The first thing to recognize that process means that activities are interrelated. The negligence of one part will lead to the collapse of other parts. The need to keep a strategic perspective to any activities will become even more acute if there is a particular problem with a process that requires undue attention from the managers. If a consequence of this attention is that other parts of the project fail, then it will show a lack of attention to the idea of strategic oversight.

The manager cannot be expected to know every aspect of a business process but what they must know are the implications of that process on the business. You can get away with not knowing what something is as long as you understand the role it plays. Subordinates will be able to assist in getting over the detail. The responsibility for executive action over process links is a serious matter.

Structure also has a role to play here. The manager does not need to dictate every single convolution of a business process. However they could be well advised to create a template of minimum standards to which each team can work. The lack of structure has been known to work very well amongst creative people but given the importance of business performance management, this approach is less desirable. Therefore as a minimum the various aspects of the organization should be structured enough to at least be able to communicate and work with other departments.

Managers need to be aware of the evolutionary nature of business processes. This is a necessary progression for them to either cope with change or as a result of innovation by different members of the organization. The manager should not be in a mindset where they have a prepared negative answer to any form of request from the teams to change the processes. This sparks of traditionalism and failure to consider that innovation can be harnessed even during a performance management exercise.

On the other hand the manager also needs to be weary of those employees who change things just for the sake of changing things. They will suggest innovations that add little value to the business but create an awful lot of trouble and work for everyone else. Others might be on an ego trip and will be looking to impress managers with their endless proposals for improvement. The key is to strike a balance between allowing genuine innovation to flourish and preventing unnecessary shocks to the existing business systems in the name of giving overzealous employees an energy rush.