We’ve talked through process mapping, what it is, and how you can leverage it. We even dug into process mining and how to get into the nitty-gritty aspects of your solution.

| So what’s next?

Optimization

At this point, you should have a detailed, holistic view of your current state:

• • • Your process is mapped
    • You understand which tasks individuals own
    • You implemented a process mining solution
    • You have full insights into how transactions are flowing

Once you’ve achieved all of those steps, you can now focus on opportunities for improvement by leveraging new technologies or changing process steps to gain greater efficiency and ROI. For example, you can apply Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to eliminate manual, repetitive tasks or implement workflows to handle exceptions that may be slowing down the process.

RPA is non-intrusive and will leverage the company’s current infrastructure without causing any interruptions or needing to replace these systems. Using RPA, efficiency, and compliance is no longer an issue but simply a part of the automation process.

Culture

True process management takes commitment. It’s more than just implementing process mapping or process mining and then walking away once you have identified opportunities for optimization. To create an organization that is dedicated to continuous process improvement, you likely need to change your organization’s culture.

In order for process improvement to be scalable and sustainable, you should implement a process management program. Regardless of which tools or practices you use for process improvement, you should have executive sponsorship and business process ownership that sets the cadence of how, when, and why process management will be embedded within your organization’s operational excellence.

Process management requires methods to easily collaborate on processes, regularly reviewing existing processes, a mechanism to solicit improvement ideas or feedback, and, of course, visibility into the documented processes.