At its core Business Process Management (BPM), is a systematic approach to making an organisation’s workflow more effective, efficient, and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. As you might imagine, BPM is a wide-ranging subject, and there are a number of different areas you’ll have to focus on in order to create a well-rounded business. Three approaches described below can help small business owners improve their business processes to be able to compete effectively.
- Social Media
- Cloud Computing
- Transportation
The days of social media simply being a means to catch up with your old school friends are long gone. In recent years, it’s become a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their corporate brand, communicate with customers, and even find potential employees. Social media has also become a valuable collaboration tool amongst businesses who employ staff who work remotely across numerous different locations. Microblogs allow project leaders to more effectively communicate their project details with the rest of the department, while others can create and share short videos that relay a summary of a meeting that not everyone could attend.
Another way businesses can improve BPM is by adopting more cloud-based technologies. The benefits of cloud computing are numerous: most services operate on a pay-as-you-go subscription model, encouraging flexibility, and offer little-to-no set-up time, so you don’t have to worry about your schedule being interrupted. According to a Vanson Bourne, 78% of UK-based organisations are now using a cloud-based service, up by a massive 61.5% since 2010. This includes everything from simple web hosting and hosting email to customer relationship management, remote backup, and even disaster recovery solutions.
On average, UK workers spend around 47 minutes a day commuting to and from work. This time is becoming even more important, though, as studies have revealed that a surprising number of people actually use this time to get a head start on the day’s to-do list, thanks to portable technology like smartphones and tablets. In a survey of over 2,000 British workers, the number of employees who work while they commute has risen from 4.8% in 2008 to 7.5% in 2013. Ensuring you have a reliable means of transportation for you and your employees is critical if you want to create a modern business environment.
While all of these processes may seem separate, one thing that they all have in common is that they’re all designed to streamline the way that you and your team work. When everyone follows a well-tested set of steps, there are fewer errors and delays, there is less duplicated effort, and staff and customers feel more satisfied.
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