Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart

Long before James Champy made "Reengineering" a buzz-word, then a management fad, then finally a tired cliche, Rummler & Brache broke the code on how businesses can do work better. Instead of looking at the jobs people do, they focused their attention on the work being done, and how those work objects meander through different departments and functional organizations in most companies.What Rummler & Brache might have lacked in marketing prowess, they more than made up for in insight. "Improving Performance" is short on jargon and the evangelical fervor many other works on Reengineering, Business Process Management, and Third Wave(or fourth wave or whatever wave we're up to) seem to revel in. It is focused and pragmatic, giving both the theory of process management and how to apply it. Very basic and very useful diagrams help illustrate their concepts throughout, making this a field guide for anyone involved in process management in the real world, be they consultants or internal change agents. After 15 years in the space, it's still one of the best I've found. Could not recommend more highly.

People had been telling me to read this book for over two years and I always put it off. First it was the Internet and eCommerce. Then it was Six Sigma. Now I have had a chance to read this book and regret my delay. This book is a gem of factual, example filled, and focused insight and understanding. This is a true manual for changing processes and First the book provides a clear roadmap for process change. It defines the individual steps necessary as well as the interconnection points between the organization, its processes, measurements and other elements. While you may not agree with all of the points -- the completeness will give you more than enough ideas to be of value. Second, the book is well populated with detailed graphical examples that illustrate the concepts and thier intent. The level of detail, the practicality and the realism of the examples allows you to study the issue, understand it and find parallels in your own business.Lastly, the book is complete it covers issues related to process design, implementation, process owners, measurement and management. Many people write whole books on one of these aspects however Rummler and Brache have covered them all in a focused and informative text.I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to implement process management, six sigma, or other related changes. The book provides the details often left out of texts associated with six sigma. It provides a completeness often missing from process management and design texts. The only drawback to the book is that its writing style is a bit dry and the book, written in 1995 does not cover many of the process innovations enabled through the Internet. Otherwise this book is a real winner and well worth your attention.

I have now bought this book at least 7 times and sent it on to some of my direct reports as well as managers in other functional areas that are dependent on us or we are dependent on them. We all get plenty of information and training on managing our organization. This book clearly describes how to manage those processes that overlap organizations. A must read.

This is a text book, not a breezy read. It is also a cook book, where the authors tell you not only what needs to be done (common) but how to do it (rare). We are a process improvement consulting company and go through three or four copies a year. We loan them to clients who don't want to give them back.Hugh Schmidt, Vice President, Process Flow Specialists, Inc.

By far the best, most practical guide to the real work of identifying, analyzing, validating and improving processes in the business organization. Beginning with the necessary, and otherwise neglected, holistic view of the organization, the book sets forth a rational, clear and yet simple view of the organizational skeleton, process levels and interdependencies. The authors provide body, substance and practical tools & guidance to actually doing the work and achieving the benefits of process improvement (versus the rhetoric, generalities and limited anecdotal examples from all others). Highly recommend