Kwaliteit is horizontaal organiseren 

The field of quality management continually encourages us to shift our focus in search of the essence of the concept. We can speak of quality in terms of product specifications, quality as perceived by stakeholders, quality in terms of organisational maturity, quality as being the best performer within a benchmark group, and so on.

A common and dominant perspective in most approaches is thinking in terms of processes. The underlying idea is that if we control the production process, the product will naturally meet specifications and the customer will be satisfied. At the same time, the process is a consumer of resources, which implies that if we critically examine every form of waste, the process will also meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders such as management, financiers and society.

The apparent solution to all this is a well-designed work process: one that takes account of customer requirements, where activities are properly synchronised to ensure short lead times, where IT systems provide adequate support, where resources such as money, information and facilities are used optimally, and where external requirements, for example those laid down in standards, are addressed and safeguarded. Today, the disciplines of process and quality management offer a wide range of tools to organise and carry out such process redesign projects effectively. Process mapping, process analysis, Lean management and Six Sigma are all methods, techniques and instruments that, if applied correctly, can deliver a lean and green process design.

There is every reason to be proud of this, particularly given the growing societal support for sustainability and responsible business practices.

We could choose to adopt a satisfied stance and spend the coming years consolidating the discipline, expanding its application more widely and, for example, giving more attention to corporate social responsibility. However, if we set aside self-satisfaction and examine ourselves critically, we must admit that our approach has been one-sided and that we are still far from fully realising the potential of process-oriented working. Does it need to change? Yes, it needs to become more horizontal.

	Technical perspective	Social perspective
Typology	Process management is a design discipline	Process management is about people
Definition of a proces	Een proces is het geheel van activiteiten, verbonden A process is the set of activities, linked by inputs and outputs, supported by systems, resulting in an output for the customer	A process is the set of human activities, an organisation of collaboration, based on interaction and characterised by dynamism
Essentials	Good process management is the design of ideal processes and their control	Good process management is the management of people

If you look closely, the process-based approach described above relies heavily on a system-oriented, technical and rational perspective, derived from a narrow definition of process, namely that process management is a design discipline. A perspective that is largely missing is the social perspective: defining a process as the way people collaborate, where horizontal connections are central. What is technically referred to as a customer supplier situation is, from a social perspective, simply a relationship between two individuals. A relationship in which emotions, culture, history, motivation and experience all play a crucial role. The horizontal social relationship between those carrying out the work in a process can therefore easily become either a success factor or a failure factor, regardless of how well the process itself is designed.

There are many other factors that influence behaviour within a work process. Consider the role of organisational culture. In organisations where hierarchy dominates, where functional specialisation, power and status take precedence, and where differences between departments are emphasised rather than reduced, a work process will also fail to mature socially. It remains stuck in theoretical exercises and trapped within a vertical culture.

Therefore, it needs to become more horizontal. Not just focusing on the construction of processes, but also embracing the social dimension of collaboration. This includes addressing the cultural and mental models that hinder horizontal cooperation and basing organisational management on facilitating the flow of work across the organisation. In short, this is what horizontal organising is about.

At its core, horizontal organising revolves around four key concepts: horizontal design, horizontal collaboration, horizontal governance and horizontal thinking. The challenge for the field of process and quality management is to develop in such a way that these four concepts are continuously enriched with new perspectives, approaches, tools and techniques, so that they become identifiable, analysable and adaptable. Only then can we achieve the breakthroughs needed to truly work in a process-oriented way within organisations.

Horizontal design

Although quality already feels reasonably at home in this area, we are not there yet. Horizontal structuring means that, alongside the organisational chart, there is also a business process model that demonstrates the identification of the relevant organisational processes. It involves being able to distinguish between primary, supporting and governing processes, and having a clear understanding of the characteristics of these processes.

Horizontal structuring also requires having thought about modelling techniques and visualisation formats, so that it can be clearly explained how work flows through the organisation and what everyone’s role is within it. It means designing primary processes intelligently, with careful consideration of who does what, when, and with what resources. It also involves being able to justify process designs in terms of being driven by customer needs, customer-oriented, flow-driven, time-conscious, lean and efficient.

Furthermore, horizontal structuring involves designing the organisation as an integrated whole, in which process designs operationalise the strategy, process designs and the job framework align seamlessly, and IT applications genuinely support the work processes in all the ways the primary process requires. Consider how your organisation compares with this.

Horizontal collaboration

If a process is seen as the way in which people collaborate, then it is essential that a process encompasses not only input–output interactions, but also social interactions. In other words, it is about managing collaboration.

Even if we were to limit ourselves from a quality perspective to making things discussable, comparable and standardisable, there is still much to be developed in this area. For example, analysing social networks: who interacts with whom in the work process, how strong these relationships are, who occupies a central position in the social network, and whether subgroups exist.

Horizontal collaboration means connecting the various functional specialists within the work process, so that not only does the process-technical infrastructure facilitate process flow, but a close-knit horizontal community also emerges; people who actively work together. This requires insight into group dynamics, a vision on the formation of horizontal teams, an understanding of team development stages, and the ability to influence human dynamics. It also involves deploying interventions such as process gaming and simulation to link rational understanding with experience, and to bring what people say and what they do into alignment.

Horizontal governance

In horizontal governance, the challenge is to genuinely manage process performance. Here too, there are clear links with quality management, for example in terms of KPIs and PDCA cycles. However, this is no reason for complacency: too often this results in an illusion of control. On paper, the KPIs and feedback loops may appear perfectly in order, but in reality very different criteria tend to apply when it comes to how people are recognised, valued and held accountable.

Horizontal governance means being able to work with metaphors such as setting and maintaining course, and integrating concepts such as the INK management model and the Balanced Scorecard into policy and strategy development processes as well as control processes. It also means establishing complete control cycles: not only defining performance indicators, but also providing measurement systems, reporting, standards and interventions.

Horizontal governance requires that process responsibility is reflected in the organisational structure, and that ownership of processes is visible in day-to-day work, whether this is achieved through a matrix structure, a traditional functional structure, or a process-oriented organisational design.

Moreover, horizontal governance involves aligning management systems, such as strategy implementation, the way people are managed through HR instruments, and the leadership that is demonstrated. In this way, managing process performance becomes not just a theoretical concept, but part of everyday practice.

Horizontal thinking

Process-oriented working requires embedding within the organisational culture. Cultures with a strongly hierarchical control model, where most is driven top-down through positional authority, provide poor soil for process-oriented working.

Horizontal thinking takes into account life in a participatory society, where the focus is on the influence employees have on their own work processes, based on the opportunities created by living in an information society and a networked society.

Horizontal thinking involves breaking down departmental silos and treating one another as equals within a work process. Discriminating between colleagues in a work process based on education level, pay scale, years of experience and similar factors does not help collaboration.

It implies paradigm shifts from positional to transactional, from power to influence, and from an industrial approach to a network-based approach. Without cultural change, process-oriented working and, consequently, quality can only develop to a limited extent.

Conclusion

Quality thinking has already brought organisations a great deal. Looking ahead, the challenge is to further stimulate and develop process-oriented working, as one of the central themes within quality management, by shaping frameworks, methods and perspectives on process-oriented design, governance, collaboration and thinking in organisations. In doing so, we are working towards organising horizontally. Customers, employees, funders and society as a whole will gratefully reap the benefits.