Function vs Department

A Function is Not a Department a Department Not a Function!

The term “Function” or “Business Function” is often incorrectly used to mean an organisation unit or department within a business.  People in the business will refer to the “Finance Function” when what they really mean is the “Finance Department”.

This misuse of the term leads to all sorts of confused thinking (and doing) and should be avoided.

The biggest misunderstanding arises when people talk about the disadvantages of organising a business around functions.  To those who do not understand what a function is, this might seem quite profound.  They do not realise that this is as ridiculous as saying that a business should not organise its doing around doing!

EVERYTHING THAT A BUSINESS DOES IS A FUNCTION!

All data is created or transformed by Functions.  Every step in a Process is a Function.

So, contrary to popular misconceptions, it really is a very good idea to organise a business around business functions.  In fact, one of the best indicators of what a an effective and efficient business organisation would to be is a properly drawn Function Hierarchy.

So, does this mean that there is no need for processes?  Not at all.  Processes are needed in order to achieve required results within the business in response to specific triggers.

Processes are not there to overcome ineffective organistion structures!

More on Function Modelling.

More on Process Modelling.

Follow me on Twitter

Become a fan on Facebbook