You can tell a lot about a person by the details. Someone who makes the bed every morning, flosses his teeth at night, and makes sure his shoes stay shined is likely to be a pretty diligent, organized, and hardworking person.
You could say the same thing about how a business handles its processes. Are they haphazardly assigned? Difficult to track? Prone to error? Unnecessarily long? Such a company is probably struggling in marketing, customer relations, and overall financial health too.
BPM is more of a discipline than anything else. Efficient, automated processes are a leading indicator of how well a company runs.
Imagine being a candidate for a job opening. One company sends you a message ahead of time with instructions on where to park, which elevator to take, and details for your guest pass into the building. In trying to find another company, you show up late after spending 20 minutes driving around trying to find the office, and sit for another 30 minutes in the lobby reading outdated magazines waiting for someone to show up to greet you.
Which one sounds like they have a better handle on their process management? Which one do you want to work for?
Let’s look at how managing your processes well leads to other areas of business being run efficiently.
1. Automated Process Management Means There Was Inclusive Planning
When using business process management, a company must use lots of planning. Many processes seem simple at the outset, but require a lot of work.
Is this the most efficient way for the process to run? Who needs to be involved? What information do they need? What systems need to be included?
All of these questions must be answered before automation can even start. And, these decisions can’t be made without consulting lots of people. So, a company that invests in process management tools is probably also committed to inclusive planning.
This dedication to inclusive planning will probably also show in the company strategy. Is the strategy set by the latest book or podcast the CEO read? Or is it made by consulting many people and thinking through the options? Is the new office setup chosen by the management and forced onto employees? Or is a lot of care taken to gather opinions and make the best decision?
2. An Automated Process is a Monitored and Optimized Process
With business process management, a process is never set once and then run on autopilot. Good process management means revisiting those processes often and taking measurements.
Is the process running better today than it did before? Where are the hangups? What kinds of improvements can be added?
When you use automated process management tools, you can consult graphs and analytics to give you real data on how to improve processes rather than guessing or going on intuition.
A company that uses BPM is also likely to test and monitor other things as well. What is the customer churn rate? How can we improve that? What are the latest numbers about employee satisfaction? How can we provide a better experience?
When a company is committed to optimizing its business processes, it shows in how it looks at everything else around it.
3. Using Process Management Software Means Being Forward-Thinking
When a company uses process management software, they are embracing the great options that technology gives companies today. By harnessing automation in business processes, companies can eliminate the need for manual transfers of data and can streamline how quickly processes move. They can integrate their processes to transfer data between systems and remove the need for humans to get involved. This frees humans up to do the creative and innovative work they do best.
Companies that invest in automation for their processes are also likely to find ways to get the benefits of technology elsewhere. They likely have open communication lines among their teams with smart messaging apps and common areas to share larger pieces of information. They collaborate in real time with video conferencing and Google Docs.
How Are Your Processes?
If your processes are managed, automated, and optimized, it’s like noticing when your date picks you up on time in a clean car and with your favorite flowers in hand. It’s not a promise that everything else is going to be perfect, but it sure is a good sign.
How are your processes? Are they in the shape they should be? Start with the easiest thing to manage and automate, and watch how the mindset spreads to other areas of your business.
Take a free trial of Kissflow Process today to see that is possible.
