Validating the ‘As-Is’ analysis with stakeholders is crucial. Without a shared, agreed-upon understanding of the current state’s problems, root causes, and pain points, any ‘To-Be’ design risks solving the wrong problem or missing key requirements, leading to project failure. This step ensures alignment and a solid foundation for redesign.

A core BPM principle is optimizing for the overall value chain, not just local efficiency. A process with strong local metrics might still be misaligned with downstream needs, create handoff delays, or produce output that requires rework elsewhere. The holistic, customer-centric view of BPM is essential to uncover these cross-functional issues.

In process discovery, the goal is to capture reality. This workaround is a significant finding—it reveals a gap between the documented standard and practice, which is a source of risk (reliance on tribal knowledge) and potential improvement (updating the checklist). It should be documented as a variant for root cause analysis to decide on the proper corrective action.

Baseline metrics provide a factual, objective starting point. They are essential for calculating the Return on Investment (ROI) of a change initiative, for validating that a ‘To-Be’ design actually delivers the intended benefits, and for ensuring that improvement discussions are data-driven rather than based on opinions or anecdotes.

BPM aims to optimize processes from the customer’s viewpoint. A design that improves internal efficiency at the expense of customer experience is fundamentally flawed. It creates friction, reduces satisfaction, and often leads to errors and rework. The ideal solution improves both internal metrics *and* the customer journey.

This approach applies root cause analysis and focuses on the underlying control objective rather than the activity itself. It moves the discussion from opinion (‘I need to approve’) to objective analysis of risk and control design. The solution might be a better control (e.g., automated rules, training, quality gates) that doesn’t bottleneck the flow.

A process is executed by people. Even a perfectly designed process will fail if the people who must execute it don’t understand it, aren’t trained on it, don’t believe in its benefits, or are actively resistant. Change management is not a ‘soft’ add-on; it is a critical success factor for realizing the value of BPM work.

This is a fundamental modeling concept. Pools represent major participants in a process (e.g., Company, Customer, Supplier), often separated by system or organizational boundaries. Lanes subdivide a pool to show responsibilities within that participant (e.g., Sales Dept, Finance Dept within the Company pool). Clear use of pools and lanes is key to modeling handoffs and interactions.

A pilot provides valuable lessons. A phased rollout allows the team to incorporate feedback, adjust for regional variations (legal, cultural, market), build internal support, and manage resource constraints. A ‘big bang’ global rollout magnifies risk—any undiscovered flaw in the pilot design or change management approach can lead to widespread failure and damage.

Validating the ‘As-Is’ analysis with stakeholders is crucial. Without a shared, agreed-upon understanding of the current state’s problems, root causes, and pain points, any ‘To-Be’ design risks solving the wrong problem or missing key requirements, leading to project failure. This step ensures alignment and a solid foundation for redesign.0