Process Management in public administration: how common standards achieve more than any tool

You work in public administration and have been using a professional process modeling tool for years. You’ve completed the relevant training, and you document your processes conscientiously. Yet, when exchanging ideas with colleagues from other departments, a surprising picture often emerges: If you ask about their approach to process modeling, you frequently receive very different answers.

This isn’t the fault of individual people. It’s the result of a mindset that has taken root in many government agencies – namely, that a tool creates unity.s

That is a misconception!

A tool creates a digital infrastructure. It does not create a common language. It does not create a shared understanding of roles. It does not create aligned quality criteria. In short: It does not create a process culture. And it is precisely this gap – between existing infrastructure and a lack of culture – that is the real reason why process management does not work across departments in many government agencies. Even though everyone wants it to. Even though investments have been made.

The question, therefore, is: What good is the best software if the people behind it don’t speak the same language?

Many government agencies tackle this challenge with what they already know: new guidelines, additional training, or updated manuals. But as sensible as these measures may be – they still don’t create a unified practice.

After all, the issue is fundamentally one of coordination, not knowledge. Employees in different departments have different priorities, different work realities, and, until now, little reason to align their process work with one another. A guideline prescribes what should be done. However, it does not change how people actually work together.

What is needed instead is a format that brings people together – on a regular basis, with a concrete work assignment and genuine creative freedom.

What this project confirms once again: Process management succeeds where it is co-created – not imposed.

That sounds like a given. But it isn’t. Because the easier path is always to write a guideline and distribute it. That’s quick. That’s documentable. And it almost always fizzles out without having any effect.

The harder path is to create a framework in which people from different units come together, develop a common language, and take on responsibility. That requires more preparation. More facilitation. And a little more patience during the first few meetings.

But it lasts. Because the solution comes from within the organization itself – not from a consultant’s document.

The costs of the status quo are rarely visible. No project fails overnight. No system collapses.

Instead, the following happens: Government agencies model their processes based on different understandings and with varying levels of detail. What is considered a process in one agency is presented as a subprocess or activity in another. Roles, decisions, and interfaces are mapped differently. This results in models that may look similar but convey something entirely different.

As soon as processes need to be coordinated or compared across departments, these differences come to light. Discussions then revolve not around the actual workflows, but around the way they’re represented. Misunderstandings arise, coordination becomes more time-consuming, and synergies go untapped.

If you’ve ever felt that your process management is well-intentioned but isn’t really coming together—then this is the right moment. Not for a transformation program. But for an honest assessment of where you currently stand and what steps would make sense next.

That’s exactly why we developed the Process Management Boost Bundle: a structured starting point for building practical process management within your organization – together with the people who will have to implement it.

Not sure where you stand yet? The BPM Navigator Bundle will give you initial guidance – in just a few steps, with no upfront investment.

Or maybe you’d just like to have a quick chat – no agenda, no sales pitch.