Business process management – what is it?

Business process management is an approach to managing an organization in which the focus is on processes—that is, repeatable sequences of activities leading to a specific outcome—rather than on individual departments or positions. It involves identifying the processes the company carries out, assigning people to be responsible for them, measuring their performance, and continuously improving them. The goal is to ensure that work flows smoothly from start to finish, rather than being confined to individual departments.

The process-based approach vs. the functional approach

In a traditional functional structure, each department is responsible for its own segment of work and focuses on its own metrics. A task—such as a customer order—passes through sales, warehousing, accounting, and logistics, but no one is responsible for the entire process. The biggest delays and errors usually occur at the interfaces between departments, where a task waits to be handed off or is returned due to missing information.

In a process-oriented approach, a single person is responsible for the entire process from start to finish, and its quality is assessed from the perspective of the recipient, an external or internal customer. This does not mean eliminating departments. The functional structure remains, and the process-oriented approach is superimposed on it as a second dimension that shows how work flows between departments. It also forms the basis of quality management standards, such as ISO 9001.

Elements of process management

In order for processes to be manageable, there are several things that need to be sorted out in the organization:

  • identification and description of processes – determining what processes operate in the company and recording their course, most often in the form of a map of processes and models,
  • process owner – a person responsible for the entire process, regardless of how many departments it goes through,
  • goals and metrics – indicators such as lead time, cost, number of errors or customer satisfaction, thanks to which you can see how the process works,
  • documentation and standards – procedures and instructions that describe how the process is to be carried out,
  • technological support – systems for conducting processes, such as workflow and BPMS, which keep track of rules, deadlines and record results,
  • continuous improvement – regularly reviewing results and making changes where the process fails.

Without any of these elements, process management is usually blurred: the described processes are not subject to anyone or are measured, but no one has the authority to change them.

Process management vs. project management

Project management involves one-time activities that have a defined start and end and lead to a unique outcome, such as the implementation of a new system. Process management refers to repetitive activities carried out multiple times and focuses on maintaining consistent quality and continuous improvement. The two approaches complement each other: process improvement is often carried out as a project.