The BPM Pyramid: People, Processes and Technology

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By Trish Emser

What do the words business process management, commonly known as BPM, really mean? Do they mean the same thing to everyone? Historically BPM is an outgrowth of a number of techniques: total quality management, Six Sigma, balanced scorecard and more. BPM is merely the term used to describe a set of techniques intended to provide a structured methodology around improving business process performance.

How to Change an Organization

"How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one … but the bulb has got to want to change." It is an old joke, but the same applies to BPM; how many process engineers does it take to change an organization? One … but the organization has got to want to change – that is what makes BPM work. For the organization to want to change, the following must happen:

• The right team of people need be empowered.
• Those right people need to create, maintain and believing in those processes.
• The processes should be enhanced by appropriately applying technology (optional).

In order to succeed, the team must be invested in process management for the betterment of the organization; those responsible individuals will make the difference in executing the planning, implementation and maintenance of processes for continuous improvement.

There is no easy solution; there is no magic buzzword, formula or tool that can substitute for the right combination of people, process and technology. A traditional visual representation – and combination of terms – shown in Figure 1 shows the elements of people, process and technology as peers.

Figure 1: The BPM Combination

A better way to consider the elements is not as peers, but rather as the people and their "willingness to change" as the essential foundation of BPM success. A revised diagram in Figure 2 extracts and layers the three elements into a pyramid, acknowledging and emphasizing the tremendous impact people play in BPM.

Figure 2: The BPM Pyramid

People in BPM

In the book Good to Great, author Jim Collins states that "the right people are your company’s most important asset … It is the people who will determine the success (or otherwise) of your BPM project."

In low-efficiency operations, people are often substituted for processes when organizations are not able to achieve the end-to-end business process for various reasons (lack of priority, too expensive, complexity, organizational structure challenges, etc.). Inevitably, more people are hired and small kingdoms are autonomously formed by a growing number of leaders. These, then, are the last people who are likely to be motivated to create efficient processes – why would they want to reduce staff when they spent so much time building their own departments?

People have a tremendous impact on the ability to create and sustain process improvement. Denying the need of having the right people denies the ability to improve processes at their crux. It is convenient to blame poor processes or tools for inefficiencies without taking ownership of the people problem.

The Process in Business Process Management

It is only after the right people are ready, willing and able to approach business process challenges that it is time to tackle the middle tier of the BPM pyramid – process.

It is important to get the processes right before adding technology. The company should analyze its processes to find its weakest links. It is easy to recognize the patterns – for example:

• For generic process A, a person goes to a website and inputs the required information
• A cryptic message is email to the person with instructions to make a phone call to complete the process transaction
• Based on confusing information, the person prints the data, calls the phone number as instructed and has to verbally repeat part of the information that previously entered on the website
• In lieu of trying to follow the process the "normal" (and problematic) way, the person may decide to contact a fellow staffer who knows how to navigate through the chaos or otherwise take advantage of workarounds to avoid the process’ challenges

This type of process experience is common and sometimes not even acknowledged as inefficient. Instead consider a company with an empowered and educated team of the right people who want to implement great processes.

This type of process experience is common and sometimes not even acknowledged as inefficient. Instead consider a company with an empowered and educated team of the right people who want to implement great processes. What an exciting place to work! The team is working together, able to speak about data and information in non-personal terms, with documented inputs, outputs and end-to-end processes. When this team believes that their mission is to achieve the desired, measurable result, there is a glimmer of self-actualization and confidence in making the right decisions; the team is on its way to value chain performance. This success and feeling of accomplishment helps to empower the entire team. Its view shifts to continually improving the company’s processes, using whatever means are available to properly convey understanding.

Through the visualization and participation in the business process models, the team strengthens and solidifies its effectiveness. As the team increases its understanding of the inputs, outputs and hand-offs with external organizations and teams, upper management comes together in helping to solve the big picture results for the enterprise.

Adding Technology to BPM

In the words of Bill Gates, "The first rule of any technology is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second rule is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."

With a firm foundation of the right people working to continually monitor and improve the right processes, an applied technology or tool can make the processes more efficient. The danger of applying the technology – without the right people and process already in place – is that the processes will become more confusing and more costly to sort out. When a company is able to fully document the underlying business processes and the employees are engaged and managing the value chain with measurable and meaningful results, then (and only then) is the time to explore technology solutions.

The Pyramid's Utopian Goal

BPM is necessary for long-term, sustainable growth and viability in the evolving, increasingly competitive global economy. In order to survive, companies need to embrace BPM. To develop a BPM approach, BPM must be viewed not as a project, but instead as the way of working in a business environment. The BPM pyramid can guide a company as it prioritizes the essential components and activities that enable effective business process management.

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