Understanding the What, Why, When, and How of Business Process Analysis

Why do you Need Business Process Analysis?

Business process analysis (BPA) can improve business outcomes by identifying areas of improvement. In depth analysis of business processes extends beyond process inputs and outputs, to determine the core values of your processes to identify improvement opportunities. When applied to the right “as-is” process, BPA gives a clear understanding to the process owners for making a sound judgment. 

Here is are some tell tale signs you need BPA –

• Unidentified issues like delays or increased customer complaints start to occur more frequently
• Process owners are not clear about how to execute the process
• The process team wants to replace a process with a new version
• To make sure that the process is optimized before automating it. 

Each time you send a purchase order or a travel request for review, you are likely to follow a set of steps for approval. Process analysis helps streamline these actions and improve efficiency to make sure that there are no redundancies. 

Here are 6 reasons why you need to analyze your business processes – 

1- Identify causes of delays –

Businesses already have different processes in place for various business operations. Without clearly defined process workflows, approvals can be delayed. Moreover, stakeholders are clueless on their role in the process and the status of the requests. Way too much time spent on figuring out where or whom to route the request. The likelihood of routing the request to the wrong person is more when the workflow is not defined clearly. This is inefficient and can lead to delays that slow down the process. Analyzing each step of the process helps identify the cause of delays. 

2- Minimize operational costs –

The overall operational costs are going to be high when business processes are full of redundancies. Manual processes are ridden with repetitive tasks that increase the administrative burden on the process owners. Relying on manual processes results in high operational costs and lower productivity. The cost of processing requests manually is much higher than when done through automation software. 

3- Identify process gaps –

Analyzing the process shows the missing links in important business operations. When these gaps go unidentified, they directly affect the bottom line, especially in processes like hiring, invoicing, or closing sales deals. 

4- Outline all available resources –

Business process analysis can help identify all the resources required to execute a project. BPA would also outline all the available resources for each project, similar to capacity planning. This way, you know your capacity and availability for additional work. 

5- Improve employee adoption –

The more streamlined your processes are, the more people will use them. Regular analysis of business process analysis helps identify ways to streamline them to show employees that you care about how they work. 

6- Ensure processes align with current culture –

Cultural and environmental changes affect the outcome of business processes. Business process analysis helps create new processes as per the requirements of changing culture. 

When Do you Need Business Process Analysis 

Consider this – your business has adopted new technology that is being underutilized or there are recurring issues within a core business process, BPA could serve as an indispensable tool for getting to the root cause of these issues. Business process analysis helps uncover the reasons behind issues and set the process for improvements. Where and when you would like to implement business process analysis depends largely on your business goals. Organizations that value employees and company-wide problem solving, and process improvement as the core of their culture, widely adopt business process analysis tools.Whether you apply BPA informally, or formally audit processes quarterly or annually, it should be a fundamental part of the business function. 

Performing Business Process Analysis the Right Way

When business process analysis is performed the right way, you gather complete data required for evaluating the process thoroughly and find the weaknesses, areas of improvements, and determine the impact of these improvements. Making any changes to a process without proper business process analysis would not yield the desired results. A thorough business impact analysis process enables continuous reexamination and improvement of business processes. Once you are done with business process analysis, the inputs gathered can be used to find the right methodology for process improvements. Business process analysis differs from business process improvement, the former is a continuous re-examination and improvement methodology, while the latter focuses on improving one specific process. Here are 5 business analysis process steps for implementing BPA the right way. 

1- Determine the process that needs to be analyzed –

Irrespective of how big the process improvement objective is, the first step is to identify the process that needs to be analyzed. It is best to start with analysis of business critical processes, because these processes have a direct impact on the end product, revenue, expenses, and other critical components of the business. 

The chosen business process must lead back to larger initiatives and business goals. Processes are the means to achieve business goals, which is the “how” of your business. It is important that the “how” is aligned with the “why” of your business. BPA helps connect these two entities by reviewing existing processes and seeing how they fit into workflows, departments, and ultimately help achieve the long-term goals that support the company’s mission. Establish a clear start and end point with the business process you choose to analyze. 

2- Gather information on the chosen process –

At this stage, complete information on the chosen process needs to be gathered. The most effective method to gather this information is to interact with the process owners. Interviewing stakeholders, creating surveys or opinion polls, and reviewing related process key performance indicators are ways to gather process information. Spending more time on this step helps gather comprehensive information that lays the foundation for process analysis. Gather information on how to tackle the process, including when they do it. It would be helpful to watch someone complete the process from start to end, so that you see the flow and the steps that the process involves. 

3- Analyze and map process data –

Once you have gathered all the data and compiled it, the next step is to analyze the data. Compilation of the data may be done based on –

• Steps of the process
• Relevant process diagrams
• Process stakeholders
• Current success metrics and KPIs

Business process analysis templates can be used to compile the process information. Alternatively, you can use business analysis process mapping for creating a visual layout of the processes and workflows. Process mapping helps you create visual representations in the form of flowcharts or other representations of the current sequences and steps so that you can better visualize processes. A business process analysis template makes it easy to identify patterns and gaps in the process workflow. A no code workflow automation solution like Cflow provides customizable templates that help you map out business processes that you need to analyze from start to finish much faster and easier, than starting from scratch. 

4- Identify process improvement areas –

The analysis step reveals the redundancies and gaps in the process. These areas are the ones that need to be changed or improved. For instance, let us say that the process analysis shows that developers are spending 5 days planning a sprint backlog. Interviews with stakeholders and analysis of meeting schedules reveals that this extended period of time is due to different time zones of working. So, the process improvement technique would be adoption of new technology options for asynchronous communication that makes it easy to overcome the time zone difference and minimize the amount of time spent on communication. 

5- Make changes –

Business process improvement (BPI) initiatives can be implemented to make the necessary changes/improvements that surface in the process analysis. After process analysis, teams can use BPIs to adapt and make changes to the process with the primary focus on increased profitability. Business process analysis can be regarded as a discovery guide that shows the in’s and out’s of business processes. The last step in business process analysis is to use all the information to implement changes that improve processes to create new ones. 

Process Mapping and Business Analysis

Business process analysis offers a peek into your business operations, by showing how the tasks flow, how the team works, and how the business works. Process analysts use various tools to analyze a process. They may use diagrams to define input and output points, task sequences, and to reveal the sub-processes nested under main processes. Analysts also use software to map and create workflows. 

Business process mapping is part of the BPA software that maps and creates workflows. BPA software also includes software that automates business process analysis and enables organizations to apply end-to-end process modeling for mapping the start to end of the process. Process modeling and process mapping tools are an integral part of process analysis. Organizations make use of business process model notation (BPMN) diagramming and supplier, input, process, output, customer model diagramming as 2 workflow solutions for efficient operations. Business analysis process mapping tools are very useful to show changes in the process. These tools can be used as a “before and after” visual guide to train employees. These tools can also be used to map every process improvement back to key organizational goals. 

Implementing Business Process Analysis

Who in the organization is responsible for implementing BPA, given the roles, resources, and skill sets? In-house subject matter experts may be pressed for time, so working with an outside business consultant is the most viable route to implementing BPA. Large enterprises employ a dedicated team of process analysts and process architects to perform BPA. Both the roles, process analysts and process architects, might work with business architects or work with executives and division leads. 

Moreover, business process analysis depends on the expertise of SMEs. These might include several stakeholders, employees, consultants, including analysts, data scientists, quants, IT, administrators, and employees who are closely aligned with the process. How do SMEs apply BPA to the business? The first step is to target mission-critical processes with the maximum business impact. Further, the process is mapped for automation. Once process mapping is complete, the next step would be to document automation. Process documentation across departments and the organization is also completed in this step. For example, IT can use BPA to map the process for software security protocols for various roles that enable organizations to better manage onboarding and scaling as a result. 

Business Process Analysis versus Business Analysis

Business process analysis and business analysis are closely linked areas of business process management. However, these terms differ in their focus. BPAs work more on the operational side of the business processes. Business analysis focuses on the business as a whole, which includes analysis of other areas like financial forecasting, cost analysis, hiring, budgets, and cuts. Business analysis serves as the bridge between development teams and stakeholders, with customers and clients. 

Analysis of the business helps identify problems and offer solutions through strategic thinking, with the aim of improving processes and optimizing operations. The table below lists the major differences between business analysis and business process analysis. The agile business process analysis is an example of business analysis that aims at maximizing customer and business value. 

Business Process Analysis versus Business Process Analytics

Business process analysis and business process analytics are related terms, but different methods that aim to improve business processes. Business process analysis involves examining a business’s procedures, documents, stakeholders, and communication to figure out ways to make it more effective. BPA helps businesses minimize costs, increase efficiency, and achieve their goals. Tasks like project documentation, interaction with clients, and working with project teams for refining operations are part of business process analysis. 

Business process analytics on the other hand uses data and statistical methods and tools to identify, track, and optimize business operations. Tools like process mining and task mining are used to monitor desktops and trace transactions to create visual models of data. These tools help locate process bottlenecks and gather information more quickly and accurately compared to conventional methods. The ultimate goal of BPA is to provide actionable insights for improving business performance.

Business Process Analysis Techniques for your Business

To conduct the business impact analysis process you need the right process analysis tools that can keep all your data in one central source of truth. Before we go into details of the business process analysis tools, let us understand various business process analysis techniques available. There are several business process analysis techniques that businesses can use to analyze their core processes. The most commonly used process analysis techniques are – 

Gap Analysis –

As the name suggests, this analysis technique focuses on identifying what is missing in your processes compared to the larger company goals. A gap analysis is a method of assessing the performance of a business unit to determine whether business requirements or objectives are being met. A gap analysis may also be termed as needs analysis or needs-gap analysis. 

SWOT analysis –

SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This type of analysis helps you identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a specific project or the overall business plan. It is a highly useful analysis technique for strategic planning and for staying ahead of market trends. This is a powerful tool that helps identify competitive opportunities for improvement. 

Root cause analysis –

This is a foundational analysis tool that traces back the foundation of the process to the company’s larger goals. Root cause analysis is a systematic process that helps identify the source of the issue and develops a solution to prevent it from happening. The basic assumption of root cause analysis is that it is much more effective to systematically prevent and solve underlying issues rather than just treating ad hoc symptoms as they arise. Root cause analysis helps identify all the root causes for a particular issue. This method takes a comprehensive and holistic approach to process analysis and problem solving. 

Value added analysis –

This analysis focuses on finding the value addition that each task in the process does to the process or organization. The value added analysis (VAA) is used in business and economics to measure the value a process, product, or entity contributes to a final product or service. It is a process in which the essential benefits and attributes of a product or service are realized. For value added analysis of a particular process, all the activities involved in the process are examined carefully. 

Predictive analysis –

This type of analysis is also referred to as simulation analysis. This technique is usually used after root cause analysis has unveiled where the process needs to be optimized. Predictive analysis allows you to plug in the variables or new values from your value and gap analysis into the problematic areas of the process. Simulation and predictive analyses enable process improvement stakeholders to close the gap before deciding on the best process improvement strategy. 

Impact analysis –

When considering process improvement, most analyses are usually concerned with the value metrics. The inter-relatedness of the processes and systems, and all applications they interact with takes a backseat in this analysis. These dependencies need to be considered during process improvement initiatives by running impact analyses. 

Benefits of Business Process Analysis

Adopting BPA as a core part of their business function brings several benefits. 

Improve efficiency of existing processes –

BPA increases the time-to-value for product applications. The time required for operational cycles is also significantly reduced through BPA.

Identifies capacity issues –

Resource limitations in any process can be addressed with BPA by identifying where the capacity limitation lies. 

Clarify policies and rules –

As organizations move to more remote work and greater adoption of digital devices, the need for alignment of security and device usage arises. BPA can bring about this alignment. 

Optimize deployment and release processes –

Efficient processes create smoother releases and deployments. 

Strengthens company culture –

A better process in any area is a welcome thing. BPA helps implement processes that are aligned to the organizational vision, in the process strengthens organizational culture. 

Conclusion

Business process analysis is a must if you are looking to build a sustainable business that stays ahead of competition. A no code workflow automation tool like Cflow takes you through all the stages of business analysis. The visual form builder in Cflow helps create process maps and workflows within minutes. Ready to explore Cflow? Sign up for the free trial today.

FAQs

Can we conduct business process analysis for all processes?

Yes, business process analysis can be conducted for any business process. Analysis of processes that are repeatable and impact business outcomes is beneficial for the business.

How do we choose the technique for business process analysis?

Choosing the business process analysis tool is based on the type and size of the business. And the business goals. 

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