Business Process Design (BPD): What It Is and How It Works
Business process design or BPD is a procedure in which companies identify all processes and define a plan for each to help boost productivity.
Summary
- Business process design creates repeatable workflows from scratch - Unlike redesign (improving existing processes), design builds new processes by mapping out exact steps and responsibilities critical to achieving business goals
- Implicit processes waste time and reduce consistency - Working by memory instead of structured design means employees do things differently, productivity suffers, and you miss chances to find the most efficient way to complete tasks
- Three mapping approaches exist with different benefits - Pen and paper is simple but not scalable, flowchart software makes sharing easier, and BPM software adds management features like assigning responsibilities, deadlines, and analytics for improvement
- Need help designing better processes? See how Tallyfy makes process design simple
Business process design (BPD) is the act of creating a new process or workflow from scratch.
It’s different from business process redesign, which as the name implies, means taking an already existing process and improving it. But before we get into that, let’s talk processes.
A business process is a building block of any kind of business.
By definition, it’s a series of repeatable steps that are critical for achieving some sort of a business goal. The key word here is repeatable - it’s something your business does on a regular basis.
The more efficient your processes, the better your business will perform.
How to do business process design
In most cases, business process design is done when you’re still starting out your business and need to define how you’ll be doing certain things, as well as what the procedures are.
Most businesses tend to do this implicitly. They don’t actually do business process design.
Meaning, they don’t graph it out, structure it, analyze it. Rather, for them, the process is something they’re used to doing.
A structured approach, on the other hand, means having your process mapped out and optimized for efficiency.
To make this even simpler, let’s say the “business process” in question is the act of making breakfast. You could do it according to memory, or you could have a process map with the exact steps:
In the first case, while you’re probably not going to mess up making breakfast too much, chances are, you might miss a step or two, or do something in the wrong order.
Worst case scenario, you end up ruining the meal or making it not as tasty as it could be.
With a designed “business process”, though, you know the exact steps on how to cook the dish the right way. This, essentially, translates into the business world exactly the same way.
The added benefit is that you can use the process map to establish a best practice within the company. Meaning, hand out the copies of the map to your employees and ensure that everyone who’s involved in the process is doing it right.
Implicit processes
Let’s say you have this new business goal.
Implicit would mean you starting to work on the process and figuring out what you need to do step by step. Let’s say, you’ve got a new client.
First things first, you’d probably need all the legalities out of the way, right? So you’d look up what types of docs you’d have to make them sign.
Then, you’d probably set up a meeting, and so on.
While this does, technically, work, it’s just not nearly as efficient. With an implicit process, you’re going to lose out on:
- Structure & Consistency. If you work in a big organization, you’ll probably have different employees working on the same process. If no one knows what the “right” way of carrying out a process is, their work (and results) will be very inconsistent. A mid-sized property management team we worked with relied on memory with no formal tracking - they managed 3,500 properties but faced constant risk of human error, complacency, and inconsistency. After designing and documenting their processes, any team member could pick up exactly where another left off.
- Lower Output & Productivity. By designing the process to be the most efficient it can be, your employees will end up spending less time on it. As a result, they’ll have more time to do work that really matters.
Structured processes
With a structured approach, on the other hand, you’ll start with the research first and actually map out the process step by step.
This way tends to be more efficient since you know the exact tasks you need to carry out and in what order. No guesswork involved.
It’s also essential if you’re working with external partners. A structured process makes you seem more professional and “in charge,” since you’ll be aware of what to do and say during each interaction. A mid-sized pharmaceutical company we observed had 8 different departments involved in change management workflows - without structured process design, routing forms to multiple departments for review became chaos. Their designed process now handles over 1,100 change requests per year with proper audit trails.
The best way to design business processes is through something called Business Process Mapping. Meaning, coming up with your new processes and documenting them.
While you could, in theory, just come up with new processes in your head and leave it at that, why not make it easy for yourself?
Other than business process design, you could also use mapping to work with existing processes. It can help clarify how, exactly, the processes work, as well as find new ways to improve them.
There are 3 different ways to do mapping:
Pen & Paper - The simplest solution is, of course, to just grab a pen, paper and draw a flowchart of the process.
Flowchart Software - Since most businesses are now digital, you’d probably want your process map online. This makes it easier to store, send to employees, etc.
Business Process Management (BPM) Software - Pretty much the same functionality in terms of mapping as any graphing software. This, however, has an added benefit that it can also be used to manage the business processes.
You can assign responsibilities, deadlines, and get analytics on how to improve the process.
If you want to move beyond pen-and-paper or static flowcharts, BPM software gives you actual management capabilities built into your process maps.
Business Process Management Made Easy
With the right tools, business process design is as easy as it sounds. All you have to do is map out the right steps and responsibilities.
👉 Want to get started with BPM software, but not sure where to start? Well, picking the right BPM tool for your business is usually step #1.
Examples of well-designed business processes
These templates show what structured process design looks like in practice - with clear steps, responsibilities, and deadlines built in.
The next steps: BPI and BPM
While having your processes in place has its own benefits, the best practice is to continuously improve on them.
For that, you can use either BPI or BPM:
Business Process Improvement (BPI) - Once you have your process designed, you might identify some possible ways to improve it. Maybe there’s a step or two that’s just a waste of resources or time?
Or, if there’s something that can be automated with technology? That might mean that you should start a business process improvement initiative.
The gist of it is, you’ll want to create an internal team of experts, with whom you’ll find inefficiencies within the process and come up with ways to improve it.
Business Process Management (BPM) - Even if all your processes are running at peak efficiency, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be anything to improve on or change sometime down the line.
Emerging technologies might even completely change the way the process is done! BPM is a methodology for continuous improvement.
Meaning, rather than running a BPI initiative or two and calling it a day, you’ll adopt a company culture that’s aimed at constantly looking for and carrying out process improvements.
Now that you know how process design works, it’s time to put that into practice. Knowing the principles of process design & improvement is good; actually using it to improve your business is even better. So, why don’t you give it a quick start with the Tallyfy’s very own BPM software? It’s free for up to 5 users!
Related questions
Why does process improvement fail?
Process improvement is generally tripped up by employee and leadership buy-in. If they don’t understand the reason for a change, or interpret it as a threat, they oppose it.
Second is inadequate planning and execution. Improvement initiatives can stutter without clear targets, sufficient resources and a solid approach to capture the imaginations of a diverse audience.
Companies frequently try to be all things to all people, all at once, and this can be exhausting and disappointing.
You need to start small and you need to celebrate small victories and you need to build them, like one little victory to another.
What are the challenges that exist in continuous process improvement?
Continuous process improvement has its fair share of challenges.
One challenge has been maintaining people’s interest for the long haul. It’s easy to get excited about a new idea at first, but it’s hard to sustain that excitement.
Another issue is to measure success accurately. Without specific benchmarks, there’s no way of knowing whether changes are actually heading anywhere.
And it can be difficult to juggle improvement work with the daily grind of operations. You need to innovate on the job without interrupting critical work.
Lastly, do not accept comfort - there is always room for growth even if it seems that things are fine.
What are some of the challenges to implementing an improvement initiative?
Implementing a strategy of change is not without its difficulties.
One of the biggest obstacles is resistance to change. Most folks appreciate the safety net of predictability, even if it isn’t ideal.
Then there’s the resource issue - limited time, manpower and budget to work with.
Communication can be a stumbling block too - confusion and skepticism can probably scupper progress if the reasons for change aren’t clearly explained.
And it can be tough to maintain consistency between departments or between locations, particularly in large organizations. To be on the same page, to have a unified vision and approach, so that all can succeed.
What are the examples of process issues?
Problem processes exist in pretty much every industry, in various forms.
One common issue is bottlenecks, when work becomes concentrated in a few places, which drains efficiency from the entire work flow.
And repetition is another, in that the same thing is done again for no reason. When there is no inter-group communication, misunderstandings can lead to errors.
Unsystematic tools and manual activities, those that can be automated, are the most common causes of waste.
Customer complaints or high error rates are other signs of system-wide process problems. Recognizing these issues is the first step to solving them and getting workflows to run better.
What are the risks of process improvement?
Process improvement offers a number of benefits, but it doesn’t come without risk.
There is the possibility that activity is interrupted with the learning of the new system at the expense of momentary decreases in productivity and quality.
There is also the risk that time and money will be spent making changes that do not produce the intended effect.
Having said that the lower morale can come about when the process of getting well is mismanaged or the job is significantly changed.
There is also a danger of over-optimization - to be too lean even on a necessary condition may leave us wanting in the needed room for maneuver.
That’s why it’s important to carefully consider how to improve the process, looking at potential downsides specifically and creating fallback plans in advance.
About the Author
Amit is the CEO of Tallyfy. He is a workflow expert and specializes in process automation and the next generation of business process management in the post-flowchart age. He has decades of consulting experience in task and workflow automation, continuous improvement (all the flavors) and AI-driven workflows for small and large companies. Amit did a Computer Science degree at the University of Bath and moved from the UK to St. Louis, MO in 2014. He loves watching American robins and their nesting behaviors!
Follow Amit on his website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X (Twitter) or YouTube.
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