Passion and novelty can only bring a company so far in a fast-changing landscape. Driving your business forward involves calculated and well-informed decisions. That’s where business process management (BPM) comes in. 

To understand why BPM is the most significant differentiator in business today, we’ll outline the meaning and importance of business process development below.

BPM has different definitions for different people. For some, BPM can be centred on technology, as it involves the automation of business processes and continuous application development. For others, BPM is about methodologies and communication. Many also view BPM as a commitment to visibility and transparency. Ultimately, these varying definitions of BPM are better seen as components of a whole.

To summarize, BPM is a holistic approach characterized by the use of technology, methodologies, communication, and visibility of business processes to optimize operations. A business process management plan helps a company create a workflow that improves operational efficiency.

BPM implementation typically has five stages: designing, modelling, executing, monitoring, and optimization. It begins with designing business processes and modelling how they work in various scenarios. The next step is implementing and monitoring the business processes. Finally, the business processes are optimized to resolve pain points.

• BPM allows firms to take control of their business processes

For larger organizations, it also means finding out how different processes relate. This information can be stored in a central repository accessible to key employees so they can understand how to perform their tasks and how their work affects other teams’ work. This visual modelling makes it much easier to make changes and encourages productivity and collaboration. 

Lastly, outlining workflows can also give critical insights into your security and compliance practices and policies. This paves the way for better risk assessment and a more secure business overall.

• Businesses with effective BPM can stay competitive. 

Businesses can easily get left behind by competitors if they don’t keep improving their processes and products. Adopting the BPM model means adopting technologies that make BPM implementation easier. In other words, IT modernization and BPM  eficiently using automation and software for BPM. As a bonus, you’ll have plenty of time and headspace for more demanding tasks and decisions.

• BPM brings down expenditure

BPM compels you to take a closer look at your workflows. As a result, you can quickly pinpoint which processes need to be improved, outsourced—or eliminated. BPM also provides insight into bottlenecks and how they can be addressed. This helps you and your team free up your billable hours for more pressing tasks. In addition, it can help you understand how your resources are spent so that you can allocate and utilize them properly.

You can use data analytics, A/B testing tools, and other relevant software to achieve this. For example, before modifying a business process, you can test the changes on an A/B testing platform to gauge its effectiveness. That way, you can avoid the cost and risk of implementing an entirely new process that may or may not be suitable for your team.

• BPM improves productivity and collaboration

Increasing productivity in the workplace usually involves tweaking workflows to address specific problems. Often, startups rely on trial and error until they figure out what works best. BPM takes out the guesswork by letting you evaluate your workflows comprehensively and objectively. As a result, process improvement becomes more targeted and efficient because you will know precisely your workflow’s deficiencies. The best part is that you can perform business process modelling and testing using the software before finally rolling out changes.

Besides productivity, BPM also has a positive impact on cross-department collaboration. That’s because BPM allows different teams and team members to understand how their processes relate to each other. This happens early during the process mapping and development phase and continues later on when processes are optimized. All in all, improved collaboration contributes to general productivity and workforce development.

• BPM gives rise to a better customer experience

Several businesses struggle with maintaining and improving their operations. With BPM, employees have more time and attention to answering customer needs because productivity will no longer be a problem. In addition, since BPM processes can be automated, employees can focus on customer-centric tasks like client journey mapping. Overall, the improvements in business processes brought about by BPM will trickle down to the customers as they will feel that their demands are getting met. This helps companies retain customers and even attract new ones.

• Rounding Up the Benefits of BPM

Business Process Management gives companies more control and insight into their processes. Consequently, BPM allows them to cut expenses, improve productivity and collaboration, and build better client relationships. Last but not least, BPM gives companies a competitive edge. 

Learn more about BPM from the software experts at Emakin.