Think about big projects.

1) Someone has identified a need. 

Some typical examples include:  You have a process that is taking too long.  A very expensive error has occurred as a result of something wrong with your process.  You are having trouble meeting weekly output goals.  Your customers are not happy with their interactions with your company.  You have discovered a new market that you would like to address, but your existing processes make it impossible to compete.  And so on.

2) You have performed a return on investment analysis and your inefficiencies are costing you thousands of dollars daily.  You know you need to do something. 

There are 2 extremes: Go out and buy something quickly or spend a year or so making sure that you have made the right choice.  Obviously, the task could land anywhere in between.  Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Quickly – You might get lucky and make the right selection but odds say you won’t.  This choice allows you to cut costs and make some progress on being more efficient.

Spend a year – Your odds of making the right selection go up, but are not guaranteed.  This choice will cost you money for each month that you don’t have a solution and this path doesn’t ensure a successful solution. 

No matter your chosen path, any solution you choose will likely need tweaking to make it work properly for your company.

The Takeaway…

Just do it!

My friend pointed out that the money you spent on the quick decision is not lost.  What you will learn during the implementation of the ‘Quick’ solution will make you a much smarter buyer for the next decision.  That next decision could be to improve your quick decision solution or to go another way, but you will be a much smarter buyer.

What is cost of procrastination?  You will learn far more attempting to implement a solution than you will researching the alternatives.

You will never get back the dollars you spent while you were looking for that perfect solution.  And, you will never find the ‘perfect’ anything.  So, what are you waiting for?

Your Thoughts…

This is a rather radical approach, but seems to make sense – what do you think?

People, in general, hate change. 

How often have you heard, “I really REALLY hate change”?

That’s normal. That’s most people. But why do we dislike it so much?

Suddenly the rules are unclear: we don’t know how we fit into the new scheme; we are adrift; we are unsure.  And it takes a while to learn the new rules.  We knew what to do and when to do it, and now we don’t.  That’s why most people hate change…

A simple example – When a student moves from Middle School to High School, the school goes to great lengths to prepare them for the ‘change’.  Still that change is a shock to the system.

My Strategy…

This is why BPM projects need to be implemented in a relatively short period of time.  You don’t want the worker community to have a lot of time to over think it.  This is where the ‘champion’ comes in.  The ‘champion’ is your internal sales person.  Not only do they guide your worker community through the changes, they will do it with enthusiasm.

They need to point out how much better life for the worker will be when the new solution is in place.  They will enthusiastically explain how the solution is not only better for the worker, it is better for the company.  They will gently guide the workers through the transition. 

I can’t stress enough how important this is.  One negative person can kill an entire project.  The potentially negative person must become a part of the solution.  The better the ‘champion’ performs their tasks, the better chance for successful project.

Let’s not forget that a BPM project, managed properly, can bring your company some significant financial benefits.  So, what are you waiting for?

Your Thoughts…

What has been your experience?  Have you had a project like this fail due to a bad attitude of one person?

Looking at a BPM project using the ADCI model [derived from the ‘big’ consulting companies], the 4 phases are Analysis, Design, Construction and Implementation.

The analysis step is critical.  If this is done properly, then the rest is ‘fairly’ easy.  It all starts with your ‘vision’ of how you would like your business to function.  Working with your consultant/vendor, you will make compromises where it makes sense.  Either the feature is too expensive or doesn’t exist.  The resulting ‘vision’ that is doable will dictate your expectations.  At this point all of your expectations should be doable – success is achievable.

I do like to point out early and often that it is a bad idea to change the requirements.

1)      It is impossible for a programmer to program to a moving target.

2)      Changes quickly add $ dollars to your project.

3)      The longer a project takes, the greater the chance of something going wrong.

4)      The more time a project takes, the more enthusiasm wanes.

Obviously, the odds of getting it absolutely right the first time is slim.

My Strategy…

Just do it.  Get the solution out there while there is some enthusiasm.  Get people using it.  Gather their suggestions of how to make it better.  Their suggestions will likely change what you thought should be altered.  Create new requirements for ‘Phase 2’ and go from there.

‘Phase 2’ becomes a new project.  It starts with a new enthusiasm and internal sales pitch.  If this project takes longer, it is OK because your company has seen ‘success’ and their expectations include knowing that the ‘Phase 2’ project isn’t just a pipe dream – it will get done.

Your BPM project, managed properly, can bring your company some significant financial benefits.  Now is a good time to get started.

Your Thoughts…

What has been your experience?

I do subscribe to the idea of having a ‘vision’ of how you would like your business to function.  What I am talking about is expectations.  If you have an expectation that cannot be met, you will not be happy with the solution.

Without a clear BPM Vision, companies can invest heavily in many improvement activities, yet fail to meet their objectives/expectations.

I have performed the analysis & design activities for a number of BPM projects.  Early on, I learned to uncover the customer’s vision for a solution. 

A large part of a BPM sale includes managing expectations.  If their expectations [vision] for a solution are not possible, you will not have a successful implementation.  During early discussions about BPM, I ask the prospect for their vision of a solution.  We would work from there to talk about what is possible and what is not.  At some point, the prospect will have altered their vision of a solution to something they are comfortable with and can actually be delivered.

Amazingly, if you deliver what the customer is expecting, you will have a happy customer. 

I can’t stress enough how important it is to manage your prospect’s expectations.  Communications plays such an important part in the success of a BPM implementation.

Your BPM project, managed properly, can bring your company some significant financial benefits.  Now is a good time to get started.

Your Thoughts…

What has been your experience?

What is the biggest BPM [business process management] Challenge? 

Good Question…

Implementing BPM software is the easy part of your project – gathering the requirements is difficult.  If you have selected the process you wish to manage and you have documented that process [gathered all of the requirements], configuring/coding up the solution isn’t hard.

Taking on a BPM project is challenging.  There are steps you can take that will increase your chances for success?  In my experience, if I covered these bases in advance, the project went smoothly:

• Identify an Internal Champion – This person will be the internal sales person for this project.  This is not a one time sales activity, it is ongoing.  And, he/she can help you wade through the internal politics.
• Manage Change – People hate change.  A BPM project will not only change the way a person works, it can change the corporate culture.  Typically, the Champion leads your company through the changes.
• Manage the Project – You will need to identify a [good] project manager.  In order to secure success, select a cross functional team so that they can feel some ownership.  Be sure to involve potential nay-sayers – if they have some ownership, the nay-saying will be greatly reduced.  It only takes one unhappy person to derail a project like this – I have seen it happen.
• Selecting the initial Process to be managed – Projects that take a long time are hard to manage and can go wrong for many reasons.  Choose a process that is not too large or too small but has some visibility so that your success will be noted.  Choose one that can be completed in 3-6 months so that people don’t forget about the project and so that success can be seen fairly quickly. 

From a project perspective, it would not be unusual to spend 5 months gathering requirements and only one month on the actual implementation. 

Your BPM project, managed properly, can bring your company some significant financial benefits.  Now is a good time to get started.

Your Thoughts…

What has been your experience?  What might you add to this list?

The term ‘BPM’ has been adopted in the marketing communications of just about every IT vendor and management consultant, as what comes after the dot-com fiasco. It seems everyone selling IT products or management consulting services has put BPM lipstick on their products and services. Even the IT and financial analysts are having a field day defining BPM to mean whatever they want it to mean.

My thoughts…

Defining BPM is still a hot topic on the BPM.com website.  And as Peter & Joe point out, it’s marketing people that are defining BPM.  Their motivation is to define it in such a way that only their products will meet that definition.  Since I am a marketing guy, I can let that cat out of the bag.

However, BPM stands for business process management and you can manage your business processes without software.  Companies have been doing it for years.

When you purchase BPM software you will need to map your process into the software.  BPM software will only manage a process the way you tell it to.  So, one of your first tasks is to document your process. 

When you are confident that your process will work, then you ‘configure’ your BPM software to run the process as you documented it.

Simply put, BPM software provides control [making sure that the proper steps are followed] and visibility [see the status of a process at any moment].

Your Thoughts…

Has your company embraced BPM?

With market demands increasing and margins decreasing, businesses need a facilitator to help them maximize organizational performance.  Businesses must optimize resources and streamline processes to gain agility and efficiency and reduce costs and risks in a dynamic environment.

Therefore, they are increasingly relying on Business Process Management (BPM) to attain real-time visibility into business processes to manage their life cycle.  However, over the years, BPM implementation has become synonymous with process automation without having an end-to-end process view.  This limits the capability of a BPM solution such that intended results may not be fully realized.  It is important that organizations focus on process visibility, control and continuous improvement as key aspects for a successful BPM system.

My thoughts…

If I had to name only 2 benefits of BPM software, I would say that it provides control and visibility. 

Control – I can manage my processes on paper, but making sure steps weren’t missed is nearly impossible.  BPM software provides that control and maybe just as important, it provides visibility into my processes. 

Visibility – Using BPM software, I can see the status of any process at any time.  I don’t have to make a phone call or walk down the hall.  With the click of my mouse I can see whose desk it is sitting on – I can even see bottlenecks. 

The end-to-end process view – For all practical purposes, a company is a collection of processes.  I could create an argument that the ‘Quote to Cash’ process is the backbone and that all other processes support it.  And, how many companies have implemented their ‘Quote to Cash’ process within BPM software?  I would contend that very few have.  In spite of that, there are many companies that are enjoying the benefits of BPM software.  They have control; they have visibility into their processes; and the software allows them to make continuous improvements.

Your Thoughts…

Is your company enjoying the benefits of BPM?  Is ‘Quote to Cash’ one of the processes you are managing?

The people in this group share thoughts and ideas daily.  The following question came up and it has garnered a lot of comments:

Is it right to automate the As-Is Process?

My thoughts…

I tell people to start with the as-is process for several reasons.

First, companies that have improved processes have followed this tried and true process:  Document the process; Check to be sure you have it documented properly; Measure how long that process takes today; Improve the process; and measure again to see if you really did improve it. 

Using this process, you have defined the status quo and can actually measure your results.

Second, if you thought you could come up with the ‘perfect’ process – I guarantee that by the time you implement it, you will find new ways to improve it.  So, the search for perfection is a wasted effort.

Third, implementing your ‘perfect’ process without measuring the existing process leaves you with no way to show that you actually have made any improvement.  ‘It just feels better’ isn’t measurable.

Your Thoughts…

Where do you stand in this argument?

Starting with a Vision and a Plan

Integral to the C-17 Program’s successful deployment of not only the PBM [process based management] approach but the overall implementation of the Malcolm Baldrige criteria was the implementation of a vision that focused on improving performance and quality as well as on customer satisfaction.  As the PBM approach was developed and deployed, the Air Force customer participated jointly in the identification and management of key processes.

Boeing A&T defines PBM as follows:

Process-Based Management is a management approach that defines an organization as a collection of processes focused on customer satisfaction and waste reduction by defining measures, and stabilizing and improving processes.

My thoughts…

In my experience, I have had the best success in implementing a process management project by uncovering the client’s vision for their solution first. 

Clients [people] have expectations.  Most people have an idea of what their solution might look like.  If your solution doesn’t meet their expectations, they will not be happy.

So, start a conversation to uncover their vision for a solution.  Then you can have discussions about what is doable and what isn’t.  When you and your client have arrived at a solution vision, then you can develop the plan to deliver.

I am pleased to see a large company like Boeing taking this approach.  I am a firm believer that using this approach greatly increases the odds for success.

I wish you all Happy Holidays.

Your Thoughts…

What has been your experience?

People [companies] wouldn’t purchase BPM [business process management] software if they weren’t trying to solve some problem.  And, this problem has to have risen to a level of great annoyance or they would just deal with it.

Some typical problems include:

• The process is taking too long
• Some steps are being skipped
• There is no visibility into the status of the process
• Short cuts are being taken
• The process stops / falls off the map

Once the problems have risen to the point of annoyance, companies begin to look for a solution.

So, where do you start?

Do not start with technology.  Do start with the process.

Any BPM software that you purchase will need to be configured [or coded] to map to your individual business processes.  In order to configure your BPM software, you will have to document how you want your processes to function.  Start by documenting your troublesome process.

If the troublesome process is too large, break it into smaller pieces.  Some real reasons include: The need to show project success and success can’t happen if people lose interest – keep the project short enough so that doesn’t happen.

Test your project documentation [on paper] to make sure it works and to make sure it works the way you intend.

Now you can begin looking at technology.  The technology needs to fit your business, not the other way around.

There are a large number of subject matter experts in this field – including me – contact any of them for help…

Your Thoughts…

Do you have a process that isn’t performing?