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Business process management (BPM) is central to how organizations optimize their workflows. For IT leaders and process owners, BPM provides a structured approach to making workflows more efficient, adaptable, and aligned with business goals. Whether aiming to streamline operations, improve service delivery, or ensure compliance, BPM offers a methodology that drives continuous improvement. This guide will help you understand the value of BPM, how to implement it, and what trends to watch as BPM evolvs.
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What is Business Process Management (BPM)?
Business process management (BPM) creates, analyzes, and improves business workflows to align with your company’s goals. It ensures that all processes are efficient and support key objectives, such as enhancing customer experience.
Business process management involves examining each process individually, analyzing the current state, and identifying areas for improvement to create a more efficient and effective organization.
Each department in a company is responsible for taking some raw material or data and transforming it into something else. Each department may handle a dozen or more core processes.
What are the different types of Business Process Management?
BPM systems can be categorized based on the purpose they serve. Here are the three critical types of business process management systems, each designed to meet different organizational needs:
1. Integration-centric BPM
Integration-centric BPM manages processes that flow across enterprise systems like ERP and CRM with minimal human involvement. These systems integrate core business applications, using APIs and connectors to streamline department processes. With integration-centric BPM, data flows smoothly, ensuring faster, consistent workflows across the enterprise.
2. Human-centric BPM
Human-centric BPM focuses on processes that require significant human interaction and decision-making. These systems excel in workflows that depend on approvals, task assignments, and collaboration, especially across departments. Human-centric BPM offers intuitive interfaces, real-time tracking, and notifications to help teams manage tasks and responsibilities efficiently.
3. Process-centric BPM
Process-centric BPM handles complex workflows spanning multiple departments and business functions. These systems focus on automating and standardizing tasks to boost efficiency. Process-centric BPM is ideal for workflows with multiple touchpoints, such as supply chain management or customer service operations.
Steps of a BPM lifecycle
Implementing BPM involves several key stages, each of which helps you streamline processes and improve efficiency.
Step 1: Design
Start by mapping out the process. You typically create a form to collect data and set up a workflow to manage how the team handles the data. Assign tasks to the right team members and clarify who owns each step. Business process mapping at this stage ensures everyone knows their role and how information will flow.
Step 2: Model
Next, create a visual representation of the process. This step involves laying out the sequence of events and identifying key details like deadlines, conditions, and decision points. Modeling the process helps you see how everything fits together, clearly showing how data moves and where tasks transition from one team member to another.
Step 3: Execute
Once the process is designed and modeled, it’s time to implement it. Start with a test run involving a small group of users to ensure everything works as expected. It’s crucial to manage access to sensitive data during this stage to ensure security. After testing, roll it out to the full team.
Step 4: Monitor
As the process runs, keep a close eye on how things move through the workflow. Track progress, measure efficiency, and look for any bottlenecks or delays. Monitoring helps you see where the process might slow down or where resources are underutilized so you can make timely adjustments.
Step 5: Optimize
The final step involves continuous improvement. Analyze how the process is performing and look for ways to make it more efficient. Whether tweaking the workflow, refining tasks, or automating repetitive steps, there’s always room for improvement. Optimizing ensures that your processes stay relevant and keep delivering results over time.
Following these steps, you can build processes that run smoothly and adapt to changes. Check out our Amateur’s Guide to the BPM Life Cycle for more insights and continuous improvement.
Business Process Management (BPM) examples
Banking
Here are a couple of examples of how BPM can help banking improve their processes:
- Customer onboarding
- Loan origination process
Retail
Business process management helps structure operations and deliver better customer experiences by automating critical workflows in the retail sector. Retailers handle a variety of processes, from inventory management to customer service and sales transactions. BPM reduces operational inefficiencies, allowing retailers to manage supply chains, track inventory levels in real-time, and ensure smooth order processing. By automating these tasks, retailers can improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and maintain agility in a fast-moving market. BPM also helps retailers adapt to changes in consumer behavior and optimize their operational strategies to drive growth.
Here are a couple of examples of how BPM can help retail improve their processes:
- Inventory management
- Order fulfillment
Manufacturing
Business process management enables manufacturers to optimize production processes, reduce operational waste, and enhance product quality. Manufacturing involves complex workflows requiring coordination between procurement, production, and distribution departments. BPM automates key workflows like production scheduling, quality control, and supplier management, ensuring operations run smoothly and efficiently. Manufacturers can minimize downtime, improve resource allocation, and provide product consistency. BPM also allows for greater visibility into the supply chain, making identifying bottlenecks and implementing continuous improvements easier.
Here are a couple of examples of how BPM can help manufacturing improve their processes:
- Production planning
- Quality control
Healthcare
Business process management (BPM) is critical in improving patient care, optimizing administrative workflows, and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations. Healthcare providers manage complex processes such as patient records, appointment scheduling, and billing. BPM automates these tasks, reducing paperwork and allowing staff to focus more on patient care. Regulating processes also improves accuracy in medical records, ensures faster patient processing, and enhances communication between departments. Healthcare organizations can use BPM to stay compliant with regulations, reduce operational costs, and provide a higher standard of care.
Here are a couple of examples of how BPM can help healthcare improve their processes:
- Patient onboarding
- Claims processing
Why is BPM important?
Business process management (BPM) is important for organizations because it provides a structured framework that ensures efficient operations align with business objectives. Unmanaged processes often create chaos, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks, which obscure the bigger picture for teams and hinder performance. By applying BPM, organizations create structured, repeatable processes that lead to measurable improvements, reduce complexity, automate tasks, and enhance governance. Process owners can streamline workflows and reduce errors, while IT leaders gain the ability to minimize system complexity and drive automation.
The primary purpose of BPM is to eliminate the disarray caused by unstructured and inefficient workflows. When teams focus only on their specific tasks, they often miss the more significant operational challenges, such as bottlenecks, missed data, and breakdowns in communication. These unmanaged processes lead to wasted time, increased errors, finger-pointing, lack of data visibility, and demoralized teams. BPM provides visibility into workflows from start to finish, reducing inefficiencies, enhancing accountability, and improving data-driven decision-making.
BPM allows organizations to cut costs, streamline operations, and adapt quickly to market changes and new technologies. By managing processes end-to-end, BPM enables teams to respond faster to evolving business needs, improving overall agility. IT leaders and process owners gain control, clarity, and a clear path to operational excellence, helping organizations become more competitive and achieve long-term success.
What are the benefits of incorporating Business Process Management?
Here are some of the primary benefits of using BPM in your business:
- Gain control of chaotic and unwieldy processes
- Create, map, analyze, and improve business processes
- Run everyday operations more efficiently
- Realize bigger organizational goals
- Move toward digital transformation
- Improve and optimize tangled operations
- Closely track individual items as they move through a workflow
What is a Business Process Management strategy?
Business Process Management (BPM) strategy involves defining, designing, executing, monitoring, and optimizing business processes to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and agility.
How to implement BPM in your Organization?
Implementing Business Process Management (BPM) requires a structured approach to ensure smooth adoption and long-term success. Rushing through the process often leads to inefficiencies, poor adoption, and operational chaos. A well-thought-out BPM implementation streamlines workflows and delivers significant business value. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you implement BPM effectively:
- Choose the right BPM platform: Start by selecting a BPM platform that suits your organization's needs. Avoid platforms that are overly complex or designed exclusively for technical users. Instead, opt for a solution that balances power with usability, allowing IT and non-technical business users to participate. A human-centric BPM platform like Kissflow ensures ease of use, reducing reliance on costly consultants.
- Identify the right process to begin: Resist the urge to start with the most complex processes. Begin with more straightforward, low-risk workflows like purchase orders or travel reimbursements. Testing BPM on smaller processes builds confidence and allows teams to become comfortable with the platform before scaling up to more critical operations.
- Appoint a process owner: Clearly define ownership from the start. Assign a process owner, typically a business lead, to oversee the BPM implementation. This individual will ensure the process runs smoothly and meets the organization’s goals.
- Set clear benchmarks: Establish objectives for what you want to achieve through BPM, such as reducing process time or cutting operational costs. Use data from past processes to set realistic performance targets and ensure every workflow has a defined purpose and measurable outcome.
- Map out your workflow: Before using the software, manually sketch the workflow. Work with those involved in the process to understand how the stakeholders have managed it historically and determine what improvements are needed. Often, this reveals redundant steps that you can automate, creating a more streamlined workflow.
- Involve key stakeholders: A BPM system thrives on collaboration. In the early stages, involve technical admins and business owners to ensure the system meets everyone’s needs. Gather feedback from end-users to understand pain points and foster adoption across departments.
- Pilot the workflow: Testing the BPM solution with a pilot workflow before rolling it out across the organization allows you to identify system performance issues and train staff on the platform without risking disrupting mission-critical processes.
- Stay flexible: Ensure smooth processes and that the BPM platform integrates smoothly with your existing systems. Choose a flexible solution that doesn’t require an overhaul of your IT infrastructure, allowing your team to make adjustments as needed without unnecessary complications.
- Train your team: Educate employees about the BPM platform, emphasizing how it will improve their daily tasks. Proper training ensures everyone understands their role in the process and how to make the most of the BPM system.
- Measure and refine: Continuously monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of your BPM implementation. If the system needs to meet expectations, tweak the workflow and re-test until it aligns with your organizational goals.
To know more, check out our BPM implementation checklist for a more detailed guide.
Features every Business Process Management tool should have
Now that you know why exactly a BPM system is necessary, here’s a list of the features a good business process management system should have.
- Visual process diagramming tool
- Drag-and-drop form designer
- Role-based access control
- Mobile support
- Lead management solution
- Powerful administrator features
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Integration with existing software systems
- Reports and analytics
- Performance for large user bases
- Process performance metrics
Read this article for a detailed explanation of the above features of a good business process management system.
Overcoming key challenges in Business Process Management
Implementing Business Process Management (BPM) benefits efficiency, productivity, and transparency. However, businesses often face several challenges during adoption. Understanding these challenges and how to mitigate them is essential for a successful BPM implementation. Below are the most common challenges organizations encounter and how to address them with thoughtful planning, change management strategies, and adaptable BPM tools.
1. Resistance to change
People often resist new processes and technologies for fear of the unknown or disruption to familiar routines. Employees may feel threatened by automation, believing it might replace their roles.
Mitigation: Successful BPM implementation requires strong change management. Organizations should prioritize clear communication that explains BPM's benefits for employees, such as reducing repetitive tasks and empowering them to focus on higher-value work. Involving key stakeholders early and offering training helps build trust and enthusiasm.
2. Complexity in process mapping
Identifying, mapping, and standardizing processes can become overwhelming, particularly for large organizations with many departments. Unclear processes can lead to inefficiencies in BPM implementation.
Mitigation: Simplifying process mapping is critical. Start small by identifying core business processes that have the highest impact and streamline them first. Adaptable BPM tools like Kissflow offer visual workflow design that allows non-technical users to map and automate processes, making it easier for teams to understand and engage with BPM.
3. Lack of executive support
With leadership buy-in, BPM initiatives can continue. Executives may see BPM as a cost rather than an investment in long-term efficiency and business growth.
Mitigation: Align BPM goals with the broader business strategy and present a clear ROI. Demonstrating how BPM improves agility, reduces operational costs, and enhances customer satisfaction can turn executives into advocates. Regular reporting on BPM's improvements can also maintain leadership’s ongoing support.
4. Inadequate process governance
When BPM initiatives need governance, it can lead to consistent processes across departments and effective scaling. Poor governance also complicates compliance and risk management.
Mitigation: Clear governance structures ensure teams consistently apply BPM practices. Process owners establish standardized procedures and conduct regular audits to maintain alignment. Tools like Kissflow's no-code platform, which provides real-time visibility and reporting, strengthen governance by ensuring teams follow processes correctly and minimize compliance risks.
5. Technology integration issues
Integrating BPM tools with existing IT systems and software can be challenging, particularly when legacy systems are involved. Incompatible systems can slow down the implementation and reduce BPM's overall effectiveness.
Mitigation: It is crucial to use adaptable BPM tools that integrate well with existing systems. Low-code platforms like Kissflow offer flexibility, enabling organizations to connect BPM to other enterprise tools without heavy custom coding, ensuring easy integration, reducing disruption, and allowing faster deployment of new processes.
6. Ongoing maintenance and optimization
Even after implementing BPM, businesses often need help to optimize processes continuously. Stagnant processes can lead to inefficiencies and prevent organizations from realizing the full potential of their BPM efforts.
Mitigation: BPM should not be a one-time effort but an ongoing initiative. Use BPM tools that allow for continuous monitoring and optimization. Kissflow’s BPM platform provides analytics and real-time insights that help organizations regularly review and adjust their processes to adapt to changing business needs and market conditions.
Best Practices in Business Process Management
Several BPM best practices have emerged over time to assist, which is a complex process improvement strategy. Organizations can follow them to manage their business processes effectively:
1. Define clear goals and objectives
It is essential to understand a business process's desired outcomes and ensure they align with the organization's overall goals.
2. Involve stakeholders
Involving key stakeholders in designing and managing business processes can help ensure buy-in and support for process improvements.
3. Document and analyze processes
Detailed documentation of business processes can help organizations understand how they work, identify areas for improvement, and track progress over time.
4. Use process modeling techniques
Process modeling techniques like flowcharts and BPMN can help organizations visualize and understand their processes and identify potential bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
5. Continuously monitor and measure process performance
Organizations should regularly monitor and measure business process performance, using the data to identify and address issues. Well-structured workflow approval software ensures effective monitoring and measurement.
6. Use technology to automate and optimize processes
Automation and technology can help organizations streamline and optimize their processes, reducing the need for manual labor and improving efficiency.
7. Foster a culture of continuous improvement
Encouraging a culture of continuous improvement can help organizations stay agile and adaptable and ensure that their processes are continuously evolving to meet changing needs.
To learn more about these practices, check out BPM's best practices.
Is BPM like task or project management?
Business process management is neither task management (which focuses on individual tasks) nor project management (which handles one-time or unpredictable flows).
Task management is handling or organizing a set of activities arising from a project. These projects are often one-time and non-repeatable. Project management software like ' Microsoft Project ' is used when these projects are well-organized, like in construction work. Trello, Asana, or Kissflow are good tools for managing tasks in ad-hoc projects.
Business process management is focused more on repetitive and ongoing processes that follow a predictable pattern or process management.
What is the future of Business Process Management?
As business environments grow more complex, Business Process Management (BPM) is evolving to prioritize agility, automation, and data-driven strategies. Traditional BPM practices are giving way to approaches that integrate automation and real-time insights, addressing the demands of digital transformation. The future of BPM focuses on automating workflows, leveraging real-time analytics, and fostering continuous improvement, which boosts operational efficiency and innovation. Organizations can adopt these trends to improve decision-making, enhance productivity, and sustain a competitive advantage.
1. Increased automation
Automation is becoming central to BPM. Tools that incorporate robotic process automation (RPA) and AI-powered workflows are reducing the need for human intervention in repetitive tasks. This shift allows organizations to streamline operations and improve efficiency while focusing on high-value strategic work. Low-code platforms also enable business users to automate processes without heavy reliance on IT, democratizing BPM across the organization.
2. Real-time analytics
Data-driven decision-making is a critical trend in the future of BPM. Real-time analytics embedded within BPM tools allow organizations to monitor processes continuously, track performance metrics, and detect inefficiencies instantly. This capability enables organizations to make proactive adjustments and optimize workflows dynamically.
3. Focus on continuous process improvement
Rather than treating BPM as a one-time project, organizations increasingly focus on continuous process improvement. Agile methodologies and frequent reviews and optimizations ensure that processes remain efficient and relevant to changing business needs. Automation and real-time insights play a pivotal role in supporting this ongoing improvement.
4. Integration with AI and machine learning
AI and machine learning are becoming essential in BPM, helping predict workflow bottlenecks, recommend process improvements, and even automate decision-making. This results in more intelligent process management, where systems can learn from past performance to optimize future workflows.
5. Hyperautomation
Hyperautomation, combining multiple automation technologies like AI, machine learning, and RPA, transforms BPM by enabling end-to-end automation across complex workflows. This trend emphasizes automating tasks and creating fully automated, adaptive processes.
Try Kissflow to manage your business processes
Ready to take your Business Process Management (BPM) Platform up a notch? Give Kissflow a spin! It's a user-friendly, low-code platform that makes managing business processes a breeze.
Whatever your business is, Kissflow’s got you covered.
Create your apps, streamline workflows, and boost efficiency. Plus, with its mobile compatibility, you can manage your work anytime, anywhere. Try Kissflow today and propel your business toward success!
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