What is a Business Process Management – BPM?
BPM is a way of looking at and then controlling the processes that are present in an organization (AIIM). It is an effective methodology to ensure that the processes are efficient. Establishing clear processes in the day-to-day running of the business and exploring ways to optimize them is the basis of business process management (BPM).
Many small business owners over-rely on ad-hoc solutions to problems instead of coming up with well-documented processes to prevent such problems in advance. For instance, a small business may send an invoice but the customer makes late payment as the invoice was not received on time. A good BPM could provide a solution to such issues through process review and streamlining.
Well, maybe the small businesses lack the necessary know-how or experience to do so business process management analysis. All the same, there are many professionals in such matters, for example, GRS consultants, who can easily help them plan, document, and streamline their processes. BPM comprises analysing the existing processes in the operations of your businesses and streamlining them for optimal performance output.
Advantages of business process management
The following are some of the benefits of BPM:
- Improved productivity
- Minimized overhead costs
- Reduced errors
Benefits of business process management to small businesses
1. Optimized outputs
The impact of inputs into the business—which may include time, money, and raw materials in case of a manufacturing entity—is improved by thorough scrutiny of the processes and identification of the available opportunities to enhance performance outcomes. Some great examples of common opportunities for BPM improvement are cutting back on paperwork and making use of remote workers. The two can be beneficial by enhancing efficiency and minimizing overhead expenditures.
2. Improvement in efficiency
The business operations are carried out according to a well laid-out plan. Behind everything that is done, there is a well-defined process and a good reason to justify it. The way a certain thing is done, no matter how small the task may seem, is defined clearly, and the supervisory staff corrects any deviation. The result of this is a very successful business.
3. Uniformity across outlets
Having distinct processes or ways of doing things ensures that services are offered in the same way across the various outlets, resulting in uniformity and consistency. This enables customers to have clear expectations and to minimize instances of staff doing their own things, which thus enhances the business offering.
4. Better customer service
The change or streamlining of business processes influences how staff members interact among themselves, with customers, and with the business information. BPM is instrumental in aligning the business processes with customer needs and in enabling business decision-makers in their duties such as planning, monitoring, measurement, and utilization of business resources as may be required.
5. Improved ROI
Based on statistics obtained from a study (AIIM Research) on BPM, it was observed that companies that put BPM into use while running their business improved their return on investment by 40% within a year. Also, these businesses enhanced routing to and between individuals by 62%, registered lesser reviews and improvement in approval cycles by 33%, and recorded a 42% growth in routing and organizational efficiency between processes.
Effects of failure to implement BPM
Leaving things to chance results in inefficiency in your business and a lot of complications. There is stalled growth in your business due to:
- Unnecessary high costs
- Waste of time
- Poor quality
- Increased customer complaints
- High-stress levels among all those involved in the business
Conclusion
Business process management or BPM has many great benefits to the businesses that adopt it and put it properly into use. The benefits of BPM are improved productivity, minimize overhead costs and reduced errors. To achieve BPM’s benefits, there must be an understanding of the concept by all the concerned parties.
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