Process Management for Government: Doing More With Less

Innovative trends in process management for government

A recent global report by the OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) revealed three key ways in which government entities around the world need to adapt to changing technology, and the increasingly digital expectations of the people they serve. As labeled by the OPSI, these trends include:

• Invisible to visible—There is often a disconnect between the decisions made by governments and the perspectives of the people affected by those decisions. Innovation can help make these perspectives visible, strengthening a government’s ability to make more inclusive, and therefore better, decisions.
• Opening doors—Traditionally, how and why government departments make their decisions is hidden from the general public. Furthermore, accessing government services or finding information is made more difficult by complexity and a lack of transparency. Making government services clear and accessible is paramount to ensuring they are effective for as many people as possible.
• Machine-readable world—Within governments, algorithms serve as the basis for a growing number of decisions and services. The innovative aspect of this comes as government departments translate the world and their work into bits and bytes that can be read by machines and fed into these algorithms.

Of course, without actually understanding the processes that exist, there is no way to ensure they are visible outside government departments. And, if the processes are not optimized, then allowing more people to access them will simply increase bottlenecks and lead to greater customer dissatisfaction. Equally, if processes are not clearly delineated, they cannot be automated or used as the basis for useful algorithms.

In other words, process management is crucial for government bodies seeking to embrace these trends, and transform the way they work.

Benefits of process management for government

Society benefits when government departments are working efficiently and effectively. The core goal is the successful delivery of health, education, and other services, and the positive impact this has on individuals, but there is also a wider economic benefit. Public sector process management enables these benefits by supporting:

• Better alignment of policy and strategy with its operational execution
• Increased transparency and oversight, and thus increased accountability
• Quicker and more collaborative responses to policy changes and unplanned events
• Better connection between different levels of government, including more standardized processes and the enhanced management of risk and change
• Continuous improvement of service delivery, increasing quality and reducing costs
• Identification of current congestion points, where they will be in the future, and how to remove them
• Simulation of new programs or policies, to identify inefficiencies or problems, with no risk of negative impact on consumers

Signavio supports process management for government

Using the Signavio Business Transformation Suite as the foundation of process management for government enables the creation of more efficient, effective, and user-friendly governments.

To find out more, download your free guide to process management for government departments. (If you’re not based in Australia, never fear—the resource includes universal suggestions!) Or, if you’re ready to get started transforming your government operations today, why not sign up for a free 30-day trial with Signavio.