It must take a long time to make a Universe. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, you might think it takes a long time to powerwash the front drive, but that’s just *peanuts* to making a Universe. Douglas managed it with his Hitchhiker Universe, and its now difficult to imagine there was a time when we did not know that Vogon poetry was among the worst in the Universe, that the way to travel vast interstellar distances is by using an infinite improbability drive, and that the answer to the untimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42.

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European financial markets seem to be getting flattened, in more ways than one. For a long time most people thought the whole world was flat. Then 2,500 years ago Pythagoras proved that the world is spherical. Rediscovering flatness of a kind, 44 years ago Marshall McLuhan introduced the term “global village”, recognising that technology was unlocking the doors between people and nations. More recently, Thomas Friedman declared 4 years ago that “The World is Flat” in his best-selling book of that name, quoting one of the drivers and benefactors of this new “flat” earth, Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.

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Today’s organisations compete through more efficient and better executed business processes. Business Process Management (BPM) is an approach and technology for implementing well-defined, well executed processes.

Michael White provides his top tips on how to successfully introduce BPM to your organisation.

1. Pick a project that will make a difference.

For your first BPM project, select a highly visible business process where improvements will yield real organisational benefits. The process you choose should be in a key operating area that is important to the organisation, so it can act as an example and inspiration for subsequent projects. Clearly define what the expected benefits of improving the process will be, such as cost efficiency, customer service, or faster responsiveness. Quantify these benefits you require in terms of money, time, people or other specific measures.

2. Obtain Senior Management Buy-in.

You want high-level sponsorship of the project at the outset to ensure you get the resources you need, to gain buy-in from staff and to overcome resistance to change. Your executive sponsor should have the authority and respect required to keep up project momentum. He or she should also be prepared to remain in a hands-on role throughout the first delivery – just showing up at project kick-off won’t be sufficient.

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