A manager who refuses ownership of a process

Managers generally don't get to refuse ownership of a process. As process owners they generally do get authority over the process design.

Follow @ITCatalysts Dear Bob ...

Our internal help desk has a manager who is currently trying very hard to refuse ownership of any process he doesn't like. These aren't new things in the works -- they're processes that have been in place a very long time, in some cases longer than he's been in the position.

Here's the kicker. He's asking for changes to the processes at the same time he's saying he's not the owner.

My boss is trying to formalize the project processes and so I'm using his templates and workflows. But since the help desk manager is saying he's not the owner I don't technically have an approver. I will be asking my boss on how to deal with this but my instinct is to say we won't make any changes until an owner is defined. I don't see that working but would be interested in what you've seen in these situations.

- In the middle

Dear Middling ...

Not sure how to answer, because it depends on the process, and on your role in all this. A few thoughts that might be of help:

• Nobody gets to refuse ownership of a process because they don't like it. They might refuse to follow a process they don't like. They might insist on changing a process they do own and don't like to a process they like better. But refusing ownership because they don't like the design is a logical non sequitur.
  
  Offhand I'd say the Help Desk manager's boss needs to intervene by explaining the nature of delegation and an organizational chart. It defines this manager's responsibilities -- including the processes he owns -- and the last I looked, this isn't considered optional.
  

• If your boss is trying to formalize processes and you're involved, I'm going to guess you're in a process improvement role. Something we've found in our consulting is that process improvement doesn't happen until after the process owner is familiar with and has embraced the practice of process management. This practice includes and depends on the ability to develop appropriate process metrics.
  
  So once the Help Desk manager's boss has explained the facts of life, the next step is to make sure he gets proper training in process management, and whatever support he needs to develop the metrics. If he thinks the process is bad, the proper order of events is to: