Businesses rely on processes to help manage everyday tasks. Some processes are large and sophisticated while others may be small and simple. Examples can include processes for hiring and firing, those to help create and stay within budgets and those for interacting with customers and employees.
While some may consider business process management to be technology-driven, it actually has a broader reach than that. A process is how people and systems work together to get things done and create value for an organization. How these processes are designed and managed matters, and how efficient and accurate they are is often key to an organization’s output and success.
Business Process Management (BPM) can help optimize procedures throughout an organization by implementing its five-step methodology: Design, Model, Execute, Monitor and Optimize.
BPM utilizes a holistic approach which focuses on improving processes throughout the organization as a whole. Professionals who acquire and develop BPM knowledge and skills can help add value to an organization by identifying processes that may add to the effectiveness and efficiency of the business’s operations.
Business Process Discovery
It’s important to understand the processes throughout the organization and how they work together so you can focus on which ones need attention and which may need to be disbanded or rebuilt completely. The first step of BPM implementation is to identify the people involved in processes, determine their sequencing and skill sets, and define the inputs and outputs of the processes. When you identify these things, it can help determine productivity and efficiency, and help decipher where adjustments are needed.
Project Management
Processes are part of the fabric of business operations. They can also be the basis of projects, such as improving current processes, creating new architectures or generating new software in support of evolving process needs. This can help create an overlap of skills and capabilities. A BPM redesign project, for example, typically requires more than analysis and design skills, research and communication capabilities. It often takes a professional who is intimately familiar with the process to take responsibility for applying all the tools and techniques, to guide the redesign to a successful outcome.
Organizational Change Techniques
BPM also brings aspects of change management into the equation. Successful BPM or change initiatives, for example, require input by professionals at multiple levels in the hierarchy. In particular, people working mid-level and front-line jobs may have important knowledge to share about potential areas for improvement.
Another change management technique involves the business case. By making cases that are both rational (based on business objectives) and emotional (based on human engagement), changes can gain much more traction with stakeholders. Engagement is another focus of change initiatives and BPM that must be practiced on a sustained basis, not just when the initiative is in its formal stages.
Communication
It takes consistent communication, from the beginning to the end of the initiative, for the process to successfully deliver its intended benefits. Devising a BPM communication strategy starts with addressing four key questions:
- What do we want to say?
- When will we say it?
- To whom will we say it?
- How will we say it?
Answering these questions can help provide a communication framework. The first question aligns with the deliverables of each BPM project stage, from explaining processes to sharing documents used in the process. The “when” question encompasses four stages during the project: awareness, pilot, implementation and continuous feedback.
Audiences are often determined by stakeholders, depending on what they expect of the project and what the project needs from them. Other aspects of the project are often dictated by the nature of the stakeholder’s role and investment in the project. A kickoff newsletter might be appropriate for all audiences, for example, while BPM training might only be offered through an Intranet, exclusively to business analysts and BPM architects.
Business Process Modeling
A business process model classifies processes of the same nature and groups them together. Describing the development process – what, when and why – can provide guidance for future process development. Process models have three objectives:
- Descriptive: describes what actually happens during a process and determines what improvements would make it more effective or efficient.
- Prescriptive: covers desired processes and how they might perform, laying down rules and guidelines that would result in the desired performance.
- Explanatory: explores the rationale of processes as a basis for possible courses of action. It also explicitly connects the requirements that processes must meet.
Business operations are changing and becoming increasingly complicated, making business process management a high-priority organizational discipline. With BPM, companies can improve process effectiveness and productivity and better manage change. The challenge lies in cultivating the people with the diverse range of skills and capabilities to help lead the charge.
