1. Dont try to model how you should work--model how you actually work
When deploying BPM in your organization, you must There is considerable knowledge in any workplace that
establish a starting point. For instance, you could goes undocumented: emails, phone calls, chats, or other
identify a benchmark for how people currently perform means. Organizations can use BPM to find that elusive
a given function at an optimal level of output and information and then capture it in a basic flow model
prepare a model of that, whether graphically or as a that shows how people are currently working. Before
simple document. Once youve established these deciding which tasks or steps performed by people in an
benchmarks based on actual performance, you can then existing process can be improved, it is important to
establish a workflow model that you wish to implement. recognize the realities of their environments.
Another great debate in BPM circles lately has been business tool or the IT experts who are designing,
focused on who should own the BPM project: deploying, and maintaining the process applications.
the process stakeholders who are using BPM as a
Often, there are three major stakeholder roles involved daily basis) into account and recognize how they work.
in a BPM deployment. Since business users or functional BPM is about automating both human and system
owners are the people who actually know how the interactions, so it is always critical to keep both
process works and who are most often responsible for elements in mind. IT teams should understand how the
its effectiveness, they must be involved during the process stakeholders work and tailor their BPM
process modeling phase. One example of such a person deployment so that they can understand and interact
might be a purchasing director. Next, there are IT people with it.
who know how to transform the process model into
Encourage as much collaboration as possible between
business process applications. They understand the need
developers and end users throughout the deployment
for connecting the application with existing systems and
process. IT can invest a lot of time developing the
are able to implement those connections. Lastly, there
perfect BPM application, but unless they involve the
are end users those who will eventually use the
end users that will be employing the process in their
deployed application. Tilting ownership of BPM too far in
actual work, there is no guarantee that the two sides will
one direction or the other poses a multitude of risks. On
ultimately make the project work. Conducting quick-and-
the one hand, it is important that any BPM deployment
dirty test deployment during development to get hands-
integrates seamlessly into your organizations existing IT
on user feedback and check the usability of online forms
infrastructure.
can make all the difference between a BPM deployment
On the other hand, it is also important to take process that is quickly adopted and one that is quickly
stakeholders (the business users working with BPM on a abandoned.
On a day-to-day basis, the role of the champion would process itself and all staff involved in the process from
be to adapt existing routines to include BPM and interference by senior management or other managers
overcome resistance to these changes as necessary. The in general.
champion should also protect the BPM implementation
6. Establish Milestones
BPM implementation becomes a daunting concept that For instance, it could address how BPM would improve
is difficult to achieve if it is incorrectly viewed as a large the lives of your workers or discuss how BPM would
singular goal. Instead, you should view the introduction fundamentally change how business is done. Having a
of BPM into your organization as being a smaller series strong case from day one would allow you to easily set
of changes that work towards a larger goal of full goals, identify costs, and track the return on investment
implementation. Breaking the large main process down of implementing BPM. Most importantly, the case
into smaller phases keeps you from becoming over- would contain the planned milestones for your
whelmed and even regressing backwards away from particular implementation.
your goal.
To help refine the BPM implementation process into a
The champion should prepare a strong business case in series of smaller steps, the champion should set a
the implementation's early planning phase. This is reasonable deadline for each phase, modifying the
essential because many people tend to be adverse to original business case if necessary. Each small deadline
change and having everything planned in advance would should contribute to the main deadline. This allows you
help to convince them that your proposal to implement to reap short-term benefits from BPM while maintaining
BPM is sound. the long-term goal of large-scale implementation.
If there is any doubt or uncertainty, your champion Furthermore, this strategy minimizes risk; by simplifying
should be there to provide reassurance when necessary. a large implementation plan into a series of smaller
The business case is essentially the guidebook for the steps, the failure of any one phase only creates a small
entire project; it should cover the planned scope and setback instead of threatening the success of the whole
goals of using BPM in your organization in detail. plan. This risk mitigation also allows for easier
adaptation if necessary.
8. Encourage Collaboration
When planning your BPM strategy, it is essential to to break down the barriers that exist between technical
ensure adequate communication and the appropriate people and management by allowing complicated
level of participation between all responsible parties information to be presented in a way that everyone can
during the implementation process. Communication is understand.
essential since BPM implementation requires you to
Ideally, the champion should work closely with all people
receive data from anyone else involved in the
involved in the implementation process at any level. This
implementation process in a timely manner.
helps alleviate the management disconnect problem
Collaboration comes in a number of forms including:
where middle and senior management may not have a
shared developments amongst BPM developers (e.g. in a
full understanding about the day-to-day issues that
shared repository), social mechanisms to share
workers face. For this reason alone, it is important to
discussion on particular aspects of the BPM project,
take a more democratic approach of including everyone
process execution, and the notation itself in which the
involved in the decision making process instead of
processes are expressed. BPMN (Business Process Model
expecting middle and senior management to set the
Notation) is a graphical notation used to structure,
policies in the typical top-down business environment.
represent, and model business processes. BPMN helps
To truly understand and oversee the various aspects and Technically-oriented people (such as developers and IT
pitfalls of BPM implementation, the champion will need staff) are the exact opposite since they deal with the
the contrasting views and contributions of everyone actual processes directly. This gives them a more refined
rather than blind adherence to a single viewpoint. view and understanding of each aspect and how
everything fits together because they are the ones who
For instance, managers frequently view processes in a
ultimately have to make everything work in accordance
more abstract way, with the primary focus being on the
with the guidelines set by management.
big picture rather than the actual methods involved.
Contacts
BonitaSoft is the leading provider of open source business process management (BPM) software. Created
in 2009 by the founders of the Bonita project, BonitaSoft is democratizing the use of BPM in companies of
all sizes with an intuitive and powerful solution at an optimum cost. The Bonita solution has been
downloaded more than 800,000 times to date by companies and organizations worldwide.
Sales inquiries: sales@bonitasoft.com | Partner inquiries: partners@bonitasoft.com
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