John Hayden, MD of John Hayden and Associates, shared his view on BPM at the Free Process Transformation Executive Forum, Johannesburg:

Hayden says BPM takes commitment and without the right people with the right attitude, BPM will not be the silver bullet: “BPM is a philosophy, mindset and management discipline. According to a Harvard Business Review, a firm's competitive success depends on transforming its key end-to-end processes into strategic capabilities that consistently provide superior value to the customer.”

Hayden notes that business process automation will improve customer service, cost-reduction, compliance and business agility. However, he adds that any change is always a headache and businesses have to go through some rigorous risk analysis to determine if it is viable to turn to BPM.

Hayden says before companies automate, they need to first redesign and reengineer their processes: “BPM is a multi-step process, with multiple predefined routing options and many role players. There are times that I believe you don't have to rush into technology.”

“Businesses should not underestimate the change management challenges in implementation from a staff point of view. Put in place a formal change-management and communications strategy. Make sure you know exactly why you want to automate the process and what the business is trying to achieve. Focus on customer-interfacing, revenue-generating processes.”

Hayden adds: “The single most important skill in BPM is analysis, interpersonal skills and the dialogue of sharing and understanding what's going on. It's about a collaborative debate with IT colleagues and business custodians on what the real benefits are.”

This platform for debate and knowledge share that Hayden is referring to, is created in VizPro® work sessions, where role players are invited to question and challenge current processes, share experiences, and come up with ideas for improvement. The non-threatening environment creates a forum for multi-level communication and interaction. While the discussions take place a process map is developed real-time, visualising the process to allow participants to see and understand the end-to-end processes and interfaces.

The facilitator ensures that the processes are directed by the organisation’s vision, aligning business processes to strategic objectives, resulting in a market driven process. Required improvements in the process to achieve the strategic goals are documented in an Action List, appointing an owner and setting a timeline, to ensure execution.

During each work session we experience that involving role players, listening to opinions, and sharing knowledge around the process, enlightens and enthuses people, and makes them receptive for change. This is opening doors to offer more value to your customers.