Process management: yes or no?

The implementation of the process management approach in the company usually responds to the objective of improving the efficiency of the organisation. To achieve results, the first step is mapping, which captures the company's business processes end-to-end. Each step is then documented in process maps.

Once you have visibility into the processes of the whole organisation or one of its areas, you can more easily identify where bottlenecks are most likely to occur or where inefficiencies lie.

This visibility allows process managers to make informed changes where necessary., to reduce costs and improve overall efficiency.

What are the benefits of using a business process management system?

Process management is a consistent support to any business improvement initiative, as it provides an important aid in modelling, analysing and optimising processes to drive business transformation.

There are important benefits derived from process management. Many of these stem from having a clear picture of what processes exist in the business, what they consist of and how they are carried out. Without that insight it would not be so easy to analyse them to discover the areas that need improvement and put a plan in place to start making changes based on data-driven evidence.

The advantages of this approach include the following:

• The information available in the company about the processes, procedures and documents relating to them is centralised.
• Processes and procedures are standardised, This allows all employees in the organisation to approach them in the same way.
• Bottlenecks are easier to identify and process improvements can be made.
• By applying process management, the following are achieved significant cost reductions based on continuous improvement.

What are the disadvantages of process management?

The main disadvantages of process management have to do with inadequate preparation. Without clarity on what you want to achieve, adequate mapping or monitoring to support business improvement initiatives, adapting to the new approach will not work.

In addition to this drawback, process management, in practice, has some disadvantages, such as:

• Limited understanding of existing processes, as the human factor is often left out and is a variable that conditions the results.
• It can happen employees not following the processes or not adapting to the system once it is implemented.
• Sometimes, failure will come when there is insufficient stakeholder support, The aim of improving the business will be made more difficult to achieve.

It has been proven that A process management system will only be successful if it is used consistently and continuously, and is supported from the outset by key stakeholders.