Hello,
Business Process Management or BPM as it is often abbreviated is a challenge to describe succinctly. This is because since the early nineties when the concept emerged as somewhat a fad, an entire industry has emerged around this. This includes a number of extremely powerful tool set solutions, both academic and commercial R&D and professional services. All of these assist organisations in establishing a framework for modelling and improving business processes.Therefore formulating a definition that addresses all of these aspects is no simple endeavour.
However, the following should at least provide some food for thought and perhaps a basis upon which a more comprehensive definition may be studied and developed:
"Business Process Management may be viewed as a formal method for modelling and managing the activities of a particular organisation."
Process flows are analysed and captured visually. Once completed, these are shared with stakeholders in order to help them comprehend the 'way things work'. Thus they provide invaluable support in enhancing communication with the respective stakeholders involved.
When it comes to modelling, there could be layers of abstraction that help manage the complexity demanded, e.g. a business process layer, a technology layer and a management dashboard that maintains the requisite KPIs for reporting.
Processes may be categorised in a number of ways; one possible approach is the following:
(1) Processes associated with inputs or acquisition, these include for instance Sales or Marketing - these address how your customer or user initiates the flows, how payments are collected for instance.
(2) Processes that convert these inputs or raw materials into the final products or services according to the required specifications, for instance an expense claim process or a particular order or request fulfilment process.
Processes are never caste in stone - rather re-engineering of processes is an extremely valuable exercise. It considers aspects such as areas in the flow of duplication of effort, unnecessary tasks that may be eliminated, areas in the flow where delays take place and identifying opportunities for automation.
As a result, BPM can result in cost-reductions for the organisation through improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, increased productivity of staff, enhanced quality and a faster time-to-market.
Last but not least, keep-in-mind that new processes means a new way of working (models such as the unfreeze-change-freeze approach are needed). Mentoring and guiding staff on process updates is a necessary albeit challenging area of BPM in action.
Best regards,
Musab Qureshi
musabqureshi4@yahoo.co.uk
Business Process Management or BPM as it is often abbreviated is a challenge to describe succinctly. This is because since the early nineties when the concept emerged as somewhat a fad, an entire industry has emerged around this. This includes a number of extremely powerful tool set solutions, both academic and commercial R&D and professional services. All of these assist organisations in establishing a framework for modelling and improving business processes.Therefore formulating a definition that addresses all of these aspects is no simple endeavour.
However, the following should at least provide some food for thought and perhaps a basis upon which a more comprehensive definition may be studied and developed:
"Business Process Management may be viewed as a formal method for modelling and managing the activities of a particular organisation."
Process flows are analysed and captured visually. Once completed, these are shared with stakeholders in order to help them comprehend the 'way things work'. Thus they provide invaluable support in enhancing communication with the respective stakeholders involved.
When it comes to modelling, there could be layers of abstraction that help manage the complexity demanded, e.g. a business process layer, a technology layer and a management dashboard that maintains the requisite KPIs for reporting.
Processes may be categorised in a number of ways; one possible approach is the following:
(1) Processes associated with inputs or acquisition, these include for instance Sales or Marketing - these address how your customer or user initiates the flows, how payments are collected for instance.
(2) Processes that convert these inputs or raw materials into the final products or services according to the required specifications, for instance an expense claim process or a particular order or request fulfilment process.
Processes are never caste in stone - rather re-engineering of processes is an extremely valuable exercise. It considers aspects such as areas in the flow of duplication of effort, unnecessary tasks that may be eliminated, areas in the flow where delays take place and identifying opportunities for automation.
As a result, BPM can result in cost-reductions for the organisation through improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, increased productivity of staff, enhanced quality and a faster time-to-market.
Last but not least, keep-in-mind that new processes means a new way of working (models such as the unfreeze-change-freeze approach are needed). Mentoring and guiding staff on process updates is a necessary albeit challenging area of BPM in action.
Best regards,
Musab Qureshi
musabqureshi4@yahoo.co.uk
