Business process management, or BPM, is far more than simply a corporate buzzword that trends now and again. BPM is also not something you can toss around as an excuse for training, or restructuring promises to buy time from the C-suite. Business process management is now a must in the business realm, from small businesses to global companies.
What caused this shift from buzzword to actual solution being used by businesses all over the world? The shift in technology and the problems businesses face daily in today’s digital era. Once a company sees just how BPM works, and the benefits that can be netted as a result of BPM implementation, it’s hard to say no.
In fact, many people would say BPM is critical to business growth nowadays. If you and your business is on the fence when it comes to business process management, the following just may be the nudge you need. Let’s take a closer look.
What is business process management exactly?
What is BPM exactly? Most people have a general idea of what business process management is. However, some may not know the full length in which BPM can be utilized. The general definition of BPM is that it’s a tool for businesses to use to ensure that processes and workflows are streamlined, efficient, and highly effective.
But to get a bit deeper, business process management can be said to be a very disciplined approach. An approach to find, create, execute, track, measure, manage, and control automated business processes for specific results. For example, if you want X problem solved, you use X BPM tool as a solution.
Essentially, BPM allows businesses large and small to align their business processes to their strategy as a whole for maximum results. And it may not be only about the bottom line. Performance tweaks can be minor, and the overall profit increase may not be identifiable. But nonetheless there.
How BPM can be implemented into your workflows and processes
Knowing how BPM works is as important as knowing what it is. Generally, there are a few main ways business process management can work for a business, regardless of size. First is the horizontal approach. This approach has the primary aim of actually creating new processes using BPM software and tools.
Second approach is vertical. In this approach, templates are determined for best results. These templates normally need to be modified in some way in order to be implemented for specific goals a business has. Lastly is the full BPM service. This is when a business utilizes all the tools and features of business process management for maximum results.
“BPM is a tool crucial to businesses, as it helps align organizational strategy with business goals,” Virender Jeet explained in an Entrepreneur article. “BPM platforms have evolved throughout the years to meet the needs of growing businesses, and to ensure they fit into the ever-changing definition of digital transformation.”
Great! But how does BPM grow my business?
The value added and the growth business process management brings to the table for businesses is in the efficiency. Most businesses have problems, or kinks in their workflows that if solved, can increase efficiency needed to scale a business.
For instance, let’s say you have a large marketing agency and in order to grow your business, you need to take on more clients. Implementing BPM allows you to increase the efficiency of your marketing team for existing clients, opening more time to take on new clients, thus scaling your agency.
You can also use BPM to reduce business costs and increase budgets for more scaling opportunities. Business process management can also be used to increase the flexibility and agility of current processes, boost productivity, bring teams together for more satisfaction, and provides better customer delivery.
BPM also helps businesses measure productivity and track performance across the board.
In conclusion . . .
BPM is a transparent system that provides businesses with measurable results that can catalyze growth. The way you go about BPM is the challenging part. Business process management is wide reaching with a number of features available. Whether it’s creating new processes or making old ones more efficient, BPM is the solution many businesses, large and small, are turning to in today’s digital era.
The above is simply a quick guide to BPM. There are certainly more aspects and must know essentials concerning business process management. But the above serves as a great kick start toward your research and BPM implementation. Do you have a BPM success story? We want to hear from you.
