At a recent Gartner Business Process Management Summit, panelists offered some reasons that BPM projects fail...
- The biggest contributor to BPM project failures was identified as the lack of support from top management.
- Companies tend to focus on operational metrics forgetting that processes exist because they have customers.
- BPM projects tend to be oversold. They promise the moon and have no way to deliver on that promise.
My thoughts...
There are many more potential pitfalls than these 3, but today I will only address these.
Support from Top Management
This support is not only needed to begin the project, it is needed throughout. People hate change - BPM projects need top level management support throughout the project to smooth out the change process. To mitigate the impact of change, these projects need an ongoing internal sales effort - keeping the good energy high.
The Customer
Processes exist to support your relationship with your customer. Your company needs to supply the goods and services that the customer wants so that you can receive fair compensation. This is why you are in business. So if a process improvement is good for the customer but doesn't provide great metrics, it is still good for your company.
Overselling the Project
Choose a project that is not too complex, but has some visibility. Then under-promise and over-deliver on the project. All will be happy and you can move on to solve more complex business process issues.
Why do we take on BPM projects?
More efficient business processes means increased revenues, lower costs and improved customer relationships. It can differentiate you from your competitors. It can be the key that allows your company to break out as the market leader.
Your Thoughts...
What steps has your company taken to be a market leader?
Keeping it Real!
You are correct. There are many more reasons why BPM Projects fail. These are three good ones.
What I want to elaborate on is the support from Top Management. There needs to be a culture in the organization to support BPM. Our firm looks at BPM with the focus on the Customer Experience. In my opinion, with a culture not focused on the customer experience and lack of support from top management, a BPM implementation is sure to fail.
-Paul Marrero
CAASPRE Consulting