Process management encompasses a variety of methods used to analyze, improve, and automate business processes. These actions aim to enable an organization to achieve its long-term strategic goals by ensuring that it stays on track.
This approach focuses primarily on the results of procedures, rather than the tasks themselves. It dictates that teams and organizations must constantly look for ways to become more efficient and effective by improving their processes.
The main objectives of process management often include:
- Standardize processes to facilitate training and quality management
- Research new technologies
- Align procedures with the company’s vision and values
- Perform risk analysis to mitigate vulnerabilities
- Monitor process metrics to measure efficiency
- Automate repetitive or simple tasks
Read our article to learn more about what Business Process Management (BPM) is, the importance of process management, and how to use this framework to solve problems in your company.
What is Business Process Management?
Business Process Management (BPM) is a structured and more comprehensive version of process management, but it has the same goals and techniques. BPM requires you to look at the entire process from end to end, differentiating it from simple task management.
Another point to note is that Business Process Management focuses specifically on processes that can be repeated. Organizations can use the method to continuously reengineer their procedures in search of greater efficiency and lower costs.
This is not exactly a new concept, as techniques such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing are examples of BPM methodologies. In other words, your company can incorporate advanced data analysis, activity monitoring, and management assessments to create a process management suite. Through it, you can coordinate employees, systems, and information to achieve your goals.
There are three main types of BPM:
- Integration-centric BPM. Focuses on processes that do not require significant human involvement. They rely on APIs or mechanisms that integrate data across different systems, such as human resource management (HRM) or customer relationship management (CRM).
- Human-centric BPM. Focuses on procedures that require human involvement, usually in the form of approval. Allows teams to assign tasks to employees across different roles, making it easier to define who is responsible.
- Document-centric BPM. This deals with a specific document, such as a contract. Consider the case of a company purchasing a product or service: this transaction needs to go through different forms and rounds of approval before an agreement is reached.
Importance of process management
Every organization needs processes to operate. This applies to something as simple as purchasing the same raw material as always, or to something as complex as developing a new product that will be launched on the market.
Without an efficient system to manage them, your business may end up suffering from a loss of efficiency and even a drop in profits. It is process management that allows all your operations to continue running at the desired pace.
Systematic implementation of your corporate procedures will ensure that your employees spend less time on repetitive tasks and make fewer mistakes due to human inefficiency.
Having good process management also reduces the likelihood of data loss or a task not being performed during a standard operating procedure. Good BPM ensures that your organization’s resources are used correctly, ensuring that your organization is more efficient.
How to solve problems in process management
Process management is often misunderstood or overly focused on the operational. Many initiatives are limited to documenting workflows or automating tasks. This results in ongoing issues that impact your organization and your customers.
So, let’s talk about the main problems in process management and how to solve them. The goal is to create value, encourage cross-functional collaboration, improve results, and provide a satisfactory experience to customers.
1. Lack of control in process management
A process without a responsible person creates problems for the company. After all, there will be no one to turn to in case of failure.
It is crucial to correctly map the candidates, defining a person in charge who knows and masters the process. This person must monitor the progress of the procedure, have decision-making power, review deadlines, reallocate activities, and propose changes to the flow when necessary.
2. Lack of knowledge exchange
Applying knowledge management to everyday problems is essential to improving process efficiency. Without it, problem-solving becomes more complex.
Knowledge management increases solution capacity and promotes continuous improvement, contributing to excellence in business processes.
It is crucial to standardize a knowledge-sharing process and encourage employees to follow it. Investing in technology that combines process management and knowledge management tools in an integrated platform facilitates the entire process.
3. Lack of employee engagement
The success of an organization depends on employee engagement. When employees realize that their efforts contribute to the company’s results, they end up working with more dedication and quality.
This reduces hassle, and unnecessary expenses and increases customer satisfaction. A lack of engagement compromises this positive atmosphere.
To solve this, it is crucial to align leaders and employees. They must be aware of the business strategies and understand the direction of the organization.
Team members need to be clear about their goals and the activities required to achieve results. They should receive feedback and support to solve problems. The company should invest in training to improve and develop new skills in employees.
How to create efficient process management
This methodology requires you to use different tools and techniques to identify, analyze, and improve your organization’s current procedures. This means you’ll need to analyze your current workflow and identify areas where improvements can be made.
After that, you need to promote these changes, ensuring constant optimization of this process. You also need to create documentation to record this procedure and ensure that all your colleagues understand the steps required to execute it.
With this introduction made, let’s talk about what is needed to create efficient process management:
1. Evaluate your company’s goals
Start by analyzing your company’s main goals on a large scale. Then, think about how you can align your processes with these goals.
By setting a clear direction, you can create better and more efficient resource management. This first step also allows you to talk to your employees to help them understand your expectations and where your company should be heading.
This increases your team’s engagement and the effectiveness of your initiatives.
2. Design your process management
Now that you’ve analyzed your large-scale goals, the next step is to design a management model for your process. To do this, consider how your process can be monitored and evaluated so that it continues to operate smoothly and efficiently.
SoftExpert BPM: Business Process Management Software
At this point, you should seek to gain a better understanding of what is needed to complete a given process and what resources it requires. Therefore, this is the time to determine the roles of the people involved, the tools that will be used, and the systems needed for the task.
Also, create a roadmap for executing the process and map out where the bottlenecks and inefficiencies are.
3. Implement the process
With planning in place, you can execute the process more effectively. Create documentation so that everyone involved is aware of what the standard procedure is.
It is important to make clear what is expected of each person and how each person can perform the tasks under their responsibility. To do this, you need to train your team in the execution of this project.
It is also important to test to ensure that the process works as expected, as well as to make sure that it is feasible and practical to follow each step of the process.
4. Monitor and evaluate the process
Once the procedure is in place, you should monitor it and assess what is right and what is wrong. Ideally, your team will perform frequent validations to ensure everything works as expected.
Depending on the outcome, you may need to change your current workflow to optimize the process. This may include implementing new technologies, changing procedures or resources, or creating new support processes.
Once the review period is over, communicate the change to all stakeholders. This ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding procedures.
Conclusion
Process management is not just an operational issue, but an essential strategic tool for achieving efficiency, reducing costs, and improving customer satisfaction. Companies that take a proactive approach to streamlining their processes ensure that their operations are agile, scalable, and aligned with their long-term goals.
Furthermore, by investing in technologies that automate tasks and promote a culture of continuous improvement, organizations can quickly adapt to market changes and stand out in a competitive scenario.
Therefore, implementing efficient process management is no longer an option, but a necessity for any company seeking to grow sustainably and with consistent results.
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