Business Process Vs Project Management Process

There is a lot of ambiguity differentiating process management and project management process. The two procedures seem to be identical but actually business process and project management process are two absolutely different set of skills. Business Management circles are debating that we should be creating organizations that are led by process management and, in turn, form Quality Management Environments for support. Whereas there are also some circles that tend to fall for Project Management because of the operational efficiency and reduced manpower.

This is of course a lengthy conversation and demands detailed explanation. However; I think that the choice depends upon the type of organization and kind of business. But first I am going to elaborate the definitions of the processes and later move to pros and cons.

What is a Process and Business Process Management?

Process Management defines around the governance of ongoing operations of a process. A process is generally ongoing and normally doesn’t have an end. It is a recurring series of repetitive tasks. Process Management is a continuous analysis for improvement or reengineering with no clarity defined beginning and end states.

Business management process or BPM is a methodical approach of assembling an organization’s workflow to make it sustainable and capable for an adaption to the changing environment.

What is a Project and Project Management Process?

Project Management aims to accomplish an objective by initiating, planning, executing and controlling the work. A project has a beginning and ending either well defined or not. Unlike process a project is not repetitive and project management is mainly focused on managing a project using different processes to achieve the desired results.

Project Management or PMP is the integration of all processes, methods, knowledge and skill to meet some pre-determined objectives. Project Management Methodologies differ from project to project and system to system.

So, as we see, there are some critical differences between BMP and PMP. The principal difference is the time dependability factor. The choice is up to the CEO’s and managers to select any of them, keeping in mind the intricate details.

Benefits of BPM:

BPM is a series of repetitive steps so stakeholders are confident to achieve a concrete goal. A process is generally automated in a standardized optimized way or can be manually operated without assisting technology. It is visualized by a flowchart of logical steps, so it is easy to maintain and monitor. Following are the methodologies and tools of Business Processes Management.

◈ Life Cycle Improvement of a project by modeling, implementation and monitoring.

◈ Process Discovery of a system to identify the areas of operation which could benefit and increase efficiency

◈ Simulation of a process before execution or during development.

◈ Enables Business Analysts, Managers, and Architects to create and design business process diagrams.

Challenges of BPM:

BPM sometimes becomes a challenge because of the following issues

◈ Slowing or halting of a process at a specific stage due to a human error or difficulty.

◈ The Duplication of work and redundancy due to inefficient processes often having some areas that are repeated or unnecessary.

◈ Lack of recognition because the management does not have a way of viewing where processes stand, what the status is, and how they are performing generally, and specifically.

◈ Communication gaps between the systems which cause malfunctioning.

Benefits of PMP:

PMP is time driven and requires extreme programming and predetermination instincts. A project has different phases or is subdivided into further projects. Sometimes a project is a part of a bigger project of a bigger project. Project Management is a bigger picture of process management. Following are some benefits of PMP.

◈ Project management provides a “roadmap” that is easily followed and leads to project completion for better Efficiency in Delivering Services.

◈ Improves growth and development within your team and inspires you and your team to look for ways to perform more efficiently.

◈ It provides opportunities to expand your services by great performance that leads to more opportunities to succeed.

◈ Increase in Quality and quantity and all risks are analyzed

Challenges of PMP:

PMP has following challenges

◈ Late completion of projects gets over-budgeted and causes dissatisfaction of clients.

◈ Project management is sometimes reactive and is not seen as providing value

◈ Project management is considered ‘overhead’ because of the heavy time and overtime required to complete the job.