Study establishes best business process management practices

A recent study by APQC, entitled Building Strong Process Management Capabilities, examined effective practices and how a business can best implement them. With participants like Northrup Grumman, Lincoln Trust, Hospira and other major corporations, the study found that the best business process management procedures all illustrate the same two traits: changing management styles is a critical part of developing strong BPM and the ideal focus is to establish strategic alignment and governance practicees.

The study found that focus, maturity and motivation are three primary characteristics that make up the core of most successful business process management solutions. These three aspects of BPM are important, as they identify tasks that any business can use to start its own process management program, according to John Tesmer of APQC.

"Our research demonstrated that, for leading organizations, it is indeed a journey as they leverage organizational culture and previous process management efforts to continue the development of strong process management capabilities," Tesmer said.

The steps outlined for BPM begin with focusing on the strategic alignment and governance of processes. This can help a business center its processes for maximum benefit and profit and simplify the development of an overall process management plan. However, the key is then following through and maturing the plan.

While any plan matures over time, it is important for a business to guide its business process management strategy in order to ensure it evolves in a direction that is beneficial. According to the study, the key is to develop the businesses process models throughout the maturation of the strategy so that alignment of operations and goals is constant.

Finally, the motivation of employees to participate in process management and help improve the system is secret to reaching best practices and developing an ideal management plan that benefits the entire company.

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