Business Process Management – The What, Why, and How

Among the many daunting phrases in the business world is “Business Process Management (BPM)”. Three critical and complicated aspects of work come together to form one niche (and one phrase) and that is why we need to tread carefully here.

But, what if we told you that it is not very difficult after all? What if we used the word “fun” to describe it instead of the regular jargon of “boring,” “frustrating,” and “scary?”

We can hear you scream at us.

Hold on, though. We are going to reason all our claims by helping you understand what business process management (BPM) is, what its benefits are, and how you can get started with it right away.

What is business process management?

Business process management (BPM) is about conducting business in the most efficient way possible. In other words, BPM is the process of designing, monitoring, managing, and executing inter-related business processes. This means that you bring various processes in your organization together and optimize them for the overall welfare of the company.

To understand this more clearly, we should learn about a process and what it means in the world of business.

What is a process?

This is probably one of the most overused words today. A process is nothing but a set of tasks that are related to each other. They are initiated either simultaneously or one after the other to achieve a common goal or a result.

But, aren’t these just tasks?

They are.

There’s a thin line between tasks and processes and that’s drawn by a result-oriented approach. A process is always done keeping the end result in mind. It is easy to execute and optimize based on the situation. A process is known to increase productivity by 24,000%.

There are many different types of processes and 3 of them are important for all businesses. They are:

• Operational processes: Processes revolving around the core business objective are operational processes. For a retail company, this would be taking orders and manufacturing the products. For a service company, it could be converting leads and delivering the service on time.
• Management processes: Management processes determine the future of the business. They are all about planning and optimizing the business.
• Supporting processes: Hiring resources, tech support, etc. are supporting processes. Despite the word “supporting” we would like to emphasize that these processes are just as important as the other two.

Categories of Business Process Management

Every organisation engages in BPM in some way, or the other, and business process management works in multiple structures. Primarily, every business needs three types of BPM in different ratios. The following is a list that would help you understand the scope of BPM better.

1. Document Centric BPM

The document-centric BPM involves the creation of a document and getting approvals from multiple people in the workflow. This is the ideal form of BPM for any organisation that relies on reports. The primary purpose of document-centric BPM is to reduce the need of sending emails and wait for a response. Also, it allows you to keep the data safe without letting it get lost among other piles.

2. Human-Centric BPM

All the business processes that need humans to make decisions at some point need human-centric BPM. It focuses on the involvement of individuals and automation, both for efficient workflow. Under this type of BPM, the number of processes to be automated are limited, and the decisions to be made by personnel are prominent. Human-centric BPM is best for organisations that involve human activities daily.

3. Integration Centric BPM

Integration centric BPM has become a go-to tool for most companies. Its central focus is to create a smooth workflow between the multiple tools of the organisation. Business process management and automation of tasks using software solutions is a practice that all organisations wish to follow, and it connects the several software that exists in the organisation. The main idea behind incorporating this set of BPM is to increase productivity with reduced manual efforts.

Business Process Management Life Cycle

A business process is a set of activities, tasks and events performed by systems and people to achieve a business goal. Commissioning a process involves several steps ranging from the ideation of the process through the building, and continuous improvement of the process – this is typically referred to as the business process life-cycle of a process.

• Design: Identify existing processes as well as areas for improvement. Map the flow of work between people and systems and evaluate any dependencies or handovers. In this step, the process is designed for a visual representation of conditions, deadlines, data flow, etc.
• Execution: Carry out processes identified and designed in the previous step. This can be done manually or using automation. A pilot implementation may precede a full rollout to ensure any issues are resolved at the pilot level. The practice of implementing business processes through the use of automation is termed as Business Process Automation (BPA).
• Management: Management mainly includes monitoring. Measuring the efficiency of the process, implementing changes accordingly, and reviewing the overall performance enables businesses to remove bottlenecks from the system.
• Optimization: Depending on the above analysis, you can optimize the flow using various business improvement steps to further improve process efficiency and reduce costs.

Also read: BPM Software – 11 things to consider for choosing the right one

Benefits of business process management

Business project management can open up an ocean of benefits for your organization as long as it is done properly. Implementing business processes through automation yields even better results compared to manual implementation. We have outlined a few benefits below:

1. Incredible productivity

As aforementioned, BPM has the ability to shoot up your business’ productivity and efficiency because it streamlines most tasks, notifies you of bottlenecks (and removes them), and reduces steps that are hindering the process and/or are unnecessary.

2. Astonishing satisfaction

There are very few things that can boost the satisfaction of employees and customers at the same time. Optimized BPM is one of them. Employees will have more time on their hands to focus on workplace innovation and important activities. Customers, on the other hand, will benefit from this paradigm shift by enjoying better services and products.

3. Augmented strategy

Strategy strengthens once you introduce BPM into the system. It helps optimize resources and align the business goals to the process itself. We know the wonders that an excellent strategy can do for a business, right?

4. Reduced costs

This is the gigantic cherry on top that all of us want. With better collaboration, reduced efforts, and removal of unnecessary tasks, it is obvious that the costs will go down while the productivity keeps climbing the ladder.

Reasons why you should consider BPM combined with automation

It’s time to understand the reasons why you should integrate BPM into your system. If you check any of the following boxes, you need it.

• No-code application development make BPM easier. Businesses that use no-code development tend to build software programs much faster.
• It ensures that all employees have access to the right data by integrating it with the processes.
• All workflows will be streamlined.
• The workforce will be connected and that’s a gigantic requirement for any business.

Also read: BPM and RPA: What’s the difference and which do you need?

BPM examples in different industries

Let’s try to understand BPM better by picking up examples from various industries.

1. Education

Admission requirements, course certifications, research grants. The list of processes is never ending in the education sector. Thank God for BPM!

2. Legal

The amount of paperwork one handles in the legal department is astounding. From handling contracts to reviewing them and ensuring everything is on track, the manual process is quite tedious. BPM definitely comes to the rescue.

3. Insurance

Claims data entry, membership life changes, membership application approval, and claim grievances are part and parcel of the insurance life. What better way to make all of these easier than with a business process management software program?

BPM examples in different functions

Now, we are going to talk about the use of BMP in different functions with the use of examples.

1. HR and administration

The on-boarding process is one of the most chaotic tasks for the HR department. Did you know that BPM can streamline the process and further automation can eliminate the need for filling out exhaustive paper forms? Of course! The same applies to employee timesheets as well.

2. Sales and marketing

Invoice approvals are pain-staking. Sometimes, a typing error here or a math mistake there can stymie the whole process. BPM eliminates these obstacles through automation. There is literally no room for error!

3. Accounting and finance

Ah, how we pity the accounting team! They have so much to take care of and are often short-handed. The sheer number of emails they get per day is daunting. Now, imagine their workload! When you bring in BPM to such a troubled department, you ease the burden and smoothen the entire system. Travel requests, reimbursements, etc. can happen with one click!

4. Purchasing

The purchase approval system is so ancient in a few companies that it gives employees nightmares! And no, we are not even exaggerating! Rogue spending is a constant risk along with human errors and the lack of transparency. You can say goodbye to all these issues with business process management.

5. IT

Business strategy, contract management, data security, operational efficiency, and project management – there’s barely anything that BPM won’t do for the IT industry.

How to get started with BPM

We are positive that we have convinced you about BPM. Let’s see how you can get started with it now.

1. Use of no-code and low-code platforms for BPM

Our era calls for the convenience of no-code and low-code app development. This is why we must look at how you can use these platforms for BPM. They work to remove all complications in the process of development. Any business can create a BPM solution with minimal resources and effort. You don’t even need to spend a lot of money because you won’t hire professional coders for it. You can also customize the tool to your needs and remove all unnecessary functions.

2. No-code and low-code platforms for BPM versus the old tools

Traditional BPM tools are still prevalent but we think it is time to shun them. Why? They are complicated. They are also very expensive and time-consuming. With new no-code and low-code platforms you can enjoy the following:

• Faster delivery
• Customer-centric processes
• Continuous improvement based on analysis and feedback
• Low costs

3. Benefits of no-code over low-code platforms

While low-code platforms are definitely an upgrade and shower multiple benefits on the user, why stop at that? Today, no-code platforms are ruling the roost with their 0% complexity formula. They require absolutely no technical knowledge and anyone can build a BPM application from the scratch. Low-code platforms still require basic tech knowledge whereas no-code application development is so simple, anyone can use them.

Business process management and workflow automation through no-code platforms are the need of the hour and the future of application development. The faster businesses embrace it, the easier it will be for them to navigate through daily business needs and processes.

Also read: Everything you should know about no-code development

Conclusion

Business process management and workflow automation through no-code platforms are the need of the hour. The faster businesses embrace it, the easier it will be for them to navigate through daily business needs and processes.

Quixy is among the top no-code business process management platforms. No matter what your business may be, Quixy can help you with your business process management and automation at least 10x faster. It is also extremely easy to use. Feel free to get a free demo or signup for a free trial.