What is Process Management?

What is process management? Process management, have you ever heard of it? Or heard of it and have no idea what it is and whether it has any relevance to you or your business?

Think about it, every business is just a vast number of processes. You process orders; you process invoices, you process payments; you process customer enquiries, you process employees, you process… You get the picture. Most businesses have hundreds of processes, some good and some bad, without realising it.

Processes are the lifeblood of your business, whether you are a huge corporation or a small business. They drive everything that happens and the speed at which everything happens. If you can speed up your processes, you’ll see an increase in revenue and profits. The thing with processes is that you need to know what works and doesn’t to improve them.

This article will explain precisely what process management is and how it can benefit all businesses.

Let’s get started; what is process management?

What is Process Management?

Process management is the practice of designing, executing, monitoring, and optimising business processes. It ensures that tasks are performed efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with business goals.

A business process is a series of linked steps or tasks that result in a specific outcome—like fulfilling an order or onboarding a client.

Process management involves documenting these steps, assigning responsibilities, measuring performance, and continually improving how work is done.

Process management is about identifying repeatable processes, documenting, improving, and managing processes.

The primary goal of process management is to ensure that processes are executed efficiently and effectively and that business resources are used optimally.

Think of them as a checklist, a how-to guide on how your business runs best.

Process management is also known as business process management, identified by the acronym BPM. The definition of business process management (BPM) is the practice of improving, optimising, and automating business processes to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall organisational performance.

Why is Process Management Important?

Business processes are the invisible engines that power your organisation. When those processes are undocumented or trapped in someone’s head, this is called Tacit knowledge – know-how without being aware that we have it. This is why process management is important. You risk delays, miscommunication, and costly mistakes.

When processes, procedures and best practices are not documented, and a person leaves or gets sick, that knowledge disappears from the business.

Process management is important for several reasons. Some key benefits include:

• Efficiency: By managing processes in a systematic and organised way, businesses can improve efficiency, reduce wasted time and save resources. Potentially leading to cost savings and an overall increase in productivity.
• Quality: Creating clear and well-defined processes, businesses can ensure that tasks are completed consistently and to a very high standard. Leading to improved quality and customer satisfaction.
• Flexibility: Processes can be easily adapted and modified, allowing businesses to respond more quickly and effectively to changing business conditions.
• Compliance: Having processes that are compliant with laws, regulations, and industry standards, businesses can minimise the risk of legal and financial penalties.
• Innovation: Continuously optimising and improving processes, businesses foster a culture of innovation and improvement, which can lead to new products, services, and revenue streams.
• Collaboration: Involving individuals and teams in the design and management process, businesses can foster better collaboration and teamwork, which can lead to improved communication and decision-making.

Overall, process management is essential for organisations of all types and sizes, as it helps them operate more efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with regulations, while fostering innovation and collaboration.

Benefits of Process Management

• Reduces duplication and rework
• Improves accountability
• Enhances customer satisfaction
• Boosts employee productivity
• Enables scaling and growth

Process management isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about building a stronger, more adaptable business.

Key Stages in Process Management

The steps of process management can vary depending on the specific methodology or framework being used, but generally, they include the following:

What are the steps of process management?

• Process Identification: Identifying and defining the process that needs to be managed. This includes identifying the process boundaries, inputs, outputs, and key stakeholders.
• Process Planning: Create a plan – what processes and who will be the owner of each process?
• Process Design: Designing how a process should work. Designing the new or improved process, taking into account the results of the analysis and the goals and objectives of the organisation. This includes defining the process flow, roles and responsibilities, and performance metrics.
• Process Documenting and Mapping: Documenting the process flow, including all the activities, decisions, and tasks. This can be done using flowcharts, process maps, or swimlane diagrams.
• Process Analysis: Analysing the process to identify areas for improvement and optimisation. This includes measuring performance, identifying bottlenecks, and identifying opportunities for automation.
• Process Implementation: Implementing the new or improved process, including training employees, updating systems and procedures, and testing the process to ensure it works as expected.
• Process Monitoring and Control: Monitoring the performance of the process and making adjustments as needed. This includes tracking performance metrics, identifying deviations, and making course corrections.
• Process Continuous Improvement/ Process Optimisation: Continuously improve the process based on feedback, performance data and new requirements.

It’s worth noting that some process management methodologies may add or combine steps, and some may be omitted depending on the organisation’s specific needs and the maturity level of the process management.

Examples of Process Management in Action

Some examples of business processes that can be managed using BPM include:

• Recruitment Process: This process includes recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding new employees. Streamline and automate the process to reduce the time and resources required to recruit a new team member.
• Human Resources Processes – HR processes have many processes to ensure employees’ happiness and welfare.
• Order Fulfilment Process: This multiple-stage process includes receiving customer orders, processing payments, and shipping products. BPMS can ensure steps are not missed and can be used to optimise the process even more, making it more efficient and reducing errors.
• Accounts and Finance Process: This process includes receiving invoices, verifying their accuracy, and processing payments. Automating processes and allocating the right person to the task reduces the time and resources required to process invoices.
• Supply Chain Management: Managing all the activities involved in the sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics management of goods, services, and products. BPM can be used to optimise the process, making it more efficient and reducing errors.
• Customer Service Process: Handling customer inquiries and complaints, and providing support and assistance.
• Compliance Processes – Process management helps track and follow compliance guidelines, creating an audit trail. Knowing steps are not missed and who completed each task is essential.

These are just a few examples; many other processes, such as financial reporting, inventory management, performance management, and project management, can also be managed using BPM.

Types of Process Management

Now that we have explained what process management is, you need to expand your knowledge by knowing the different types of business processes.

• Manual Process Management: Using paper checklists or spreadsheets to track progress.
• Digital Process Management: Using software to create workflows and assign tasks.
• Automated Process Management: Leveraging tools that trigger actions automatically based on logic.

There are several different types of process management, but the most common ones:

• Operational process management: Operational process management focuses on the day-to-day operations of a business. Managing resources and processes that are essential to producing goods and services. Processes essential for the business’s daily functions, such as production, logistics, and customer service.
  Goal – Operational process management optimises these processes and makes them as efficient as possible.
  
• Strategic process management: Focuses on a business’s long-term goals and objectives. It involves managing processes critical to the business’s success, such as product development, innovation, and market expansion.
  Goal – Strategic process management is about aligning these processes with the business’s overall strategy and ensuring they align with the overall business objectives.
  
• Business Process Management (BPM): Business process management focuses on improving and optimising business processes. It involves using methodologies, tools and techniques to design, model, execute, monitor and analyse business processes. BPM systems are a way to implement, manage and improve processes using automation wherever possible.
  Goal – BPM is to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall organisational performance.

It is worth noting that some organisations or experts may classify or define these types differently, but the general concepts are the same.

Types of Business Process Management (BPM) Approaches

Now let’s break down business processes into types and ways to manage them. Every business has some level of BPM running in its business, whether it knows it or not. What will process management be used for?

Integration-centric BPM, Document-centric BPM, and Human-centric BPM are different approaches to Business Process Management (BPM) that focus on different aspects of the process.

• Integration-centric BPM: Focuses on integrating different systems and applications to automate and streamline business processes.
  Goal – Connect different systems and applications to create a seamless workflow.
  Benefits: improved efficiency, reduced costs, and increased automation.
  
• Document-centric BPM: Focuses on managing and automating the handling of documents within a process.
  Goal – Ensure that documents are properly stored, tracked, and retrieved as needed.
  Benefits – Improved compliance, better document management, and increased efficiency.
  
• Human-centric BPM: Focuses on involving people and teams in process design and management. Identifying tasks, activities and human skills involved in processes, then creating automated processes to support human tasks and actions
  Goal – Ensure that processes are designed with the end-user in mind, taking into account their needs and capabilities.
  Benefits – Improved user satisfaction, increased productivity, and better collaboration.

It’s worth noting that these three approaches are not mutually exclusive and can be used together. An integration-centric BPM can be used to automate the document-centric process, and a human-centric approach can be used to design and optimise the process with the end-user in mind.

In any case, the best approach to BPM will depend on the business’s specific needs and goals, as well as the processes being managed. Some businesses may benefit from a more integration-centric approach, while others may benefit more from a human-centric approach.

Process Management Tools and Software

Modern software can help automate, monitor, and optimise your business processes. Popular process management tools include:

• Checkify – Create and automate repeatable processes using visual checklists.
• Lucidchart – Build process maps and flowcharts for visual clarity.
• Trello / Asana – Manage task-based processes across teams.
• Zapier / Make.com – Automate workflows between apps and systems.
• Kissflow / Nintex / Process Street – Specialised BPM tools for process automation and tracking.

Choosing the right tool depends on your business size, complexity, and goals.

Optimise your process management

All processes need to be continuously improved, and here are a few things you need to consider when optimising your business processes.

Process Owner – It is essential to have a process owner who assigns responsibility for the process design and improvement.  Familiarity with the process from end-to-end and continuously assessing the need for improvement and optimisation.

Continuous Improvement – It is essential to create a culture of continuous improvement where people are encouraged to give feedback and comments are taken on board.

Document Reapable Processes – Standardise repeatable processes to reduce failures and errors

Automate Processes – automate repetitive tasks to free up time and focus on tasks that add additional value to the business.

Why Process Management is Crucial

Without strong process management, businesses fall into chaos—with miscommunication, inefficiency, and missed opportunities. When you document, track, and improve your processes, you empower your team to work better and your business to grow stronger.

Checkify Process Management

Process management software should support and handle a company’s process management needs. Help you manage any business process you throw at it. This is where Checkify can help you manage your business processes.

Implementing process management software tools like Checkify across your company offers numerous benefits, including having how-to knowledge at everyone’s fingertips, accountability, reduced errors, assigning the right person for the job, and knowing who is doing what and when.

One of the most significant benefits is constant process improvements and optimisation, and the ability for everyone to access the best possible way to complete a task with the best outcome. This can drastically improve productivity and reduce the chances of human error.

Team members can have quick access to business processes, the ability to design processes, learn to manage their own processes, and constantly optimise and improve them. What is process management going to be used for in your business?