Controlling today’s economic climate may be beyond even the most brilliant of business minds, but there are steps that business leaders can take to control the processes that power success inside their own organizations.

Business processes lie at the very heart of a company's ability to survive, thrive and capitalize in turbulent times. Business process management (BPM) is a strategic and practical tool for restoring stability and value and ultimately, gaining a few steps on the competition.

Many organizations are already running process management projects that are delivering results, but have yet to make the shift to creating strategic BPM programs. Some may even be delaying the move because of the current economic uncertainty, but there is no better time than during an economic slowdown to do so.

Let’s see how BPM can act as a bridge between strategy and results, while existing within the context of the enterprise business architecture (EBA), to define the change and program and portfolio management (PPM) processes, to optimize investment results. This is not to say that organizations without an EBA or PPM discipline cannot launch a BPM program, but they should perform gap analysis to determine if necessary oversight or structure is missing, and take steps to ensure that the governance that these disciplines provide, is addressed in the interim.

Taking this view squarely positions BPM as a strategic management discipline and one that can deliver considerable value to the organization, particularly at times when budgets are tight and accountability is paramount.

As one might expect, BPM program management requires many of the same skills as IT project management, and some that are specific to BPM. While many traditional project management skills apply, such as resource planning, risk identification and mitigation, some BPM activities require a subtle shift in skills as well as some additional competencies. The major activities that comprise BPM program management are:

• Sponsorship: The executive sponsor needs sufficient organizational clout to influence other leaders and garner trust within the departments affected by the BPM program.
  
  
• Objectives and Outcomes: Objectives and outcomes should be specific, providing a target for the work to be done and the dependencies for other work.
  
  
• Education and Training: Education about BPM enables the organization to understand what the shift will actually be, which is essential for engagement. At the same time, adequate provision must be made for the training effort required.
  
  
• Opportunity Analysis: This is the backbone of the work effort from a BPM program, the outcome of which is represented in a BPM program road map.
  
  
• BPM Program Road Map: This considers the objectives and outcomes and represents the ‘chunks’ that will be executed to deliver the projects. The projects need to take the holistic view of process (how the work is executed), people (how roles and organizations need to change to do this work) and technology (what will enable the work to take place), and represent all these as projects. These projects are then sequenced over time and clearly associated with the metrics they will deliver.

Communication and change management are critical elements of all aspects of BPM work. The cultural, political and organizational impacts of process improvement work permeate the organization and without an emphasis on this important activity, BPM efforts are likely to fail. Change management enables the organization to understand and accept the systematic impacts in the context of the BPM program. Communication must be properly planned and resourced, and becomes even more pertinent when the economic climate is unpredictable and employees need extra reassurance regarding changes in the business.

To conclude, BPM is a proven method that can be applied to help a company through difficult times. Whether your goal is cost reduction, process optimization or business optimization, BPM is a methodology and discipline that can directly affect the material health of a company. As the economic situation remains uncertain, companies will trim back, then cut, then stagnate. BPM can make the difference between stagnation, survival or growth.