It's impossible to make the digital transformation successfully without understanding the efficiency of your business processes. Business Process Management is the key to successfully executing the transition efficiently. You know this -- but how do you sell it to your internal stakeholders?
Why is it necessary to sell these improvements internally to begin with? Why not just dictate the new direction and go all in? The answer is simple and integral to the way BPM functions. If you want your BPM initiative to be effective, there needs to be unity within the business. Stakeholders need to agree and align on common goals, with common victories they can showcase. They need a common, constant drive to improve. These three cornerstones make up the foundation of your journey to the high performance business partnerships that will ultimately deliver the results you need in the market.
BPM is a holistic approach to operations management. If you understand why you need to sell it to your internal stakeholders, then you're already on the road to understanding how to convert them completely. BPM sees processes as critical assets to an organization that need to be understood and deliberately managed for maximum effect. Visualizing, measuring, analyzing, improving and even revolutionizing the processes behind the business demands a unified effort and common understanding. So how do you sell this improvement process internally?
Start by targeting the decision-makers and visionaries of the group. They are the ones who will help you sell the changes to the rest of the stakeholders, and they're also more likely to see its true potential from the start. Don't limit yourself to senior leadership here -- team leads and influential members are critical assets in their own right, and should be respected for the value they can bring.
Understand the people you're engaging. Use their terminology and frame the theory to match the role they play in the business. In other words, make it relevant to them. They need to see why they should care, and why the process involves them at all.
Close the deal. Don't just tell them about it; involve them from the start.Take their input and initiative, and leave nothing to chance. Get a solid commitment and run with it!
Reap the Reward
BPM can offer your business a significant improvement in digital transformation, if you can sell it to your internal stakeholders. Help them understand why it will work, involve them immediately as active participants, and selling the process internally will be significantly easier to do.