Understand The Business Process Management Life Cycle
Want your business to be competitive? Then you need more than just smarts strategies. You need streamlined and adaptable processes. This is where Business Process Management (BPM) comes into the picture. Now, BPM isn’t just about improving workflows. It’s much more than that. It’s all about creating a continuous cycle of optimisation. Think of it as a roadmap for you to design, implement, monitor, and refine your processes to achieve maximum value. In this blog, we’ll explore the key stages of a typical BPM life cycle plus a lot more. Business Process Management: What It Is? First, let us demystify what a business process is. It is a series of tasks designed to help your organisation achieve its objectives. An objective could be anything from boosting profitability to creating a fully inclusive workplace. So, BPM is essentially a structured approach to enhancing these series of tasks (aka workflows) so that your organisation can operate more efficiently and deliver business value consistently. BPM focuses on improving these tasks by Evaluating their performance Modelling potential scenarios Implementing necessary changes Tracking outcomes Refining them continually to achieve optimal results. As you would have guessed, BPM is a diverse and ever-evolving discipline. A successful BPM adapts to shifting organisational goals, roles, and strategies. Why It Matters? Plenty of reasons! Here are the top ones – Helps organisations streamline their workflows and improve efficiency Helps organisations adapt to changing business environments. Enables businesses to reduce the cost of operation by promoting better resource utilisation Minimises errors, leading to higher-quality outcomes. Provides a framework for continuous improvement, ensuring that processes remain aligned with organisational goals Enables organisations to respond quickly to market demands and regulatory changes. Different Stages in the Life Cycle of Business Process Management Here are the different stages in the life cycle of business process management: Stage One: Design – Mapping Out Business Goals The phase serves as the foundation for your BPM initiative. In this, you analyse your existing processes and plan the enhancements based on the business goals. The key stakeholders in this stage include business analysts, process owners, and subject matter experts. They typically evaluate workflows, identify inefficiencies, and determine processes that require adjustments to meet the business goals. Their goal is to ensure that the redesigned workflows address the needs of all stakeholders. For instance, the finance team would want faster approval processes, while customer service might focus on simplifying issue resolution. Developing tailored business cases for these teams with anticipated benefits and associated costs can help secure early support from leadership. Stage Two: Modeling – Crafting Scenarios for Success This stage builds upon the design stage by creating detailed visual representations of workflows. Stakeholders involved in this stage will test the workflows under different scenarios to identify opportunities for improvement. They will define the inputs and outputs for each step and use flowcharts or process maps to outline the sequential flow of tasks. This phase also explores automation opportunities for repetitive or rules-based tasks. It also identifies options to customise workflows to meet specific departmental needs. For instance, automating ticket routing in IT or streamlining approvals in HR. The goal of this phase is simple – Helping teams identify and address bottlenecks early so that processes are optimised before advancing to implementation. Stage Three: Execution – Turning Plans into Action This is the stage where your planned workflows are put into action. It majorly focuses on implementing processes and assigning responsibilities to ensure a smooth transition. You can always start with a small-scale pilot. This allows you to identify potential challenges and make necessary adjustments before rolling out the changes to the larger audience. Additionally, automation tools can be integrated and made to function to handle repetitive tasks. Customised dashboards play a crucial role in tracking task progress during this stage. You can use them to be mindful of deadlines and gain visibility over the process. During this phase, it’s important to observe how well employees adapt to the new workflows. You can always offer the necessary support where needed to encourage adoption. Stage Four: Monitoring – Keeping a Pulse on Performance This phase focuses on tracking the performance of workflows in real-time. It lets you identify inefficiencies and uncover opportunities for improvement. This step ensures that processes continue to align with business goals by keeping a close eye on key performance indicators. Common KPIs used in this stage include cycle time, error rates, throughput, and customer satisfaction. You can also gather feedback from employees and stakeholders for insights into roadblocks and potential areas for enhancement. To make this stage effective, you can use dashboards to visualise metrics specific to each department. It is also advisable to set alerts and notifications to address issues promptly, minimising disruptions and delays. Ultimately, this stage lays the groundwork for the final optimisation phase, where processes are refined for peak performance. Stage Five: Optimisation – The Never-Ending Quest for Efficiency The phase is dedicated to refining processes to achieve the best outcomes. This continuous improvement approach enhances efficiency and reduces costs. Ultimately, it makes sure that the workflows remain effective as your business needs evolve. Insights gathered during the monitoring phase will come in handy in this stage to implement targeted changes that address inefficiencies. Some of the key optimisation strategies include: Automating additional tasks to minimise manual effort Eliminating redundant steps that no longer add value Tailoring improvements to meet the unique needs of specific departments. For instance, finance teams may benefit from automated invoice tracking. Similarly, procurement workflows could be streamlined for faster approvals. BPM Tools and Technologies: A Game Changer for Modern Workflows BPM tools help you navigate all the stages with great ease. Among the plethora of BPM tools available today, Salesforce stands out. It seamlessly infuses advanced Business Process Automation (BPA) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) capabilities into your business ecosystem. Salesforce’s BPA capabilities, powered by tools like Flow and Omniscript, are designed to build end-to-end automated workflows. They can automate approval processes, such as sales
