Business process management is not as safe as it might seem. There are 7 errors (better addressed as sins) that the process improvement team must avoid.
- ‘Management’ doesn’t always mean the same: Process Automation is not Process Management. For a process improvement to be effective, understanding the requirement of the business is crucial.
- Redundancies, and working in silos are not judicious: Improving a section of the process, without taking the upstream or the downstream into consideration, results in fiascos in the long run. Studying the entire system, and the effect of change through the full path, is what brings about effective business process management. Maintaining a common process knowledge and shared enterprise asset can save redundant work, resulting in efficiency as well as profit.
- Use the framework, avoid reinventing: Using a standard language speeds up the process. Without a central framework, the improvement process takes longer and seldom remains systematic. Use of APQC’s PCF, ITIL can help provide a central structure to base the business process management.
- Rather than role based, information availability should be need based: In an organization, an individual could have multiple responsibilities. When he seeks an information from a certain repository, an efficient system should provide the necessary information relevant to his task or role, rather than making it complicated and obscure.
- Outdated information has no value: In Business Process Management, ownership and relevant updation of information holds a vital role. Changes, if any, should be approved and according updated to ensure constant improvement.
- Making documentation difficult to comprehend: In a process, the relevant documents should be made easy to understand. A complex diagram might neither be relevant, nor will it be understood by the end-users. Basically, the information should make sense to the targeted consumer.
- Drive the need for process improvement: Use frameworks, involve the employees, and keep the information updated. Such tactics drive the need for adopting the changes in the process.
See full story on processexcellencenetwork.com