What is business process management

When properly executed, BPM enables your business to align its business functions and processes with your customer's needs. However, there are different types of BPM's that vary based on the purpose they serve. These are typically categorised into three groups as follows:

Human-Centric BPM

A human-centric BPM is used when the majority of the business processes are performed by people means the automation possibilities are limited here These are designed to be human-friendly and would include something such as a visual interface which helps employees understand and manage the process along the journey. This method typically requires more attention due to lack of automation and the human-centric processes directly impact both employees and customers.

Document centric BPM

These are for businesses with processes that are built on a particular document as its foundation. The goal of this system is to be able to quickly send said document to multiple parties for approval. This process methodology aims to reduce the paper trail and time required for actions such as email documents back and forth.

Integration centric BPM

The focus of this methodology is to create a smooth data flow between the network of software used within the business; centring around the integration of the different software systems and tools used. These systems have the most automation capabilities mean less manual or repetitive work which ultimately leads to increased productivity and is most commonly used within sales and marketing orientated organisations.

The five stages of BPM

Generally, this process involves a five-stage process that is sometimes described as the BPM lifecycle and can be defined as follows:

1. Design stage

Typically, this involves the use of forms or electronic forms to collect and collate data into a workflow before processing. It is advised to build your form first and then identify who will be responsible for each task in said workflow.

2. Model stage

In this stage, the goal is to provide a visual layout that will represent the process. At this stage you should outline conditions such as deadlines or quotas, to clearly detail the sequence of events and flow of data.

3. Execute stage

Launch your process by selecting a small group initially to test it live, before opening it up to all users.

4. Monitor Stage

Follow the process and pay attention to how it runs through your workflows. Use metric analysis to identify any progress made, measure current efficiency, and locate pain points or bottlenecks.

5. Optimise stage

Use the data collected to take note of any changes that can be made to increase your workflow efficiency.

This process follows a similar structure as project management would, but they are not the same. Project management is specific to the handling of one-time events to achieve one-time goals. On the other hand, BPM serves the purpose of improving active or underlying processes within the business for a permanent or substantial change. The similarities between these two seem to stop in the model stage, after they are broken down into individual tasks.

The benefits of using a BPM

1. Decrease expenses

Integrating a succinct BPM system is shown to lead to increased workplace productivity due to the possibility of streamlining operations whilst automating time-consuming or repetitive tasks.

2. A more agile work environment

One of the real value changes delivered by a good business process management software, is the rule-based intelligence that comes with it. This can allow your processes to automatically adapt to changes within your business environment.

3. Complete visibility

When using refined software to monitor your business processes, you can gauge the effectiveness of each stage in real-time revealing the performance of each step. This will further allow you to refine your operations once its clear which steps are less effective.

4. Easy transfer of business data

Since more workplaces have adopted hybrid working environments, the need to transfer data between the office and employees working from home has been significant. BPM approaches can offer a solution to this problem since it encourages a well-documented and recorded set of processes. Ultimately, this knowledge will come in handy during the training of future employees.

5. Increased revenue

After successfully implementing BPM software, your operations will be streamlined saving valuable employee time to focus on the areas of the business that need it the most. An important benefit of this is the continuous cycle of evaluation that ultimately improves the organisations efforts.

How expensive is a BPM system?

These types of systems are typically rather expensive to implement - especially if you are looking for a bespoke on-premises solution that requires technology experts and huge consultant costs. This figure can run into the hundreds of thousands.

However, at Zigaflow, we believe this should be much more affordable. We offer the automations module in our business CRM from only £399 per month. Furthermore, we won't add on any support fees, if this sounds beneficial to your business, book a demo with us today.