There are different levels in a business management system and these are handled by four different roles. Each has their own set of responsibilities to take on, and an employee can handle all four if he or she has the skills to do so. These roles are business lead, process owner, operational manager, and process operator.

The first role is the business leader. They are the ones who will design the business plan and the resource management plan that will lead the organization to success. Corporate leaders are responsible for defining the business objectives necessary to achieve their goals. This involves a thorough analysis of the organization’s vision, mission, and values. Leaders directly under corporate leaders are typically tasked with disseminating constructed goals and formulating additional goals to apply in their specific department, which parallels the core goals defined by senior leaders.

The child role is the owner of the process. They are tasked with formulating the processes to be followed to achieve the goals set by corporate leaders. Create the documents, update them and approve the work instructions that will support the business plan. Sometimes a process improvement team is also formed to help the process owner make the performance process more efficient. They are the only ones with the authority to change the current process and are responsible for managing the entire process creation and improvement cycle. The process owner follows the cycle of plan, do, check and act.

The third role is the operational manager. They are tasked with bringing together the processes and resources to create an entity that will carry out the actions to be taken. They are the ones who will find the right people to form a team that will carry out the necessary actions to achieve the objectives. They are also responsible for ensuring that these people have the necessary tools, equipment and technology to carry out the established actions. Like the process owner, the operational manager also follows the cycle of plan, do, check and act.

The fourth role is the process operator. All plans, objectives and process designs will be reflected in the actions carried out by the process operator. This means that they are responsible for implementing the course of action that must be taken for a process to be successful and ultimately the success of the goals set by corporate leaders.

The four roles go together to form a complete management system. If one of these roles fails, the entire system will also fail. Well-defined corporate objectives and a competent workforce that will work to achieve them surely promises a great future for your company.