Using Business Process Modelling to improve service

Business Process is happening every day in every organisation in a series of connected, repeatable activities triggered by an event with an outcome or output. Business Process Monitoring (BPM) is the analysis of these processes and their repercussions, providing insights into performance and measuring and effecting change.

While it can be tempting to measure and monitor everything, focus is key. Metrics should be line with the overarching business strategy. The business case will also be significantly influenced by core values. For instance, retailer Argos may prefer to compare price against competitors, whereas John Lewis may focus more on measuring customer satisfaction. Other criteria could be the time it takes a process to complete; queuing times; volume or percentage of sales; the times the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is met or missed; the errors or defects made; or ratios such as conversion or success rates.

These considerations will in turn influence the methodologies to be used (e.g. Six Sigma or Lean), which modelling technique to be used (e.g. BPMN) and what tools to be used- simply a drawing tool (e.g. Visio), a CASE (Computer Assisted Systems Engineering) tool such as Enterprise Architect or a Process Modelling tool that simulates the processes (e.g. ARIS). A very robust approach will document everything but this can be top heavy. The popular consensus, at least today, is that taking a more “lean” approach and focusing on the things that are important or high volume can yield the best results. 

Once the business case and metrics have been determined, project planning can commence. A timescale together with regular reporting should be agreed for each phase and a cost benefit analysis and other constraints addressed. It then becomes possible to look at the processes, which consist of elements or tasks and business rules or procedures, and evaluate their efficiency. What is the cost of the process? How effective, in terms of quality, and efficient, in terms of people and resources, is it? How often does it meet or SLA or perform tasks on time? How flexible is it, particularly when dealing with exceptions? Consider whether there is an opportunity for standardisation work or the opportunity to increase the automation of the process. Often, it is discovered that a process may be surplus to requirement. Issues revealed may include: too many errors or too much waste; bottlenecks; missing or delayed items; poor, inaccurate, incomplete, or duplicated data; customer or staff dissatisfaction; too much variation in approach; inappropriate business rules; or, poor security. 

By going back to the targets and metrics originally identified, it then becomes possible to address these problems through redesign or replacement. Improvements may include the removal of bureaucracy, the introduction of checks and balances to improve security or track missing items, or even their removal if these are slowing the process down. When it comes to implementing change, it’s advisable to ensure staff and stakeholders are onboard as they could prove resistant to change. Implementation and communication planning, documenting the new process and testing it, through a trial or pilot, can make the transition smoother but do also capture new metrics to help validate and corroborate improvement. Once changes have been implemented and are seen to be working effectively, it is advisable to periodically monitor and review. 

Measuring and monitoring processes is commendable but do ensure that set targets are reasonable and not in conflict with other parts of the organisation or at the detriment of the customer. In this way, BPM can offer rich rewards and the opportunity to inch ahead of the competition.