Where I come from we use the word ‘tight’ to describe someone who is thrifty - the word is often used to poke gentle fun at friends or colleagues. Nowdays being careful with money has become sexy, with the weekend papers full of ways to beat the credit crunch, and 101 ways to survive a financial crisis. Suddenly managing the pennies is the new cool - well, maybe not cool, but certainly being aware of, and managing all the costs associated with your household or business is now a priority.

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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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