Merissa May/ 18/ 2017 | 0
Business Process Management (BPM) is a discipline involving any combination of modeling, automation, execution, control, measurement, and optimization that supports Enterprise goals. These goals transcends users, organizations, and external stakeholders both across and beyond the boundaries of the Enterprise. IR Tech’s definition and implementation of BPM for customers is concise and definitive; we offer the following definitions, axioms, and propositions:
- BPM is a discipline; it is a practice and refers to activities to be performed
- A process is a sequence of activities that are connected to completion of a transaction
- BPM must consider a process as interrelated activities that fulfill an objective
- Modeling is the identification, definition, and representation of a process
- Automation is an activity, or activities, completed in advance to guarantee execution of a process (e.g. writing software code)
- Execution refers to the occurrences of a process that are performed and may include automation of the process
- Control is a mechanism or entity that is instituted to regulate the execution of a process.
- Measurement is the effort that quantitatively determines how well the process is operating
- Optimization is an ongoing activity to steadily improve the process
BPM is an activity. It is what you do, it is not a something you buy (i.e., it is not a product you buy and implement, nor does an application perform BPM). BPM is about improving processes; is not simply automating processes, but about improving them. The participation in a process or process flow is not BPM. Implementation (i.e. coding software) of a process or control mechanism is not BPM. Making a suggestion for process improvement is not BPM. All the while BPM is improving processes, it may not improve the higher-level business or organization. And finally, improving a single step of a process is not BPM.
One of the more difficult aspects of implementing a BPM program is formulating a persuasive and convincing story in order to obtain stakeholder as well as line staff buy-in. In our experience, this takes a concerted effort and is a multi-stage process in and of itself.
- Show the value of the BPM program to senior leadership – Link business process improvement to a business strategy.
- Understand the organizational landscape – Identify and understand the critical process problem areas.
- Recruit the influencers – Obtaining project charter sign-off is not enough; you need true buy-in from the organization’s key stakeholders and groups.
- Communicate key messages – Focus on why how process improvement will improve the organization.
- Sustain communication – Define a formal communication plan and keep to it.
- Focus on improvement benefits – Identify a ‘key process’ and target early improvement. Once individuals outside the senior leadership identify direct benefits to them, staff engagement and retention will be enhanced into the larger BPM program.
- Quantify the future benefits – compare the current state of the organization’s processes to the forecast future state.
- Deliver value – Demonstrate the value of process improvement; make process improvement and business process management a critical element of the organization’s DNA.
To make the process change successful, it takes a structured approach to get staff at all levels of your organization involved and motivated and requires a serious commitment to change not only business processes, business process management, but the organization’s underlying corporate DNA.