Do you remember the first time you rode your bike without gripping the handlebar? "Hey—look—no hands!" you probably exclaimed with excitement. If you’re lucky, you ended the trip on your bike, bearing a bright smile rather than a skinned knee.

Planning for a business process management (BPM) and workflow implementation bears some resemblance to riding hands free, only on a larger scale. Whether or not you stay on course isn’t just a matter of luck. You need to know where your business is headed; understand what you are striving to achieve; streamline your processes to ensure efficient routing; anticipate the unexpected; keep a sharp eye out for change; and make changes on the fly so you remain steady till the end.

Presuming you’ve read the first two articles in this series (Developing an Enterprise Vision for Business Process Automation and Indexing for the Enterprise: Retrieve Your Documents 100% of the Time), you already learned the importance of establishing a clear organizational vision. You also know ECM is data driven, and you learned tips for effective indexing so information can be found when it’s needed and leveraged enterprise-wide. BPM and workflow build on these successes.

Whether your processes revolve around documents, represent a series of events, or both, your data is a launching pad to drive work and decision making efficiently across your organization. If you understand the unseen as well as the obvious benefits of automation, you will visualize more clearly the long-term value across the enterprise. Knowing what questions to answer before you start helps you approach your project confidently.

The real benefits of BPM/Workflow

Beyond streamlining procedures and shortening turnaround, many significant benefits aren’t immediately evident:

• Redistribute work based on employee absenteeism—sharing work equally, allocating it to the person with the emptiest Inbox, or by position;

• Change organizational hierarchies and roles without affecting the flow of work, since BPM adjusts immediately to new information;

• Change spontaneously how work is processed without retraining staff;

• Predict and react to bottlenecks in work—adjusting hierarchies, tasks, and rules to prevent slowdowns;

• Extract data from multiple sources into one at prescheduled intervals or in real time for easier, smarter decision making.

Intelligent automation means faster service and easier tracking. It eliminates redundancy by reusing data enterprise-wide, following your rules. It also ensures consistent customer treatment, preventing tasks from being overlooked or pushed to the bottom of the pile. Detailed tracking of every action facilitates audits and regulatory compliance.

Questions you need to answer before you start

Smart BPM/Workflow automation not only requires robust technology; it depends on asking and answering the right questions. Here are a few to help you think your way down the path of automation.

Ask yourself:

What’s the primary reason we are automating this process? To save money? Make service faster or more convenient? Mitigate risk?

Take care that those involved—department managers, employees, vendors—understand and agree on the project purpose so the implementation delivers what you expect.

For which processes is each document type in our organization used? How will automation in one area affect another?

Even if you are automating a handful of processes for one department, examine the organizational labyrinth of everyday procedures and understand their interaction. Otherwise, you’ll miss opportunities to optimize efficiency. Purchasing may interact with inventory control. Contract management processes may interact with vacation approvals, performance reviews, and payroll. Understand how everything works together.

Is every step in this process necessary? Can some be eliminated or combined?

Automating streamlined processes and maximizing concurrent actions or decision making gives you the upper hand in service. You may cut turnaround time from weeks to days, or even hours.

How are exceptions handled?

Although most processes follow standard rules, many have anticipated exceptions. Make sure you plan accordingly and establish rules to handle them.

How can process automation improve records management strategy?

Know the document lifecycle for each record you process. Will you need to automate disposition schedules after your records have exceeded their mandated retention periods?

Is there data in legacy or software applications that is needed for this process? Do multiple searches occur during processing that involve disparate systems?

Tap into staff and talk through the details. When workers are served task lists, will they have to log into other systems to access information or make decisions? Make sure your chosen BPM solution integrates seamlessly with email, fax, legacy, and line-of-business applications for optimal performance.

What training can we offer employees to help them embrace automation and succeed?

Training is an investment in success. When employees understand what to do, why they are doing it, the benefits of adopting a new way, and have the tools and knowledge to proceed confidently, they will succeed. Without adequate training, your project may not be fully accepted and you may suffer unwittingly from underperformance.

What criteria will we use to measure success? How will we recognize achievements so we can multiply them?

The clear goals you established initially will help you define benchmarks for achievement along the way. With a solid plan and strong technology, success should be inevitable—but you must never take it for granted. Change is stressful for employees, so you need to set clear expectations and recognize and celebrate them as they’re met. As employees gain confidence and experience, they may generate additional ideas for improvements that you wouldn’t want to miss.

BPM helps you reach your destination—every time

Remember riding a bike with no hands? There was always a risk you might misjudge and fall over. In contrast, when your BPM and workflow systems are up and running, the risk of miscalculation disappears. Your processes follow your established rules every time, without fail.

BPM frees your hands from time-consuming tasks, assuring you that your customers and business will be handled consistently every time, by every employee. Timely, accurate information helps you make smart decisions with confidence. With your hands free from timeconsuming search, document delivery, analysis, and more, you can focus on your next goals and push onward toward victory.