Dynamic BPM Tools
Within any BPM there are two types of human activity – structured and dynamic. Structured activities are completely predictable, and dynamic or unstructured which, depending on what is required or who can assist, are constantly changing. It is these dynamic tasks which dominate business processes; they are rarely scripted and usually provide little visibility of the activities involved and are not accommodated within a rigid confine. This was the primary reason for specific BPM tools to be developed.
The Differences of Dynamic BPM Tools
These tools were designed to more specifically focus on the unstructured and more chaotic business tasks and activities. They are designed to have the capability to track dynamically and reveal processes as they happen, capturing the knowledge to enable repeat successes in the future. They allow the visibility into how knowledge workers create collaborations, make decisions and operate. This information can then be collated and analysed to assist best practices of the future.
Practicalities of Dynamic BPM
The tools of a dynamic BPM can provide a great informational resource to allow companies to harness the skills and knowledge of their experienced staff, and ensures that this knowledge remains with the company even in the event of executives or senior staff retiring. With the baby boomer generation going into retirement, this will enable many businesses to cope with the loss of personnel which would otherwise have suffered from the disappearance of valuable knowledge and skill sets.
Guidelines for Successful Implementation
BPM technology alone cannot solve the challenges of workforce skills being lost. Dynamic workers must embrace a new range of tools, and organisations need to develop the techniques and expertise to fully support this new method of working. There are several key guidelines to assist in successful implementation;
- The BPM must be completely adaptive to business requirements and allow the flexibility to intuitively process complex tasks, without confining the flow of knowledge workers to a rigid set of parameters.
- The tools should complement or mirror the technology and processes that knowledge workers are comfortable with. The initiative must offer simple integration of collaboration technology. This needs a delicate balance of the collaboration with some structure to ensure that forced structure, or over engineering, does not occur.
- To ensure maximum success potential, businesses need to utilise experts on the subject matter who are able to support, develop, implement and evolve the processes.
A BPM can achieve significant improvements in processes and efficiency, and when correctly implemented the tools of a dynamic BPM will provide businesses with fantastic processes. The effective implementation will allow knowledge workers to utilise the myriad of self service capabilities to create better solutions to the unique challenges they face, and achieve greater success. Allowing users to embrace a greater degree of ownership over business processes ensures the organisation can capture the unique insights, knowledge and skill sets of more experienced employees. The dynamic BPM tools will prove vital to organisations wishing to improve performance, sustain skills and knowledge, and build a productive and successful future.