The Benefits of Using Business Process Management
Many organisations face tough competition due to the emergence of new players with global reach. In order to stay in a position of advantage, many companies seek to constantly improve their business processes by using something called Business Process Management (BPM).
Every company has a set of business processes on which they rely in their everyday activities. Business processes are a series of well-defined steps that must be followed in order to achieve specific goals. These processes and the goals behind them can vary from business to business. To put it simply, smooth and efficient running of business processes ensures the success of a company.
But for most companies, identifying and optimising business processes can be a challenging proposition. Many companies identify the right business processes but have a hard time coming up with the right steps to take that will ensure the success of those processes. Many companies seek to gain an edge by spending generously on sales and marketing, while their underlying business processes continue to be unoptimised. Sales and marketing is all well and good, but Business Process Management allows a company to optimise its existing process, and in many cases helps reduce costs while increasing profits.
BPM is a combination of practices that are focused on increasing the value of an organisation by helping it improve its processes. BPM starts by identifying key processes, optimising them, and making any related changes which might help the company. In severe cases, BPM might point to the need for a complete rethinking of a company’s business processes.
No matter how you look at it, BPM, if done correctly, will always generate beneficial results for an organisation. If a company is struggling to keep up with competitors, BPM might help them identify the reasons and even help them overcome them.
Let’s have a look at some key benefits that can be achieved by BPM:
1. Efficiency
BPM allows an organisation to improve the efficiency of its processes while also reducing risks by identifying problematic areas. This, in turn, saves both time and resources. What’s more, the additional clarity gained by implementing BPM allows you to have a better understanding of each process and any weaknesses associated with it.
2. Measurability
BPM allows a company to measure its processes in a precise manner. As a result, the effectiveness of said processes can be analysed, compared, and ultimately help determine the rate of progress.
BPM can be implemented by the help of advanced software tools that provide analytical insights for better decision-making.
BPM helps in the identification of key steps in a process, and as such, it enables organisations to optimise those steps in order to improve the efficiency of the process as a whole.
3. Reliability
BPM ensures that a process is carried out in the way it was designed and planned to be. If problems arise, they’re easier to deal with as they will always be consistent in nature. So no time is wasted in coming up with new solutions to unforeseen issues.
With BPM, you can even craft emergency responses to problems you identify beforehand in each business process.
4. Flexibility
The business landscape changes constantly, and as such, the need for new technology means that organisations must be able to react and adapt quickly or be left behind by their competitors.
New business requirements might arise due to a number of factors. These can include a change in market demand, changes in regulations and policies, or a change in the way work is done in your industry.
BPM allows you to create flexible business processes, ones that are adaptable to a constantly changing business landscape. Because you know all of the key areas of each business process, it’s easier to tweak them in order to stay competitive.
5. Compliance
BPM helps a company understand their business processes in detail. With the increase clarity gained by following BPM practices, companies can avoid legal issues and fines by implementing the required regulatory requirements.
BPM exposes the details of each processes and helps in making them much more transparent. This helps the leadership and employees in making sure that each aspect of the process is in compliance with official regulations and policies.
6. Sustainability
BPM allows organisations to adapt better to changing market conditions, therefore delivering consistent results even in different scenarios. With BPM, organisations are in control of their processes which helps them keep their values and policies even if there are changes in organisation environments.
7. Effectiveness
BPM helps identify bottlenecks in processes caused by administrative issues and redundant procedures. Parallel processing can also be implemented for processes which can benefit from it. All of this contributes to an increase in process effectiveness and efficiency, where costs associated are reduced or sometimes eliminated.
The increased effectiveness allows an organisation’s employees to be more productive, rather than figuring out ways around bottlenecks caused by inefficient business processes.
Bottom line
An organisation with well-defined and well-executed business processes is much more likely to succeed in today’s competitive business landscape. By continuously identifying and improving key areas in processes, a company can make better use of its time and resources, which maximises output while reducing associated costs. BPM allows organisations to adapt to changing market conditions, and thereby staying relevant in our challenging economy.
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