Many companies today have already made or are about to plan strategic BPM initiatives all over their organizations. BPM is a vast subject which consists of a methodology, architecture, and tools that when implemented change how a business operates. This article seeks to highlight some of the key ingredients and project essentials to keep you on track and aligned to implement a successful BPM project…
Product is Key
Identifying the right product and partner to work with is of course critical. Look out for Proof of Concepts, as this is what showcases the capabilities of any BPM Suite that you’re looking for. However, the success of your final solution will be just as dependent upon the right product as it will about how it is used and implemented. The other variables at play help to determine whether your BPM project will be successful.
Expectations
Do not succumb to pressure to have BPM address something that it clearly isn’t for. Getting the requirements and expectations right about where you can implement BPM to your business is very important. BPM is suitable for stringing together multiple transactions across systems and people, to complete a long-running process. BPM helps to tie these systems and processes together.
The Right People
You need to find the right business analysts or architects to help you steer your project on course. Having the right leadership is crucial in driving the BPM mindset with employees and stakeholders alike. This needs to be ready from the start of the project. People define the strategy and business objectives. They also define the process and its expected level of performance and monitor its progress.
Proof of Concept (PoC) and Use Cases
This is linked to our Buy-In ingredient. It is important to have some use cases of end-to-end BPM success stories and journeys. This helps to persuade senior executives, management and stakeholders to buy-in to the project, but it also assists with the Requirements ingredient as it helps to benchmark where you want the project to go and what milestones you want it to achieve.
Management Buy-In
The project is doomed to fail if the vision at the executive level is unclear at the upper operational level. The BPM project will struggle and you won’t achieve all the full benefits of the program. Management need to lead from the front as people on the ground also need to buy-in to the project to apply themselves to the work needed and enhance a collaborative environment.
Design to Align
Get your ducks in a row though as the most advanced technologies or tools can’t guarantee success if your BPM is not aligned with your organization at large. Alignment is essential to any BPM project. BPM doesn’t just enable alignment though it demands it. It’s a critical component to the recipe of success, especially when using BPM to help execute your strategy. The design for successful BPM implementation is that it should be horizontally aligned to the business, breaking up silos within an organization and increasing the transparency and visibility of the project.
Mindset
Set all expectations at the beginning. It will not be an easy process and you must have the mindset to accept and apply the rigor and discipline that comes with a BPM project. People need to be bought into the rationale of the BPM project. Be prepared to subject your processes for a full open transparent and visible test of performance.
BPM Scorecard & Timings
Just like in many instances when following a recipe you take notes or create timers to ensure you’re on track with the deliverability of the end-product, in business you should have a scorecard or dashboard to monitor alignment and times within the business, progress with the project and further enhance the project’s visibility to employees.
Unless all these elements are defined, discussed or prepared from a project's outset, just like with a recipe, unnecessary chaos and confusion can occur. Follow these steps, set the right frameworks and monitoring metrics in place to help ensure that you’re on track to BPM success and continuous improvement.
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