Business Process Management

Every business has processes, start by ensuring that process is documented and understood.

Because BPM allows organisations to abstract business process from technology infrastructure, it goes far beyond automating business processes or solving business problems. BPM enables business to respond to changing consumer, market, and regulatory demands faster than competitors - creating competitive advantage.

Discover - Spend time with the business at grass routes level first to capture the current business processes. Target areas where you believe you have the most pain or the most to gain first.

Model - Graphically represent the AS IS processes and publish the information back to the business to ensure that everyone agrees that what has been captured is indeed what is in practice currently.

Analyse - Study the process flow models and understand why/how/when activities are undertaken.

Improve - Immediately you may notice areas for improvement now that you can visualise the documented process, look for opportunities to cut out unnecessary activities (LEAN™) or re-order activities perhaps to a more logical sequence (e.g. no point in checking stock for a customer order if the customer's account is on hold). If you are planning to make changes then model the to-be process and agree this with the business teams.

Control - Not all business processes require automation, e.g. implementation of BPM execution engine software that can route work or documents to a work queue etc. However in a large organisation ensuring that a procedure is followed in a timely and regulated way can often have a dual benefit... staff may become more productive and customers may receive a better overall service both VERY desirable outcomes!

Monitor - Having implemented your process changes and/or controls ensure that you monitor and report back to management. If you have implemented BPM control software then ensure that you include capture of timings in reports or dashboards .

Review - Periodically review your processes, is there new legislation that you need to incorporate, are there benefits in installing the latest version of the software packages, have you introduced new product lines that need different handling... few businesses grow without making process improvements on the way.

Ask Lanyon BPM for advice on how to start using BPM in your business.