Discussion on:

10 things to keep in mind when improving processes

A very useful, practical article that goes beyond simply IT. I would flesh out point two to include objectives. Sometimes vested interests look for a detail to relieve them of burden or responsibility that is detrimental to the objective. Having a very clear, preferrably concise, objective will cut these hidden/self interest agendas short very quickly if they detract from the core objective. This is the voice of sometimes bitter experience.

Way back in the early 1970s I did a training course on Methods Management in System Administration - now please keep in mind at that time this was NOTHING to do with computers; it was all about the management of paperwork and manual processing system in administration and production environments. It also covered a lot of stuff about how to manage the Methods you used to Administer things and improve them as well as managing change. Every major point in your article was covered in depth in that course except point 9 as automation was a minor issue then that only affected certain types of factory production.

During the early 1990s I did a management course that included modules on Change Management and they included all but point 9 again.

It seems this is one of those subjects that needs to come up again about every 20 years so people in management can be made aware of it any more for some reason.

What you say is all good, and totally ignored by many in top and middle management, as they seem to get Emperor syndrome when they get high enough to have a layer of other manager below them. Emperor Syndrome is where they feel everything can be done by their royal decree.

Point 9 (automation) can be stated even more strongly. One should optimize the manual process as much as possible before automating anything.