Key Business Process Management (BPM) Skills and Organizational Roles

Accomplishing organizational projects often requires following a process – or several. Sometimes, the process flows across multiple departments and functions and spans months at a time. Other times, the process is streamlined and quick. In order to ensure the myriad of processes driving business operations are each flowing in the most efficient way possible, organizations can adopt business process management (BPM) to help unlock better business agility.

BPM Organizational Roles

Managing business processes often requires multiple roles (or groups) within a single organization, according to Villanova University’s Essentials of Business Process Management course. The BPM teams discussed in the Essentials of BPM course include a Capability and Organization Leader (C&O), BPM Center of Excellence Organization (CoE) and a Chief Information Organization (CIO).

The C&O team generally focuses on operation knowledge spanning from operations and warehousing to logistics and planning. Typically, professionals in a C&O team have hands-on experience with transactional systems like purchasing, planning, capital management or production systems. In order to oversee these operations, individuals must hold a deep understanding of internal customers, functional organizations they support, their strategies and key stakeholders.

The CoE organization adopts a more technical perspective, emphasizing business analysis to power production, planning, finance and purchasing decisions. Professionals in a CoE team are process knowledge-oriented and have the ability to translate between technical, business and external consultant communities.

A CIO organization team typically has a passion for process improvement, emphasizes effective communication, deliverable-focused job descriptions and continuous improvement and focuses on the capability of technology to solve the business’s true needs.

According to the Essentials of BPM course, C&O, CoE and CIO organizations may be within different hierarchies and can evolve over time. However, each team possesses skills that are critical to making them effective.

• Business process knowledge
• Business acumen
• Management skills
• Hands-on application knowledge at the transactional level
• Interpersonal skills coupled with technical savvy to bridge business and technical communities

BPM Project Roles

Additionally, there are several key roles within BPM projects, including:

• Business process manager – This professional is dedicated to improving business processes by evaluating existing processes, developing and refining new processes, and monitoring and adapting process implementations.

• A BPM Sponsor or Champion – This individual is typically a member of the executive team and helps drive focus for the initiative in the senior management agenda.

• Process Owner – This organizational leader drives the overall process. Building relationships with process owners and ensuring they understand the business value of the BPM initiative is critical to its success. Process owners control access and can leverage and determine buy-in when a new process needs to be created.

• Early Adopters or Advocates – While these individuals aren’t process owners, they are typically leaders within the organization who are willing to move forward with the process improvements and champion innovation. Early adopters are valuable allies to BPM teams as they are often more willing to work through trial and error and can help advocate for the process within the organization.

• Resisters – Resisters often attempt to jeopardize BPM agendas by employing small tactics and ensuring key initiatives are not fully implemented. According to the Essentials of BPM course, roughly 20% of individuals fall under the resister category. BPM champions can play a key role in overcoming resistance by requiring participation and informing the team about the value the BPM initiative brings to the organization. Executive-level champions can also help ensure committed resources are a priority within the organization.

BPM Skills

Regardless of industry, professionals driving BPM at an organization must possess a core set of skills in order to effectively optimize processes using the six-step BPM phases methodology. Skills for BPM leaders include:

• Project management – Overhauling a process isn’t as simple as rearranging an order. BPM requires full project management, whether that is improving an existing process, creating a new process to meet a new need, or establishing a new framework. These projects need a skilled project manager at the helm to direct the overall process.

• Communication – Processes are often cross-functional, which mean BPM professionals must be able to communicate with stakeholders across departments, explain processes, share documentation and translate technical details.

• Data Modeling – A key aspect of testing new processes is applying predictive analytics to data models to refine proposed approaches.

• Change management – Professionals must be adept and encourage buy-in from stakeholders and continue to champion the process change throughout the organization. 

• Systems thinking – BPM champions must be able to step back and examine whole systems as well as adjust individual details.

• Technical skills – To analyze current processes, BPM practitioners must be able to gather information, design a new user experience and optimize future outcomes.

• Understanding of software – Today, the right software can play a key role in savvy BPM, with many vendors offering integrated solutions. To choose the most effective solution, BPM champions need to understand what the software should do, and how it can best integrate all the organizational systems.

Looking Ahead

Villanova’s three-course Certificate in Business Process Management program can help professionals cultivate effective business process management efforts within their organizations. In an increasingly complex business environment, this program provides students with the skills and strategic understanding of BPM as a methodology to leverage technology and design solutions to drive effective business improvement projects.