White Paper 7 Steps to Bpm Success

7/28/2019 White Paper 7 Steps to Bpm Success

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COVER 7 steps

to

success

A Pragmatic Approach to

Leveraging BPM Technology

for Business Success

by Mark McGregor

sponsored by



Executive Summary

Business Process Management or BPM as it is commonly referred is itself a

management discipline. The technology associated with it is more commonly

referred to as a Business Process Management Systems or BPMS.

Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably which has led to confusion

in the marketplace.

The confusion has caused much misunderstanding and quite a bit of infighting

among competing process groups, both inside and outside of organizations.

Some see process as a technology issue that simply involves automation or

system implementation of some kind. Others, such as some in the Quality or

Lean/Six Sigma arena believe that technology is not required.

While it could be said that both camps are wrong, equally they are both right!Many of the improvements businesses seek do not require an automation

solution and can be achieved simply be altering the way that people work.

However, from an analysis and design perspective, smart use of technology

has many advantages over simple pen and paper approaches.

This paper provides the reader with a 7 Step model that seeks to suggest

ways in which organizations can maximize their business returns. The model

sets out to blend the benefits of non-technology approaches with the more

technological ones.

Further, it aims to aid the reader in thinking about the ways in which the

different types of tools and technologies fit together in order to provide the

complete perspective. For example, even if one is not intending to automate a

process, use of appropriate technology is still important when considering how

to assess impacts and to communicate information effectively.

For ease of understanding, the examples presented here are based upon

the Casewise product set, however, other combinations of products may be

used to achieve the same linkages and results. Similarly, it may be that some

vendors are better able and more willing to support you during the non-

technology phases than others.

Introducing the 7 Steps

In should be stated right from the outset, the 7 Step model was never intended

to be definitive or prescriptive. It only sets out to suggest one way on which

you can harness the power of some of t he various technologies available for

BPM today.

It does however place a great emphasis on starting without technology and

engaging the people in the process. This is no accident as there is now

increasing evidence that starting with a technology focus can cause some

people to be disengaged with the process and for others myopia when looking

at solutions.

As with all good projects, the starting point should always be understanding

what the desired outcome is, from this you can ass ess at which step the

objectives can be achieved and then undertake the preceding steps in order

to ensure that when your objective is achieved, it is done in the most effective

manner and one in which the gains you make can be held on to.

Each of the 7 steps has associated a “Focus”, this being the suggested

objective of that step. The details of the focus for each step can be found in

the table. As you can see, the steps provide a logical progression towards

achieving the BPM excellence that many organizations seek. It should also

be clear from looking at the steps some of the reasons why traditional BPM

projects fail to deliver all t hat was hoped. By starting at step 6, we are already

potentially building fat into our systems and we have potentially alienated some

of the very people who might be affected by the new systems. If you start

from step 1 then you can be sure that you will only be eating the elephant

one small bite at a time and you will be delivering business benefits on a

more regular basis.

“Many of the

improvements

businesses seek

do not require an

automation solution

and can be achieved

simply be altering the

way that people are

working”

7 Steps to

BPM(S) Success

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Discover & Simplify (Waste Elimination)

Capture & Document (Information Capture)

Publication & Animation (Communicating)

Design & Improve (Effective Process)

Simulate & Optimize (Resources)

Generate & Execute (Operationalize)

Monitor & Manage (Continuous)

STEP FOCUSStep 1 Waste Elimination

St ep 2 I nf or ma ti on Ca pt ur e

Step 3 Effective Communicat ion

Ste p 4 Pro ce ss E ffec ti ve ne ss

Step 5 Resource Opt imizat ion

Step 6 Operational iz ing Models

Step 7 Continuous Improvement



Step 1

Process Discovery and Simplification

This first step affords you the opportunity to get people involved. The more you

get them involved, then the easier your life will be when you come to implement

potential changes that you might make. The use of workshops and goo d old

fashioned brown paper and “post-it” notes is highly recommended, beyond

its simplicity it also has psychological benefits that are sometimes overlooked.

For example, because the map is created by everyone physically sticking their

ideas on the single piece of paper, the resulting map belongs to everyone. So

often when someone acts as a “scribe” people use the excuse “that was not

what I meant” and they perceive the scribe as the owner.

The group you will work with should be as cross functional as possible,

ensuring the biggest range of perspectives can be obtained. Very often

participants in these sessions will comment on the fact that it is the first time

they appreciated what others do, or understood how what they do fits in. This

is important as it can very quickly identify duplicated activities or other activities

that are no longer required.

The purpose of this stage is only to

speed the effective discovery of what

is currently happening, and identifying

quick and easy ways to simplify the

process. If used well it can also be

used to identify rules, breakpoints in

the process and potential customer

interactions with the process.

In order to make the most of the

opportunity afforded by this step, it is

advisable to ensure that your processes

start and end with the customer(e.g. from order to delivery or order to

pay). The simplification parts of this step

will usually fall easily out of the process

as people start to question why some

activities take place at all, although it

can be thought of as “Lean” thinking,

it does not have to follow the detail of Lean, but of course it can if it suits you

better. Finally, everyone will manage their workshops differently, which is good

as long as we do this step without technology. Technology gets in the way and

slows things down.

Step 2

Process Capture and Documentation

For some people, the capturing and documenting of processes has been their

end game. We saw much of this in the quality world, and where the project is

driven by regulation such as Sarbanes Oxley, it may still be the case today.

Very often among process

professionals or technology vendors

there is a tendency to forget that many

organizations still do not have their

processes and procedures captured

and documented in a meaningful way.

Of course building a business case for

those who have not yet done it is also

very challenging.

Many of those who have already

captured processes have done so

using simple diagramming tools such

as Visio®, while others may have

collected information in tools like

Excel. It is easy to criticize these tools

or point out the problems, but the

reality is that is what people have and

so we need to work with that reality.

The best way to leverage the assets that you already have is to ensure that

all such maps and diagrams are captured in some kind of central storage or

repository. In fact taking the outputs from step 1 and converting them into

Visio® diagrams may be perfectly suitable in some situations; in others, a

full blown modeling tool may be better. The key is to focus on the objective,

which is to capture, document and collate all your process information inone place, using the tools you are familiar with. At this stage, if capturing and

documenting is your goal then worrying about standards, notations and tooling

is to detract from that.

In many cases it is the t ime taken to undertake this phase that concerns

business managers; it can be hard to prove value. So the idea of doing it

quickly and effectively usually has great appeal. As Analysts, our job is to

guide and facilitate this step in the same way as step 1; done well this will also

increase user buy in.

Many BPMS tools provide support for importing Visio® models.

Excel Visio®

E x t e n s

i b l e

R e p o

s i t o r y

automodeler

am

Business Architects Project Managers

IT Architects Operational Staff

...use The Tools You Know

Discover Collate Map Review

Inclusive Work Carried Out By The People Involved

Fast Workshop Approach Produces Results Fast

Motivating People Feel They Are Being Heard

Compelling Hard to Resist The Idea s You Suggest Yourself

Results Bottom Line Improvements Realized Now

...and The Focus is on The Customer



Step 3

Process Publication and Animation

Historically, one of the reasons for a lack of

acceptance by users of process models was

the way the information was presented. With

some tools today this is still the case, but on

the whole the publishing side of processes is

getting better, although there is still work to be

done. The key point of this step is to remember

that it is the user’s data and processes and it

is our job to present it to them in the way they

desire. It used to be that the expected format

was via Word or other documents, but today

we increasingly see that more use is made

of intranets and portals. For some, mobile

devices are also being used on a wider basis,

especially in environments where companies

are making real use of their process models

as the work guides for employees. Some

newer vendors have carved a market niche

out of their ability to easily publish and share

process information.

As the focus of this step is communication,

it is also worth pointing out that animation can

be really useful here. Sometimes it is easier for people to understand what

happens when they can see objects moving along a process.

Time and money spent in getting the publication and communication of your

models right will pay dividends. Some large organizations spend tens of

thousands of dollars ensuring that the documentation is branded correctly and

that users enjoy the experience. It has been shown that the easier it is to usethen the more often it will be used, the more often it is used then the more

likely it is that people will want it kept up to date. This cycle helps to ensure

that people in the business are on the same page and will almost certainly feed

back issues with the documentation (assuming that as part of this step you

make it easy for them to provide feedback to the process team.)

For many organizations or parts of organizations, this is as far as they either

need or wish to go on their journey. Certainly time spent on these first three

steps will satisfy many regulatory and compliance requirements. At the end of

step 3 you will in effect have a living, breathing, effective operations manual.

Step 4

Process Design and Improvement

For some people Step 4 might be undertaken before Step 3, as has been said,

it all depends on your overall objective. For the most part, getting information

out, shared and used as quickly as possible can be highly beneficial. The time

taken to properly undertake this phase can be quite long, especially as the one

process you were working on will now have to

link up and connect with other processes.

You are also likely to need to consider the

organizational and data models required

to support the process or changes to the

process. So it is highly likely that you will find

it advantageous to make use of a professional

modeling tool at this stage. The market for

modeling tools has exploded in terms of

choice over the past couple of years, however

most of these have been single process

focused and have not tended to be repository

based. As mentioned, having central storage

or a repository will prove vital in managing

artifacts effectively.

The key is to have choice, the ability to decide

whether you want some people to have quick

lightweight modeling via the web, or whether

you would like more business centric users

to continue using Visio®. Of course for your

serious analysts you will want them to have access to a high end professional

tool. The work you are going to require of them cannot yet be done in the more

lightweight environments.

The key for this stage is process effectiveness, and to be effective we have

to be able to link back to strategy and goals, look across multiple processes

and to connect with our data, application and network architectures. In many

ways this stage could be described as fleshing o ut the Business Architecture

and making sure that all the pieces fit together. To date, many BPM projects

have potentially gone down the same route as 4GL environments before them,

focusing so much on one element and ignoring the other. This is also the step

where we may need to capture and model business rules.

Once we think we have the answers we were looking for, we can move on.

Visio®Corporate Modeler

+ Easier Deployment

+ Easier Buy-In

= Less Resistance

+ More Choice

+ More Flexibility

+ More Productivity

= Lower Cost

Via Web Browser

Modeling the way You Prefer

If a picture paints

a thousand words,

then a movie paints

an entire library.

Easier to Show

than to Tell!

Your Data

presented

Your Way

Word, HTML,

Intranet, Portal



Step 5

Process Simulation & Optimization

There are many in the BPM community who speak out against simulation,

however it can play a major part in many projects. In part this has been due

to misunderstandings over how and when best to apply it. 2009 saw a lot of

publicity around major projects where if throughput had been simulated first

then problems may not have occurred. It is also t rue to say that for some

smaller projects the cost of gathering data can outweigh the benefits.

Simulation functionality though can

enable us to more accurately optimize

resources, understand and assess the

impacts of change and predict peaksand bottlenecks in process. Although

the experimentation approach will

work for some, the risks associated

may be too great for others.

Another challenge when using

the technology can be the level of

understanding of those attempting to

use the tools. This does not have to

be the case and much can be gained

by even basic scenario

based planning.

Once again, the key is to be clear on

what you want to achieve, in the manufacturing Six Sigma community the use

of statistical analysis is seen as a key tool in understanding root causes and for

finding problems that evade simple process analysis. Others have seen that

in financial services, being able to asses and predict resource requirements is

extremely useful.

The purpose here is to illustrate where simulation fits in to your overall strategy,

and in this case it requires well specified models on which to operate.

Using the right type of s imulation capability makes it easier to test and optimize

before implementation and also to once again assess the impact of changes in

one part of your process or system against others.

It may not be a must have for you, but you would be wise to ensure that you

have the capability and knowledge to use it where appropriate.

Step 6

Process Generation and Execution

This is the step that has been the driver for many of today’s BPM projects; as

we have seen there is much that needs to be done before this step if you want

to achieve the maximum benefits. The generation of workflows from process

models is a major advantage of the professional modeling tools over the use

of the relatively simple workflow designers included with many BPMS systems.

Part of the challenge faced by many who have used this as a starting point has

been how to connect the various processes together or to conduct impact

analysis when changing flows.

The use of the term workflow as opposed to

process flow is used purposely. There are

many different ways of expressing a process

flow map/model/diagram, any of which

may serve the purpose of simplification or

communication. But, if you want to generate

and execute a system then the workflow

description has to be very precise. If looked

at another way, the workflow model is

nothing more than a visual representation of

a computer program, and we all know that if

you were to write a program then you have

to be very specific. This challenge over

precision against lack of precision is the

cause of many of the debates in the process

community today.

Ideally you should be looking at an

environment that will easily allow you to

link the precise workflow models with the

imprecise process models and that will allowyou to then generate the workflows and

execute them in your chosen engine.

The ability to be able to trace forwards and backwards through the various

elements (process model, workflow model, application element) will make

your life much easier. It should be stated that linguistically it is more important

to have a “described by” linkage than an “inheritance” type linkage, as you

navigate up you will invariably identify increased “vagueness” – this is normal

and is advantageous from a business standpoint.

ScenarioPlanning

Visualize / TestHypothesis

Statistical Analysis

Corporate Synergy (Workflow)

Corporate Synergy (Application)

Corporate Modeler (Business Process)



Step 7

Process Monitoring and Management

Assuming that your end objective is the ongoing management of your

business, then having a proper dashboard is essential. As with Step 3, the way

you share this is important and it is highly likely that mangers today may want

access to such data either via mobile devices or as email alerts. However, the

objective of the dashboard is to monitor and alert, not to reconfigure systems.

The complexity of businesses means that it is highly likely that any single

process exists in isolation. The alerts serve to enable managers to assign staff

in an appropriate manner to consider the issues.

In some cases it may be true that a

simple reassigning of resource might

be possible, but in other cases it may

require reworking or a process. In these

cases it is important that an analyst be

used, so as to look at the issue as a

whole. Effective process dashboards are

more than a simple graphic indicator;

they are the window through which

you can view what is happening in

your business, not just in your software

application. Ideally your dashboard will tie

in to your corporate Balanced Scorecard,

if you have one.

When an analyst “opens the hood”

they will need to be able to drill either

to workflows, in the case of potential

system issues, or into process flows in

the case of more systemic issues. Having the ability to directly navigate around

and across your process and data architecture is vital if you are to avoid a silomentality. For many organizations today there is a real risk that they will simply

move from functional silos to process s ilos. The only way to avoid this is to

ensure that you keep looking across as well as up and down, and that you

constantly monitor impacts outside of the process.

When done right, this management information system will enable you to

continuously improve your processes; however it is strongly advised that you

do not limit improvements to managing what is and always consider what else.

Conclusion

As stated, the steps outlined here are not the only way of organizing your BPM

project, they do provide a solid basis upon which you can develop and build

your own steps. They demonstrate a way of starting without technology and

then bringing in the appropriate technology as required. Through these steps

it can be easier to: increase buy-in for change, deliver real business results

quickly, leverage the tools you have and build on the knowledge that already

exists within your organization.

Furthermore, an approach such as this can also be a way of integrating

the competing process groups within an organization. A way in which the

operational excellence teams can work with the Lean/Six Sigma teams, while

all can benefit from the value the IT team bring to the party, and in a way that

keeps the risk/compliance team onside too.

Fundamentally, BPM is about change and change is about people. So whether

you choose to use this model or another, the key to your success will be how

well you engage a wide group of people, staff, customers and stakeholders

and how well they buy-in to your program.

Finally, as has been said, the 7 Step process can be applied using many

different combinations of vendor’s products. It may be that you will find it useful

to ask potential vendors how they will support you through the various steps

when assessing new products or suppliers.

PROBLEMS?

Drill Down to

Workflow or

Business Process

Re-Animate / Re-Simulate to Indentify & Apply Solutions

“can be easier to:

increase buy-in for

change, deliver real

business results

quickly, leverage

the tools you have

and build on the

knowledge that

already exists within

your organization.”

About The Author

Mark has worked in the IT Industry for over 30 years, he has held executive positions

with a number of software vendors. Well known for his ability to help companies

bridge the gap between business and IT, more recently he has focused helping

business understand how to maximize the value of process programs, from both apeople and systems perspective.

Mark has authored five books “People-Centric Process Management”, “In Search of

BPM Excellence”, “Thrive! How to Succeed in The Age of The Customer”, “Winning

With Enterprise Process Management” and “Extreme Competition” (Contributor). The

range and depth of his experience lead him to be sought after for speaking, advice

and workshops by users, vendors, analysts and conference organizers alike.

Mark can be contacted via [email protected] or www.markmcgregor.com



About The Sponsor Established in 1989, Casewise provides software and consulting solutions to over 3,000 major

global organizations for Business Process Analysis, Business Process Management, Enterprise

Architecture and Governance, Risk & Compliance purposes. These solutions enable organizations

to visualize, audit, report, improve and continually maximize complex operating processes and

technology infrastructures.

With a team of passionate experts, and with offices in the United Kingdom, United States, France,

Belgium and Germany - and a network of global resellers - Casewise provides thought leadership

and solutions enabling clients to achieve stronger strategic planning, better decision making and

improved business efficiencies.

From Design to Execution - BPM solutions to Empower your Organization

Corporate Synergy from Casewise provides the necessary tools to create, implement,

automate and manage business processes efficiently and effectively without the need

of IT involvement. The end result sees the total alignment of the organization from being

functionally driven to process driven.

• Accessreal-timemanagementinformation

• Increasespeedofsolutiontomarket

• Increaseproductivity&efficiency

• ImprovecommunicationsbetweentheBusinessandITfunction

• Reducedoperationalcosts

• Automatemanualprocesses

• Improvedcommunication.

Combined with Casewise’s comprehensive modelling toolset the Corporate

Modeler Suite, users have the total and complete solution to map,

model and execute process workflows easily and a effectively.

www.casewise.com

Copyright Mark McGregor www.markmcgregor.com 2010 – All rights reserved

White Paper 7 Steps to Bpm Success

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