I bumped into an old friend recently and we updated each on other on family health and the like, in the course of which he told me about his son’s approach to exams. His son subscribes to the “Law of Forced Efficiency“. Some of you may remember the original radio shows wherein one of the plot devices was an “artificially induced crisis mode” used by the Lintilla clones any time they had something that they needed to get done. I’ve also observed (and this will get me into trouble) that some cultures in Europe seem to like crises more than others, and prefer to let them arise and then react energetically, rather than proactively head them off. I’ll drop a hint and say that those cultures are in the Mediterranean (must be the heat).

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During a recent car journey my wife posed me the following question

- ‘If you were to go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?’
It’s a great question - (especially after passing on future lottery numbers and racing tips had been out ruled), what personal decisions would you change, and more interestingly, what would then be the ripple effect on the rest of your life?

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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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