BPM – How to Make It Stick

How to make BPM stick is one of the most frequently asked questions by participants in BPM training at BPMInstitute.org. How is it possible to engage everyone in following the re-designed process and how best to assure continuous improvement of the new process are just two of the questions that come up regularly.

While making BPM stick is just as much art as it is science, there are some important guidelines to note around enablers such as transparency, advocacy, alignment and accountability as well as some key pitfalls to avoid. These are outlined below.

Transparency: Making the new process visible to all is essential, so that managers and team members can see how the organization is tracking towards the implementation of the new design and therefore are better equipped to manage and prioritize their work. Simple, visually compelling models of the new way of working are far better than detailed technical representations, as the former lend themselves better to storytelling which can engage the heads and hearts of the people in the organization.

Advocacy: Advocating a customer centric, business process based view is a critical ingredient in making BPM stick. This applies not just to the executive sponsor and/or process owner, but equally to team members. An ongoing focus in creating value for customers via the firm’s cross functional business processes mitigates against a “once and done” mentality and reinforces that success with BPM is a journey. Advocates of a customer focused, process based view of business provoke thought by asking people questions such as:

1. How does this process create value for customers?
2. Can you describe it in 25 words or less? What is its purpose?
3. What happens immediately before and after you in the flow of the process do?
4. By what measure does the company judge the performance of your process?
5. What other processes interface with this one?

Alignment: Assuring alignment is fundamentally around metrics and recognition systems. The right metrics emphasize what matters to customers. This involves looking at the business from the “outside-in” and typically revolves around factors such as quality and timeliness as opposed to the traditional focus on cost and productivity. While the role of leaders is important, encouraging teams to self- manage can also improve performance. This can be stimulated with aligned rewards and recognition. Either small incentives, public pats on the back, or process based performance bonuses at year-end – whatever best suits your culture and environment.

Accountability: Institutionalizing accountability for business process performance is arguably the single most powerful means of making BPM stick. That’s because the role of the process owner or steward encompasses advocacy, performance measurement and continuous improvement.  Table 1 below outlines one perspective on the role of the process owner.

As in most things, there are just as many ways to fail in making BPM stick as there are to succeed. The following lists just some of the pitfalls to avoid.

• Not establishing a sufficient sense of urgency. People pay attention to what’s important and urgent.
• Allowing technology to trump all. While technology is important, making BPM stick is about much more than technology alone. Performance measures, policy refinement and bridging skill gaps also play key roles in making BPM stick.
• Failing to assess organizational readiness for change. Forewarned is forearmed. Assuring that you reach out to the major stakeholders is key – and failing to do so represents a major pitfall.
• Not acting promptly/decisively to remove obstacles to the new way of working. Self-evident. Needed not just for implementation of a new design but also for continuous improvement.

Paying close attention to factors such as transparency, advocacy, alignment and accountability and avoiding the pitfalls listed above can go a long way towards making BPM stick. Putting the “M” back into BPM is what is needed for long term success. I welcome your comments and/or questions on this topic and encourage you to contact me at andrew(at)spanyi.com