What is Business Process Management and How Does It Impact Your Company?

Processes naturally develop in every business – but are yours evolving as the demands of your business change?

First, let’s define Business Process Management. 

BPM is the creation and management of effective and efficient processes implemented to promote transparency and optimize workflow for the benefit of the company. 

Part 1: The Birdseye View

The first step in the BPM process is to assess “what are we doing right now?” and then determine “what do we want it to look like?”, the gold standard. This discovery meeting provides an opportunity to review the current processes that are in place and look for where bottlenecks or pain points might be. 

Examples of bottlenecks/pain points:

• Redundancies
• Break in process
• Checks and balances (performed at all/too much)
• Are the right people or departments doing the right tasks?
• Are processes completed in a timely manner? Does the timeline even make sense?
• Are we over/underestimating how long a task takes?
• What factors are out of our control? (e.g. bank payroll mandates)

Part 2: Process Development

After the current process has been reviewed, and a gold standard has been set, the next step is to develop the process that will address the bottlenecks and pain points that have been discovered. 

Depending on the complexity of the process and the number of people involved, the following documents* can be used to lay out the process:

* These documents were created by Suzanna Haworth

Part 3: Process Management

BPM isn’t just about creating new processes, but the management of these processes. Regular checks are necessary to review and ensure the process is still working and being followed (and if not, why, and how can we adjust?). By implementing routine checks, it ensures that your processes are evolving with you as your business changes and grows. 

The Benefits of BPM

BPM has many benefits, including the impact on financial health, staff productivity, and overall organizational collaboration. Want to learn more about these benefits? Check out our blog on The Benefits of Business Process Management. 

Business Process Management is critical to the overall health, growth, and development of any business and regular process reviews are vital to ensure that they are continuing to benefit the company and help you reach your business goals.