Did you know that 97% of organizations focus on process management? While their primary focus is designing and mapping end-to-end processes, organizations are also focused on foundational concepts such as picking the right KPIs, improving maturity, strategic alignment, and embedding a process-driven culture.
APQC just wrapped up a research project aimed to understand process management practices in the core areas of process, such as governance, strategy, change, improvement, measures, tools and models. We conducted a similar survey back in 2020, which allows me to analyze how process programs have evolved over the past four years. One thing I know for sure is that change is constant— the pace of change in business is a top driver for change in the process management discipline, and 99% of organizations say that change is necessary.
Process Team Structure and Measures
The notion of “do more with less” aligns with the evolution of process team structure. In 2020, teams averaged about 3 FTEs and $212,500 in their budget; however, now in 2024 teams are averaging 4.5 FTEs and only have a budget of $100,000. While they have more FTEs, they have less budget to work with and are still expected to make a larger impact.
In contrast, a positive change from 2020 is that fewer teams are following an ad hoc approach and have a more centralized or federated structure – creating a repository organizations can reference for all things process management.
When looking at how organizations measure the effectiveness of their processes management efforts in 2024, there is a larger focus on the financial impact and internal customer satisfaction than organizations had in 2020. They are less focused on the impact on the employee experience and project milestones.
Creating a Firm Process Foundation
To build strong processes across the enterprise, organizations must establish a firm foundation based on seven critical tenets – strategic alignment, governance, change management, process models, process performance, process improvement, and technology. The largest shifts since 2020 were seen in the following areas.
Strategic Alignment
The 2024 data shows that organizations have placed a larger emphasis on the purpose of process programs with primary foci of understanding processes through documentation and supporting the execution of strategic initiatives as well as cultures of continuous improvement. There has not been a large shift in how organizations link their process efforts to organizational strategy; however, only 17% of organizations have ad hoc process management with no alignment to strategy, which is a plus.
Process Models
More organizations (39%) apply process frameworks enterprise-wide in 2024 than they did in 2020 (30%), and the processes themselves have become more complex over the years.
The use of documentation tools has varied slightly over the years. The focus on process flows has remained constant; however, the use of RACIs and SIPOCs have grown over the years. These two types of documentation help organizations define the scope of a process, assign governance and roles to the specific steps of the process, as well as determine the inputs and outputs that both effect and will be affected by the process in discussion.
Process Performance
In 2024, fewer organizations (30%) are using ad hoc measures to manage process performance than they did in 2020 (39%). More organizations (21%) are using business performance outcomes linked to KPIs in 2024 than they did in 2020 (12%). This shift is in line with the stronger emphasis on strategic alignment that was apparent throughout the survey results.
Benchmarking is the process of comparing and measuring your organization against others to gain information on practices and measures that will help your organization take action to improve its performance. Organizations appear to be putting a larger emphasis on benchmarking in 2024 than they did in 2020. Now, 31% of organizations note they benchmark internally and externally versus only 26% in 2020. Additionally, 43% of organizations DID NOT benchmark at all in 2020, and now only 34% don’t benchmark in 2024. Given the competitive nature of businesses today, benchmarking is a critical success factor for organizations looking to improve their operations.
Tools and Technology
There have not been huge shifts in what tools and technologies are used in process management work; however, organizations appear to be less focused on content repositories in 2024 than they were in 2020. Organizations do still primarily use workflow management, BPM platforms, and automation tools for their process management work in 2024.
The larger shifts in this tenet are seen in the standardization of tools and technology. In 2020, only 32% of organizations had formal selection criteria for tool selection versus now in 2024, 47% of organizations have formal selection criteria. Additionally, in 2020 37% of organizations used ad hoc technologies versus only 26% that use them in 2024. Survey data also revealed that 30% of organizations standardize the use of tools and technologies across the enterprise in 2024 versus only 25% that did in 2020. Given the rapidly evolving use of technology and AI in process management, the increased standardization and use of formal selection criteria comes at no surprise.
In Summary
Organizations are rapidly evolving to keep up with the pace of change in the world of process management, technology, and across the enterprise. Having a solid process management foundation enables organizations to scale their efforts to support the use of cool new technologies, and growth throughout the enterprise. Don’t forget the basics though – strategic alignment, governance, and change management tactics are crucial!
To learn more about how process programs stack up, view the full content collection and watch the webinar recording.