The five steps in business process management lifecycle are:

1. Design

The very first step is designing a workflow. Before you proceed, you need a mode of data collection. Thereafter, a workflow needs to be built to process the collected data.

For this step, you need to identify the bottlenecks and scope for process improvement. Then, formulate the plans and figure out the ways to resolve these problems. Draft process models to map out the workflow clearly. Design the maps in such a way that it is easily understandable and practical.       

You may need a mock-up form to collect and display information. The form also identifies who is assigned each set of tasks. In simpler words, the purpose of business process management is breakdown of process into smaller tasks.

Always create a deployment back up plan to ensure that appropriate and relevant process performers are being trained for the modifications and the transitions are smooth.

Designing step involves process planning and strategy to attain the following goals:

• Understanding the organization’s strategies, goals, and objectives. They will work as a guide to set the objectives and strategies of BPM life cycle, as both of them needs to be aligned.
• Identifying and enumerating current processes, to have an in-depth look at all the existing process architecture of the organization.

The three major types of processes or activities that exist within organizations are:

1. Primary processes

The primary process is the fundamental line of business of the enterprise. It deals closely with the core values of the business and the value chain.

As the name suggests, a primary process is a basic process through which the enterprise delivers services/ products to its clients. Dealing with this process is very crucial as this is the fundamental process as it directly affects the deliverable to the clients. These processes form an integral part of an organization and need to be paid close attention to.

The aim of optimizing this process is to add value at every step to give value addition to the end product/ service that gets delivered to the client. Improving this process has a direct effect on the output of the enterprise.

Primary processes can be further divided into 5 major processes for business process management lifecycle:

• Sales
• Production
• Customer Services
• Finance
• Supply chain management

1. Support Processes

Support processes are the processes which do not deliver the final product/ service to the client, but it creates an environment that is suitable for the primary processes to function smoothly.

These processes do not directly generate value for the customer. Having said that, the support processes are also vital for the enterprise. The processes like management process, accounting processes, and human resource processes facilitate the working of an organization.

Enhancing these processes means making the fundamentally and strategically strong. Although the support processes, do not add value to the client directly, they help in developing a solid working environment.

Support processes comprises the following:

• Human Resources.
• Middle Management.

III. Management Processes:

Similar to support processes, the Management processes do not add value to the end customer but still they very important types of business processes. These processes are more oriented toward monitoring and analyzing business activities.

Management processes help in making the enterprise a brand and by standing out and providing its clients with value in intangible terms. Management processes involve direct decision-making and leadership execution in the frontline.

Identification of appropriate BPM roles and responsibilities within the organization. Who are the key players in BPM life cycle? What level of support will the organization’s BPM initiatives get from top management and the other members of the organization?

Identification of methodologies and performance measures to be used in BPM life cycle.

2. Model

The second step is creating a business model. It is typically a process of making visual display of the processes. It includes the order of events in the workflow.

An example of such a visualization can be: –

Initiate à Form completed à Review by the manager à Form updated as per the reviews and resubmission done à Approval of request by manager à Approval of request by CEO à Completion.

This is just an example of linear representation for approval of a capital expenditure. However, many processes may not be this simple or have a pre-defined path.

3. Execute

Without proper execution of the business process management lifecycle, the above-mentioned steps will be useless. For this step you need a Business Process Management System.

This system can be built according to your needs or tailor-made BPM system can be purchased. Bonus tip: Always test your system for small groups first, before presenting it to the world.

There are 2 ways of implementing a new process design: systemic and non-systemic implementation. Systemic implementations require you to use particular software or tools for implementation whereas, non-systemic implementation doesn’t require anything as such.

Making a decision between the two types depends solely on the nature of the business process and resources available to the organization. Although, the ultimate goal remains the same i.e., to align the workflow practices designed in the previous stage. 

4. Monitor

It is a crucial step to watch and analyze if your workflow is running properly. Choose your metrics to determine the outcomes wisely.

This helps you understand if the business process models are working for you or not. This gives a lot of perspective if the processes you designed could help you reach your business goals.

This is the part where you locate all the loopholes. Accurate monitoring can be done only with proper facts, and figures, so always gather relevant data.

Monitoring phase shows if the business premises and principles were precise, if the goals we set were achieved, what kind of processes influence direct results and what are its internal and external impacts!

5. Optimize

After thorough business process analysis, it’s time to make the amends in the form/workflow. Optimization is required to make your workflow more and more efficient. Optimize process is the main key for business process management lifecycle.

So, now it’s time to optimize it and improve it again! It may seem as the stages are separated, but in fact, they are highly connected. This stage represents repeating all the above stages and working to improve them. Execution, monitoring, and optimizing everything works in a loop and begins all over again.

Additional: Re-engineering (if required)

In certain cases, business re-engineering becomes absolutely important. If a process consistently doesn’t produce visible results, you need to look for certain alternatives or changes in the processes. For any business to grow and work efficiently, suitable amends need to be made.

You need to keep finding and implementing new ways, replacing the old, non-productive ones. Business process re-engineering (BPR) is an important step in business process management (BPM). Implementing process re-engineering requires effective and clear business process management.