Avoidable Mistakes in BPM: Process Experts BPX Shares the Antidotes

A majority of operational hiccups and non-conformities faced by organisations arise because of some simple errors in operations planning — a view shared by business process consulting firm BPX. The team further shares that by following certain fundamental measures these mistakes can be easily avoided. Five common mistakes in BPM and their solutions are highlighted in this communiqué.

Absence of SOPs

Having no Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) cannot be treated as a mistake because it borderlines the range of a blunder. No SOPs mean there are no defined and documented ways of working or executing processes and operations. Organisations with no SOPs are relying on practices. This is a risky approach to business process management because there is no way to tell what could go wrong, when, where, or by whom. It is not doubting the human expertise but leaving business operations open for interpretation. As experienced business process consultants, BPX maintains that expecting consistency and quality of output in a vaguely planned operations framework is leaving things to chance. The obvious answer to this vulnerability is to develop and implement SOPs. SOPs define processes to a high degree of detail specifying the flow of work, operational standards to be observed in input and output, owners of tasks, and all other relevant conditions that must be present to get the desired process output.

Lack of Comprehension

The lack of process comprehension leads to doubt and confusion that slows down the flow of work. Employees become more reliant on supervision in the initial period but the problems do not stop there. It is difficult even for managers to supervise work if they themselves do not have a good understanding of the processes they are in charge of. This creates room for personalisation, habits and convenience finding ways to govern business processes and operations instead of the actual operational requirements.

The solution for this is to provide process training to employees and managers. The mere presence of SOPs cannot ensure that employees have clarity about workflows or process definitions.

Lack of Simplicity

What can be done easily should be done easily. There is no point in making processes complicated by cramming unnecessary tasks or activities into them. For example, using multiple platforms that give the same output unnecessarily makes a process complex. Such duplications also adversely affect the output efficiency of processes while making a process look more complicated than it really is.

Process simplification can be achieved in numerous ways. One option, as discussed in the example above, is to use one integrated software and unify data collection from it for multiple processes. Another option is to look out for task duplications that will require inputs from process stakeholders.

Ignoring Process Improvement

Processes are never meant for the long term in any one form. It would be naïve to assume that a perfect process could be established in one shot. However, there is a universal tendency to forget about processes because the emphasis turns heavily on the output. With the passage of time, many new small and subtle insights emerge — incorporating which can lead to process improvement. This cannot happen on its own. It requires planning and a process for process improvement as well.

Two effective ways to deal with this hidden problem are process audits and process review meetings. They help identify the scope of big and small process improvements. It is also necessary to collect feedback from external entities like customers and suppliers.

Siloed Processes

The isolation of departments and their processes is a major roadblock in achieving superior BPM at the organisational level. This isolation need not appear like ‘they do not see each other’. It is about the appropriate coordination among business processes cutting across departments. What constitutes this ‘appropriateness’ varies based on business and process requirements. This phenomenon is often observed in big organisations in both private and public sectors.

The solution to siloed processes is to identify the cross-functional information-sharing requirements and other dependencies that can include access to skills and expertise. What if the finance department of a company has paid access to an analytics platform which could also be used by the HR department at a discounted price?

Misfit IT Solution

Software applications and automation solutions are helping thousands of businesses everyday keep their BPM at impressive standards. However, technology is not a silver bullet. Misfit technologies backfire in the same way that a distance or journey that fits to be travelled by train should be travelled by train and not by plane even though planes are a more advanced technology than trains. Every process has certain specific requirements aligned to the broader functional and business needs. There are conditions as well that affect the usage of technology.

The slew of measures required to solve this problem are carrying out process analysis (both existing and required), developing/modifying the SOPs, decoding the technological requirements for process execution and coordination, identifying and comparing the best-fit technology solutions available in the market, SOP-IT integration, software customisation (if necessary), and finally, implementation and control.

For service-related enquiries on business process solutions and SOP design and implementation, Get Insights from BPX to Streamline your Business Processes: https://businessprocessxperts.com/contact/