members of the project team and then draw up proposals for the steering committee. The steering committee will then decide how to continue with further administrative processes.