What are the 9 problems in process management and how to solve them?

With the contemporary world increasingly globalized, and with the high competitiveness of the market, companies are faced with the need to evolve their practices and seek substantial changes in the conduct of their processes to avoid process management problems. 

As the consumer experience becomes more demanding, organizations need to keep up with this dynamic and constantly promote innovations in the quality of their products and services.

It is in this context that the need arises to carry out a processes management of excellence, in order to respond, quickly and efficiently, to the greatest possible number of demands brought by the market, with a focus on high productivity and the minimization of failures. 

So, it is a complex task. That's why we've prepared this exclusive content to guide you in identifying which are usually the main problems in the management of processes and how to solve them. Stay with us and happy reading!

First, what is process management?

We can understand how process management all the practices that meet the optimization of the internal processes of a particular company.

In the business world, this concept is also called BPM (Business Process Management), and it is on it that the management scenario of practically all the main companies with relevant performance in the market is based, considering that a consolidated activity management culture is a stone. fundamental to any successful business.

Therefore, it is recurrent that the company manager operates in order to map, model, monitor, document, automate and optimize the various processes of the company and its respective sectors.

Thus, it is correct to say that the organizational process management it does not only involve the personal tasks of the company manager, but each activity pertinent to each department and their respective employees. 

Thus, it is concluded that a detailed analysis of the progress of each one's work is vital so that these processes can improve exponentially and constantly.

It is for this reason that the practice of business process management must be attentive to each sector, and for that, good communication between manager and team is an indispensable factor.

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What are the 9 biggest challenges and problems in process management?

Process management is a practice as complex as needed. It is not uncommon to observe frustration on the part of several managers in the face of unhappy results in their BPM actions. 

But the great truth is that it is not enough to limit process management only to your company's operational activities – it is necessary to align the BPM discipline with the company's culture and with all the details of its strategy. Below, we list some of the main problems in process management:

1. Lack of engagement between teams and their leaders

The lack of engagement on the part of the professionals involved is an elementary mistake that is present in many BPM implementation projects, and that causes numerous delays, loss of autonomy of those responsible, disorganization and damage after damage. 

For the good practice of process management to occur, there must be a sense of commitment on the part of the entire team.

Like all good practice in a company, it must start with leadership. When those with greater decision-making power and influence show a high degree of engagement, this sense of commitment expands throughout the team, which becomes aware of the urgency of certain demands and acts in line with the necessary changes, so that the work takes place more fluidly.

2. Communication failures

Reinforcing the previous item, faulty communication is unacceptable during the implementation of BPM in your company. When everyone involved is not always informed about what happens, the recipe for failure is ready. 

The solution is not to neglect the people management, promoting appropriate communication that encourages the team and drives commitment in the face of transformations.

3. Disregard the variables

An extremely common mistake, and difficult to avoid, even if occasionally, is to rely too much on the natural flow of things and disregard possible deviations along the way. 

Even the simplest process can face an unexpected obstacle, and if management is not prepared for this, many delays can occur in subsequent processes.

An effort to investigate how flows occur and a mapping of possible exceptions is essential for these deviations to be circumvented. Therefore, it is necessary to always be in constant contact with the organization's key people, both management and operational professionals.

4. Extreme focus on documentation

The documentation of a process is undeniably of great importance, but it cannot be so heavy that it becomes incomprehensible to those involved. When this happens, the project loses grip and flows weaken.

Therefore, understand your company's objectives and particular characteristics, so that certain processes do not become unnecessarily complicated and occur quickly enough.

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5. Inattention to continuous process improvement

Another very common mistake occurs with companies that do not pay attention to the fact that the world, the market, and, consequently, their needs, are subject to constant changes. An inattentive manager thinks things are fine the way they are, and, when he least expects it, the company falls behind.

Don't wait for a big project to happen to re-evaluate your company's dynamic variations. As a manager, you must pay full attention, and in real time, to new needs that are constantly emerging, developing a structure conducive to the application of the continuous improvement of your processes.

6. Waste of effort with unnecessary processes

One of the pillars of process management is to focus on what adds value and put aside what is a waste of time. 

Unfortunately, many managers fail miserably in this regard, investing time, money and energy in processes that add nothing else – often a reflection of a great resistance to the prospect of change.

Don't fall into this trap: review your processes, observe which practices are already obsolete and eliminate them, in order to turn your efforts (and those of your team) to what really matters.

7. Lack of support from above

A major problem faced in BPM initiatives is the constant lack of support from top management. As stated above, it all starts with leadership – so if management projects do not enjoy support from the strategic level of the company, the rest of the organizational structure becomes hesitant.

Therefore, it is necessary to hold regular strategic meetings, in addition to a lot of planning and dialogue, in order to convey to the higher levels of the organization the sense of need for process management, aiming at its benefits in the short, medium and long term.

8. Excessive departmentalization of the company

When the practice of BPM loses the understanding of the company as a large living organism, whose organs are all important and interconnected, operational failures such as: 

• rework;
• communication noise;
• deviation or accumulation of functions and so many others (which definitely delays and weakens the company in several different ways).

An increasingly adopted solution is to implement a more horizontal process management approach, focusing less on departments and more on the processes themselves. 

Such process management tends to generate greater integration between all areas of the company, operating in a broad, fluid and optimized way.

9. Lack of dialogue between the IT and business areas

the implementation of new solutions in process automation is vital for good process management practice, especially nowadays, when technology plays an essential role in all sectors of society. 

However, these tools need to be seen as complementary to the solutions already recurring within the company. 

Therefore, the information technology sector, like the others, needs to be actively involved in management projects, analysis and mapping of flows and processes, in order to effectively contribute to the feasibility of automating the company's activities. 

Likewise, an automation project needs, in equal proportion, the constant and effective participation of the business areas on which it will impact. 

Therefore, an automation project that effectively serves process management requires solid and well-integrated joint work between the technology and business areas.

Here we point out the main difficulties faced by companies when implementing their process management practices, as well as the ways to avoid them. 

But it is good to remember that there are many possible problems to be found along the way, and this unpredictability of market dynamics is a strong and constant factor with which each and every manager will need to deal with cunning, creativity and courage.

To better deal with these issues involving process management, there are several interesting tools available, and we have prepared a full article about them, which you can check out. in this article we produce.