Design The Digital Workplace With Process Management

The future workplace will not only include work that is independent of time and place, such as the home office. Above all, information must be provided so that it can be used effectively and efficiently directly. Functioning process management brings people, data, documents, tasks, and required tools together.

Definition: What Is Process Management?

Process management means the definition, documentation, control and automation, evaluation, and, ultimately, the constant review and improvement of work processes.

Why Is Process Management Important For The Digital Workplace?

Internal and external business processes’ internal and external requirements are constantly increasing, and they have to be traversed faster and faster.

On the other hand, non-digital and digital processes are increasing in complexity. The number of variants per process is growing, and the dependencies between different business processes are increasing. The requirements for compliance with legal, contractual and organizational regulations (compliance, risk management) are also increasing.

In addition, more and more cross-departmental processes are developing in companies, all of which are small or large cogs in a company’s transmission.

A cross-industry example of this is the purchase-to-pay process, which includes the topics of requirement notification, procurement, delivery, storage, and invoice settlement.

Objective – Efficiency And Effectiveness Through Process Management

The goal of process management is to support and improve relevant business processes. To support effective work, software manufacturers offer different tools: These offer functions on the different levels of process management.

The Tasks of Process Management

Various areas of application are summarized under the keyword process management:

Representation/modeling of processes
the execution of processes
the analysis of processes

First, relevant processes are identified and specified using models in the first stage. In addition, efficiency and effectiveness advantages are sought directly, which can be realized by adapting the processes. The representation or the documentation, as well as the planning and modeling, help to secure knowledge in work processes and to initiate continuous improvement.

Further analysis functions offer the possibility of evaluating processes according to key figures such as throughput times or costs and identifying bottlenecks. This can help to discover new synergy effects and make processes more effective.

A cost-benefit calculation for individual activities is also possible. In this way, companies evaluate their processes based on their profitability, and simulation components can compare alternatives.

Due to the possibilities of documentation and evaluation, there are also obligations to provide evidence, e.g., B. Compliance or risk management is supported. In this way, violations in these areas can also be identified quickly.

Workflow functions are provided for the execution of processes. The systems can automate sub-tasks. If input from a human specialist user is required, the tools offer appropriate masks.

BPM systems also have many options for calling up data and functions from third-party systems or transferring content to them. Monitoring components help control and monitor the workflows (e.g., deadline management).

However, without clear goals and the right organizational framework, such initiatives fail.

Process Management Methods

The management of business processes is an essential corporate task. The knowledge in business processes must be recorded, managed, developed, and, above all, used. 

For this purpose, process management is divided into two areas: (technical) process modeling and process execution in workflows.

The Modeling of Work Processes

The modeling of business processes creates the basis for achieving process management goals. Companies specify and secure the relationships by documenting the processes, decisions, people, and resources involved.

Well-known use cases are certifications, quality management, risk management, or various business improvement measures. 

As part of an analysis, performance parameters can be defined and, based on this, and relationships can be evaluated, condensed, and used for decisions. The simulation offers possibilities to develop and evaluate alternatives with little effort.

Workflow Management

Workflows work through business processes with the help of a system. The user is guided through the process, and the process-relevant information is obtained in the appropriate masks. Clear assignment of tasks, substitute concepts, and deadlines with escalation mechanisms ensure processing. 

The system can automate Sub-steps. There are many ways to process processes with little effort. 

If all information is available and there is no freedom of choice, the system automatically carries out the corresponding steps (e.g., calculation of information, generation of documents). 

The system generates a corresponding mask if the content has to be supplemented or assessed by a person. The user can make the entries there.

Workflows can also access existing information from third-party systems by using databases, interfaces, etc., and writing (interim) results back to the specialist systems. 

In this way, process management systems connect the applications and sub-processes to form overarching processes. The control logic and any additional aspects are mapped in the BPM system, existing specialist logic, and the corresponding data are integrated from the specialist systems.

In addition, models are used in the development and adaptation of software. Requirements and framework conditions are recorded, coordinated with the departments, and specified according to the intended use. The range of applications is very broad: Models can be used from the pure definition of processes as a specification for the implementation of the automatic generation of executable programs.

Process mining plays a special role in business process management, as it reconstructs processes across systems using real data. In particular, delays and deviations from specifications can be identified.

Process Management Software & Tools

The different BPM usage scenarios have produced different market segments. There is a special focus on process modeling tools and software focusing on workflows.

Various solutions have been developed to support the control and execution of processes. In addition to highly structured workflows, the user can also define ad-hoc workflows directly as required.

Systems for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enable simple manual activities through assistance programs. Case management/collaboration refers to flexible collaboration based on shared files and tasks.

A major trend is the combination of different ways of working. The support of highly regulated and automatable processes through predefined, rule-based workflows is combined with a more flexible type of collaboration. Systems are offered as collaboration solutions that can quickly define simple task chains and allow other people to add to processes. Temporary rights are usually assigned here to support the joint processing of tasks.

In addition to the special systems, many other system categories offer at least basic process support. Most of the time, workflows are offered in the respective specialist world, for example, accounting releases in ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning) or the support of an acquisition process in a CRM system (Customer Relationship Management).

ECM systems (Enterprise Content Management) enable overarching processes and have advantages, especially when documents and files are integrated. “

Further Training in The Field of Process Management

Would you like to achieve your desired goal of effective and efficient processes? 

There are many different systems on the software market that support the digital implementation of business processes. It is often difficult for (future) users to assess which system type is particularly suitable for which processes or problems and which are not.

Also Read: Decision-Making Tools In Project Management