A business process is a repeatable sequence of tasks that are performed to achieve a specific business goal. These workflows promote consistency, efficiency, and alignment across teams. Their ongoing optimization leads to continual improvement and better business results.
Understanding what a business process is—and how it functions—is the foundation for any successful business process management (BPM) initiative. Without this knowledge, efforts to improve or automate processes can lack direction.
This Wiki breaks down the fundamentals, including definitions, real-world examples, key benefits, and the full lifecycle of a business process, so you can approach BPM with clarity and confidence.
A business process is a coordinated sequence of business activities and tasks that support internal operations or deliver value to customers. Each process flow has clearly defined inputs, actions, and outputs. Effective process design ensures these steps are aligned with strategic goals and executed efficiently to meet business needs.
Business processes are the backbone of organizational operations and can be manual, semi-, or fully automated. They often span departments, which means using information systems for business process integration and monitoring is important to avoid operations becoming siloed.
Business process management tools make it possible to monitor and automate existing processes and identify areas for improvement. Since there are many advantages of business process management, organizations that invest in these tools will achieve a better business outcome than competitors that ignore their benefits.
There are several related terms used to describe how work gets done in an organization. Business process is just one of them—business procedure and business function are also frequently used. While they’re connected, each refers to a different aspect of business operations.
An easy way to differentiate is to understand:
| Term | Definition | Scope | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business process | A structured set of activities designed to achieve a specific goal | Cross-functional workflow | Order-to-cash, hire-to-retire |
| Business procedure | A detailed description of how to perform a specific task within a process | Task-level execution | Step-by-step instructions for onboarding |
| Business function | A department or organizational unit responsible for a category of tasks | Organizational role or domain | Finance, HR, Procurement |
Take vendor and supply chain management, which involves selecting and onboarding vendors, managing purchase orders, receiving goods, and processing supplier invoices.
These core business processes often become siloed. For example, vendor management might be managed by procurement, while supplier payments fall under accounting. This fragmentation can cause delays, miscommunications, and payment errors.
Repetitive business activities like these are ideal candidates for automation and refinement. With good process design and BPM software, workflows become more transparent and efficient.
Business process automation integrates information systems, streamlines communication, and provides oversight across departments, all of which ensures data flows seamlessly between units.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, a streamlined business process flow is essential for all business users. Companies are increasingly relying on accurate data to make decisions and drive continuous improvement.
“Focusing on process improvement is the key to creating a healthy, sustainable environment for growth for your organization” - Adam Coffey, Forbes Councils Member
AI and automation are reshaping how companies operate. Businesses that fail to recognize the value of business process management and optimize their workflows risk being outpaced by more agile competitors.
Well-designed processes enhance transparency, reduce waste, and ensure that every task contributes to the business strategy. They also provide the foundation for digital transformation and automation initiatives.
→ Related: BPM solutions: The evolution of business process management
Understanding the types of business processes is essential for carrying out business analysis and improving how work gets done. Each plays an important role in supporting performance. So, being able to recognize their distinct functions will help your organization target improvements more effectively.
These govern operations and include strategic planning, budgeting, and corporate governance. Their benefits include better decision-making, improved resource allocation, and stronger alignment with business strategy.
Core workflows that deliver value directly to customers, such as order fulfillment, customer service, and product development. These processes drive efficiency, consistency, and customer satisfaction. They are often the focus of automation and improvement.
These support core functions and include HR, IT, and procurement. While not directly value-generating, they enhance operational performance and ensure other business activities run smoothly.
While most frameworks group business processes into the above three categories, some organizations apply additional layers based on function or strategic priority.
Examples include setting customer-facing processes apart from internal processes or strategic from tactical. Distinctions of this type can offer deeper insights into complex or highly specialized industries.
Regardless of the industry, there are many business process management benefits. Well-planned BPM enables all the different process groups to function effectively alongside each other by providing a structured approach to their design, execution, and monitoring.
→ Related: Business process management: A winning strategy
Management, mapping, and measurement are all terms related to business processes.
Business process management (BPM), as the name suggests, helps organizations manage operational processes across their lifecycle. It is usually done using BPM software.
Part of this management involves process mapping, where visual tools like Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) are used to document workflows. These process maps are created using a standardized graphical language that all users can understand. They help identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks, clarify responsibilities, and ensure compliance.
When you create a business process, it is important to monitor its performance. Success measurement involves tracking KPIs such as cycle time, error rates, customer satisfaction, and cost per transaction. These metrics guide continuous improvement and enable managers to ensure every business activity is contributing to broader goals.
Tracking and visualizing business process KPIs and metrics is essential to understand how effectively your operations are performing and where improvements can be made. If you focus on the right KPIs, you will get good visibility into cycle efficiency, quality, cost control, customer experience, and compliance.
When choosing which metrics and KPIs to track, think carefully about why you are monitoring them and which data will best support decision-making.
| Metric/KPI | Purpose | Business benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle time | Measure the time from process start to finish | Identify delays and opportunities for faster delivery |
| Error rate | Track defects or mistakes | Find quality issues and training needs |
| Cost per transaction | Calculate the cost of executing a process cycle | Spot inefficiencies and support budget optimization |
| Customer satisfaction | Gauge the likelihood of return business and recommendations | Assess service quality and refine customer interactions |
| Compliance rate | Monitor adherence to regulations and policies | Minimize risk and ensure audit readiness |
| Process throughput | Measure the volume of tasks or cases handled within a given period | Identify process scalability and resource utilization |
| First-time yield | Indicate processes completed correctly without rework | Improve efficiency and reduce waste |
These seven metrics and KPIs form the basis for ongoing monitoring and improvement efforts. When tracked consistently, they provide actionable insights that help leaders make informed, data-driven decisions and enable continuous improvement across the business.
It is important to note that the most relevant area to track will vary depending on your industry, business model, or process maturity. While the ideas listed here are widely applicable, others (like process flexibility, employee productivity, or time to resolution) may be more appropriate for specialized use cases.
Even with the right intentions, organizations often encounter technical obstacles when managing business processes. Common business process management challenges include mapping complexity, poor data quality, skills gaps, and limited visibility across departments.
BPM software helps mitigate these issues and enables better execution and monitoring. Here are five typical challenges and how BPM tools help address them:
To manage business processes successfully, it’s important to follow a structured lifecycle. This lifecycle provides a step-by-step framework for discovering, analyzing, designing, executing, and improving processes over time.
Each phase builds on the last and supports continuous alignment with business strategy.
The discovery phase focuses on gaining full visibility into how your organization operates right now. It’s the foundation for all future improvements—without understanding what exists, it’s impossible to know what needs to change.
During discovery, teams work to:
This phase should bring together business users and IT to co-create a shared view of current operations. The goal isn’t to redesign yet—it’s to understand the “as-is” landscape as accurately and comprehensively as possible. Tools like SAP Signavio Process Intelligence or interviews with stakeholders can be helpful here.
Key takeaway: Discovery ensures your future improvements are grounded in real operational data—not assumptions.
Once the current state is captured, the analysis phase focuses on evaluating process performance to find gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities.
Key activities include:
This phase is critical for prioritization. Not every process needs transformation—only those that impact business outcomes, compliance, or cost. Analysis tools like heat maps, dashboards, and benchmarking reports help surface these insights.
Key takeaway: Objective analysis gives you a fact-based view of where change will deliver the most value.
Design is where you transition from understanding problems to planning solutions. Based on the insights gathered, you now reimagine how each process should work.
Design and planning typically involve:
Collaborating with frontline teams during design ensures feasibility. Modeling tools like BPMN can be used to create simulations of the future state, which can then be tested for viability before rollout.
Key takeaway: A well-designed process is clear, scalable, and built for continuous improvement—not just a one-time fix.
This is the execution phase—where your designs are rolled out into daily business operations. But it’s not just about technology; implementation also includes the people side of change.
Activities during implementation include:
A phased approach or pilot rollout is often useful, especially for complex or cross-functional processes. Be sure to track early adoption and address barriers quickly.
Change management plays a huge role here. Even a perfect design can fail if it’s not accepted or understood by the people executing it.
Key takeaway: Successful implementation requires equal focus on systems, communication, and user adoption.
Once live, processes must be continuously monitored and refined. The optimization phase is where short-term execution turns into long-term improvement.
In this phase, organizations:
Continuous improvement frameworks—such as PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)—can be applied here. Process mining can also be used to compare expected vs. actual behavior and recommend further refinements.
The most successful companies treat this phase as ongoing, not optional. Process governance structures, regular reviews, and performance metrics all support sustained gains.
Key takeaway: Optimization keeps processes aligned with business needs even as goals, people, or systems change.
Well-managed business processes are essential in today’s competitive landscape. They support data-driven decisions, align teams with strategy, and reduce operational risk.
Thanks to advanced BPM software, you no longer have to be an expert to design and manage effective workflows. With the right tools, businesses can move from fragmented workflows to integrated, outcome-driven operations.
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