Business processes are a dime a dozen. Anyone can create them, but that does not make them user-friendly for your team. Business process management (BPM) builds sustainability for better business practices. If you want to create longevity with your BPM, you will want to check out these three tips.
Minimize to Strategize
When a business has a good process map, it can make all the difference to developing a good BPM. Charts can become overly complex, which does not help a team strategize effectively. Traditional process maps often look like a series of actions and tasks but get convoluted by complex processes added in over time. Too much complexity means teams may ignore them altogether. Process maps that are too busy can be:
- Overly detailed
- Overly complex
- Overly redundant
To avoid these pitfalls, strive for minimalism in the design of the process map. Capture the right flow by including the tasks and activities that occur 80% of the time. When something happens 20% of the time or less are not key to the overall process but can be laid out in a way that keeps things simple.
Note: remove exceptions to the rule to refine the process and add minimalism to the design and flow of what you’re looking to achieve
Act on It
The best thing to do with a process is stay in the action. Use verbs when you start a process, task, or activity that gets people motivated for the next step. For instance, if you have a process for sales orders, it might start with ‘sales orders,’ but that doesn’t tell the person where to start. Think about starting with ‘enter sales orders’ to start with a motivating verb and kick off on the right foot. You can also think about:
- Adding descriptors
- Avoid vague languages
- Don’t get overly wordy; stick to 6-8 words for each activity
Action steps are the best way to get people doing what is necessary to keep things in the flow. Concise language motivates and encourages team members to feel they are getting things done and accomplishing tasks for the organization.
Note: clear, concise language that motivates is going to get a better reaction and response from team members
Simply Do
When it comes to grouping tasks together, stick with what’s related. Don’t add things that convolute the process with actions that are unrelated to the task. Simplify by:
- Setting a group and sticking to it
- Clump tasks together that form part of the main activity
- Add more detail as you go, including sub-processes
Don’t be afraid to add more detail as you go but keep it specific to that task. If the task is to write a memo, keep it to the basic, necessary steps and add what is needed to specify the nuances for just that task.
Note: more detail can be added by developing a picture of how each task is performed using less words when possible while still getting the point across
Media Matters
Multimedia is the best way to attract potential clients to the business. The use of illustrations, images, video clips, and graphs can help a process seem more user-friendly. Additional forms and policies make it easy to follow the process. A good BPM tool is a great place to set up processes that give organizations a place to share their story through multimedia. When teams look at the process, it should be straightforward what you’re asking but it also gets them engaged and excited to be part of the journey of making the company thrive.
Note: nothing catches the eye more than graphics, so don’t be afraid to capture the imagination of your team with simple, innovative media to go along with the processes
The overall goal for a team process is to keep it simple and to the point. A good BPM process will help your team engage with it daily to maximize flow and minimize bottlenecks. Creation of a sustainable process up front will keep things running smoothly across teams and the organization.
Read more relevant blog post: How to Get in the Flow with Better Business Processes