Process approach - Why and How

Answer:
Activities are what people do in organizations and a process is a set of activities, and an organization can be seen as a set of interrelated processes. Modeling organizations as sets of interrelated processes is a way of having a base to both understand performance decide where to act to improve performance. The process approach focuses attention not on roles and hierarchic positions or departmental borders but on facilitating the flow of activities from inputs to outputs. The process approach became famous in the 90's after the word reengineering. An approach to remove non-value-added activities in organizations, to make them more lean and efficient and run away from the “we have always done it this way” mindset.

“I also want to ask how I can draw up a purchasing process for a business”

Answer:

When I draw a process, I always start by its purpose. Purpose works as a guiding light fo r the rest of the job. Then, I write what starts the process and what will be the main output, what we will have in the end.

The process occurs between those two borders. Gather a group of people that know the process because they work there, because they are internal suppliers or because they are internal customers. With sticky notes do a brainstorming and list what is done inside the process, the activities. I use as a rule: each sticky note must have a verb (a process is action, action is verb, a process is a flow of verbs) + and a noun. Examples: check inventory; or receive request).

Then, organize in chronological order the activities. You identified the flow, the process. Now, you can add each function that participates in the process.

The following material will provide you information about the process approach:
- ISO 9001 – ISO 9001: The importance of the process approach - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2015/12/01/iso-9001-the-importance-of-the-process-approach/
- free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course - https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/
- book - Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/