Why Should You Develop a BPM Enterprise Strategy?

Definition of BPM and Its Business Significance

First, let us define what Business Process Modeling (BPM) is and position it rightly into your company landscape. The BPM is the ability for a company to evaluate its goals (strategic intent) and match the existing or to be processed to those goals.

The business process modelling starts with an overview and then breaks it down into processes. The business process modelling begins with an overview and then breaks it down into processes. To simplify a process, gather user information and design a visual representation of it by understanding the current process. This representation should be easily understood and adaptable as the business grows.

Let us rephrase; it is like those riddle games where you must change one or more elements to get to the solution. In the context of processes, when the existing business process is transparent, you can consider it as the riddle, moving and changing elements so you gain efficiency.

Emphasize the role of BPM beyond a design tool

So, based on this, is BPM just a design tool or an essential element of your business? The question is open and can lead to many discussions, but I take the second point of view and consider it a central element of a company business.

As a consultant, my mission is all about transformation. Transformation initiatives are tantamount in the financial sector, and BPM is a great asset for me to assess, improve, automate, and control the processes gravitating around business transformation.

I consider Business Process Modeling stronger than “a tool.” With a suitable comprehension and representation of processes, I can discuss with multiple layers of stakeholders (from IT to legal), experiment with and assess process changes and help my client lead its digital transformation. You now understand why I consider it more than a tool.

In this blog, I would like to highlight three essential takeaways to stress the importance of a good enterprise strategy.

1/ It is all about efficiency

2/ With a suitable level of risk control

3/ And being fully transversal in the company

It is all about efficiency. Consider the following example: “At X, we have the ambition to automate and streamline our credit onboarding process; for now, a credit response is 48 hours, and we see market initiatives for instant credit solutions.

Use the 5W1H Technique for process improvement

This is a great technique to start a process journey. This is the acronym for 5 Whys and 1 How. Obviously, with those question formulations, you will rapidly discover the complete picture and see interesting patterns for changes.

Reveal strategic intent through “Why”

Why? For the first W we may also refer to Simon Sinek and the start with why formulation. The why is fundamental; it is your strategic intent. Without a strong why, then why discuss leading for changes?

Who: Process design is an activity that requires process tools. But more than ever, a process change is to provide benefits to people: who will bring the changes, and who will benefit from these changes? For them, it is more than a process what is in it for them: the outcomes and the benefits.

When talking about change, we need a vision, which is time-constrained in this context. The when is about milestones and commitment to those milestones. Remember the sentence: an image without a plan is just a dream.

What: What is the existing context, what are the pain points, and later, what should we do about it?

Where: questions about where could be related to the architecture of your existing process: locally, in the cloud, backend, front end…

Identify Stakeholders and Beneficiaries Through “Who”

How: the how is a successor of the what. If in your actual process, the what symbolizes your event, your process step or gateway, the how indicates how it is processed: manually, automated, instant, delayed.

Suppose you bring in your process journey, the 5W1H, with you. In that case, you already have an excellent ability to understand those existing processes, so you can transform them to improve your current enterprise strategy. In our example of instant lending, where could the 5W1H lead?

With a suitable level of risk control

I remember a movie called “Butterfly Effect” where the leading actor lives many versions of his journey and adapts one element each time. A slight change can have many consequences when transforming your journey. We must remember to have a clear understanding of the risks and the limits of the answers we give.

Proactive Risk Management in BPM Strategy

Let us go back to our example of instant lending: if we want to automate and, for instance, perform OCR or use LLM and AI, we may go from local infrastructure to the cloud.

In terms of process, the process changes from manual to fully automated. In terms of risk, there is the usage of the cloud, the risk of a data breach, and the risk of the provider.

Assess the Impact of Process Changes

Like the movie, a slight change in your process leads to consequences that must be evaluated and monitored at the process level.

A BPM strategy’s decisive advantage is to proactively include risk management in your transformation project and your process. You can define risks on the process level and evaluate consequences, ownership, and risk response.

A BPM strategy with active risk management is a continuous assessment of your processes, which is extremely valuable in strategy.

Promote Transversality through Communication and Tools

Finally, a BPM strategy helps us to be transversal. You can design the perfect process and follow all the conventions described by OMG (Object Management Group). If you cannot share and challenge it, you will finish with a new process in your collection.

Two aspects are essential to act transversally: how you describe your process to your stakeholders and how you will support and share your work with your colleagues.

For the first aspect, we rely on soft skills, and I dare say that soft skills and communications skills are vital assets in your BPM strategy. It is even the opportunity to transform your design into a concrete story.

The second aspect is about using a tool to design a process. This tool allows you to document, share, and discuss your processes with everyone involved. By doing this, you can break down barriers within the organization and find unusual ways to make improvements.

Cherry on the cake: If Simon Sinek recommends starting from why, we never forget that the who, change management, transformation program, and process change are about people. They will be with you all along the journey and live the journey after the launch.

To succeed in your business, it is important to have a strong community and commitment. This can be achieved through implementing an excellent BPM Strategy. Processes play a vital role in your business, making it necessary to prioritize them.