BPM lifecycle: Use the 6 stages to get results!

According to CBOK, there are nine knowledge areas of BPM (Business Process Management):

  1. Process Modeling
  2. Process Analysis
  3. Process Design
  4. Process Implementation
  5. Process Performance Management
  6. Process Transformation
  7. BPM Technologies
  8. Process Organization
  9. Enterprise Process Management

But the truth is that this it’s not enough to master these areas of knowledge, one must know how to use them within an order of interconnected actions called a BPM life cycle.

Below are each of these phases of the BPM lifecycle, followed by details of the cycle stage characteristics, in which there are 6:

  1. Planning and Strategic Alignment
  2. Process Analysis
  3. Process Design
  4. Implementing the process
  5. Process Monitoring
  6. Process Refinement

The BPM life cycle step by step

1- Planning and Strategic Alignment

To get a broad view of business processes in line with the value chain at this stage we need to examine all available documentation and assimilate how the processes are aligned to the services provided, customer service, support and sales management.

For this, four steps must be performed:

2- Process Analysis

At this stage of the BPM life cycle it is necessary to observe the processes exactly the way they are happening in the company at the time, only then can you get a “picture” that will help modeling and the evaluation of the organization’s processes.

It is with this analysis of the present moment that you can understand what could be improved, targeting the following phases of the BPM lifecycle.

These are the steps in this phase:

See also Understand and apply the business process analysis methodology

3- Process Design

This is the time to make decisions about everything that was detected in the previous AS-IS phase.

Now that you are aware of bottlenecks, failures, delays and other shortcomings from the reporting process (with the greatest possible detail), it is now time to align with the strategic goals of the company and design a new process. For this, one can not fail to make simulations based on scenarios and include the necessary improvements.

The steps of this stage are as follows:

  • Analyze gaps and make comparisons
  • Design the process and also analyze IT use
  • Model the new process. Check out this tool for process modeling.
  • Get new process procedures accepted
  • Deployment Plan Creation

4- Process Implementation

Implementation is a phase of the BPM life cycle that can be performed in two ways. Through a systemic implementation, i.e. with the aid of specific software and technologies, or non-systemic implementation, without these types of BPM tools.

Regardless of which is used, the goal is the same: to enable and put into action process implementation as defined and documented in the form of a workflow.

The video below shows an example of a systemic implementation:

5- Process Monitoring

Every company has strategic goals. And it is at this stage of the BPM life cycle that you can find out if the processes are aligned with these objectives or not, by monitoring appropriate indicators to assess the results obtained.

The most commonly used performance indicators usually involve four dimensions: the length of process time, monetary cost spent on the process, Capacity (how much can the process actually produce?) and Quality, which examines whether there are many errors and variations that affect a satisfactory delivery to customers in the process.

6 – Process Refinement

This is the beginning of continuous process improvement. By analyzing the indicators from the previous stage and deciding if the strategic objectives are being achieved or not, such as if the goals defined from modeling are being met in relation to the results actually observed in practice.

The refining process can also be called process transformation through planned development and continuously monitoring measured results. The focus should be on improving performance, reducing costs and meeting customer needs and nurturing the relationship with them.

This is why the whole chain of activities is called the BPM life cycle: it always returns to the beginning!

Now that everything is in place and progressing, analyze the processes again, ensure they are aligned with the strategic goals and continue refining, always with the goal of delivering the highest perceived value to the customer, which generates more profit for the company!

In this context, it is clear that not only analysis and modeling, but also, monitoring can be dependent on the use of good, agile, intuitive and transparent BPM tools.

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