A process falls between two chairs.
Responsibility for a flow sat with a unit that is being split. Neither of the new units sees it as theirs.
Before a reorganisation
What follows when responsibility moves?
The org chart shows who reports to whom. It does not show which processes a unit holds together, or which systems only work because someone there knows how.
The maps never leave the user's computer.
What tends to be forgotten
Three things that show only when it is too late.
A system loses its owner.
The system keeps running, but nobody orders changes or answers when something goes wrong.
Two units share data without knowing it.
The same register is used on both sides of a new boundary. A change on one side reaches the other.
An example
One removed row shows what is left without an owner.
- Finance is responsible for invoicing.
- Invoicing reads data from the customer number.
- The customer number is part of the CRM.
The question: what happens if the relation Finance is responsible for invoicing is removed?
The answer in TopidarInvoicing has no connection to a unit. Under Gaps the process is marked, and the map shows which system and which data now lack someone responsible at the other end.
- 1
Enter the units and the processes they are responsible for today.
- 2
Add the systems and the data those processes need.
- 3
Remove or move the responsibility under What if, and see under Gaps what is left without an owner.
What the map does not tell you
The map shows what you have entered.
Topidar finds no dependencies by itself. It works from what people know and write down, and shows what follows from it.
The map gets better the more parts of the organisation take part. That is also why it is worth making together.