WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY
Developing Your Business Process Skills
Business Process Skills
Organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on products and applications that utilize machine learning. For example, AI chatbots write emails and virtual assistants like Alexa can provide us with answers to our queries.
With machine learning technology becoming more widespread, learning more about machine learning and the required skill makes you a highly versatile and in-demand employee in different industries. You also enhance your digital literacy and problem-solving skills by relying on data that can be valuable in personal and career projects.
This guide covers machine learning skills, their examples, benefits, and importance and explores how you can learn and use them.
What Are Business Process Skills?
Business process skills refer to the abilities and knowledge needed to analyze and improve various processes within a business. Business processes are the activities organizations use to accomplish their goals, such as reaching more customers, improving production, and promoting communication in the workplace.
Business process skills may involve understanding how different tasks and activities are carried out, identifying areas for enhancement, and implementing changes to make the business operations more efficient and productive.
Why Are Business Process Skills Important?
Companies establish processes to manage resources, produce products, and fulfill demands. With business process skills, you can analyze the existing processes and implement changes to create more efficiency, helping the company to succeed.
Below are the reasons why business process skills are essential:
- Operational efficiency: By eliminating unnecessary procedures and reducing waste, you can significantly improve the efficiency of workflows. When you optimize processes accordingly, you utilize resources effectively, making business operations smoother.
- Quality improvement: By understanding how a business operates, you can detect and resolve any issues that could result in product defects. You consistently deliver quality outputs, increasing customer satisfaction and trust.
- Enhanced productivity: Streamlining operations and optimizing processes help you save time and energy. You save time concentrating on tasks that bring value to the organization, contributing positively to overall productivity and financial performance.
- Alignment with strategy: You can ensure all the operations in your organization align with the overall goals and strategies. When workflows are well structured and coordinated, they contribute directly to the achievement of business objectives.
- Innovation and adaptability: Business process skills encourage a mindset of continuous improvement. You become more adept at identifying opportunities for innovation and adapting to changing market conditions.
- Effective communication: Organizations can provide a structured framework and the necessary tools to streamline processes for improved collaboration. These structured processes, clear documentation, and standardized workflows will improve understanding among teams and reduce confusion.
- Risk reduction: You can analyze processes, identify potential bottlenecks or weaknesses, and mitigate risks that could impact your organization's performance or reputation.
What Are the Benefits of Having Business Process Skills?
Having an understanding of business process management gives you diverse career opportunities. As companies aim for effectiveness, creativity, and optimal use of resources, you can position yourself as a problem-solver and a leader.
Below are the benefits of having business process management skills:
- Process improvement specialist: In business operations, you can analyze how various procedures operate and make recommendations for improvement. You discover inefficiencies, review and analyze business performance, foster collaboration, and make business operations more efficient.
- Training and development manager: Training processes should be streamlined to reduce time and use resources effectively. As a training and development manager, you can analyze various procedures and workflows in your organization to create training programs that effectively enhance your company’s operations.
- Promotion to management roles: Proficiency in business processes showcases your ability to analyze complex situations and make strategic decisions, making you a strong candidate for leadership roles in your organization.
- Performance metrics and results: You can make data-based decisions and achieve positive results in efficiency, productivity, and overall business outcomes.
- Nonprofit and social impact roles: Nonprofit organizations require operational efficiency to help streamline internal processes, reduce costs, and optimize resources. Your data-driven decisions can help these organizations to identify effective strategies for maximizing impact for sustainable growth.
Examples of Business Process Skills in the Workplace
Having an understanding of business process management gives you diverse career opportunities. As companies aim for effectiveness, creativity, and optimal use of resources, you can position yourself as a problem-solver and a leader.
Below are the benefits of having business process management skills:
Workflow Designs
Companies use business processes to map out tasks and activities within a process, create a sequence for the tasks, and assign roles and responsibilities to the individuals involved.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
SOPs are detailed step-by-step instructions outlining how specific organizational tasks should be performed. Business process skills help managers create SOPs to ensure consistency and quality in their final output. Operational steps can be arranged in a way that makes sense and follows the natural flow of the process.
Training and Onboarding
Organizations design tailored training material to introduce new employees to the organization's processes. Practical training quickens the skill acquisition process and improves employee productivity.
Technology Integration
Integrating new technologies can automate business processes such as supply chains, making the organization more efficient. Companies integrate software solutions that align with the organization's needs and processes to limit disruptions, reduce errors, and improve overall efficiency.
Performance Monitoring
Performance monitoring involves tracking and evaluating how well business processes are being executed and using data-driven insights to suggest improvement. Business managers use their business process skills to understand the intricacies of various organizational processes and select the right key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the performance of different departments.
How Can I Use Business Process Skills?
Every business has several processes, making business process management skills vital in several roles.
Below are various ways in which you can use business process skills:
- Process automation: Individuals with these skills can use tools like Zapier or Microsoft Power Automate to streamline tasks, such as sending follow-up emails after form submissions or updating spreadsheets with new data.
- Process analysis: Business analysts can dissect complex workflows to understand their components, identify bottlenecks, and suggest ways of achieving efficiency in business operations.
- Efficiency enhancement: Operation managers can optimize processes, standardize tasks, reduce redundancies, and minimize delay, boosting the overall efficiency and productivity of your organization.
- Problem-solving: When faced with operational challenges, business managers can investigate root causes within processes and propose solutions to rectify issues.
- Process documentation: Project managers can create clear and comprehensive documentation of workflows, ensuring every employee understands their role and follows project procedures accurately.
- Automation implementation: Automation architects can implement automation tools, including using artificial intelligence, to reduce manual work and increase consistency.
How Can I Learn Business Process Skills?
You can acquire business process skills by enrolling in the B.S. in Information Technology degree program at WGU's College of IT. This degree gives you a strong foundation in understanding, designing, modelling, implementing, and optimizing business processes.
WGU courses are designed by industry experts, giving you the most relevant and up-to-date knowledge. We are committed to making quality education affordable and accessible. We offer over 80 degree options so that you can find a program tailored to your passions in business analysis, process automation, or even business operations.
With our business-related degree programs, you’ll learn to:
- Align business processes with business strategy.
- Develop leadership skills for successfully managing diverse teams
- Develop workflows that make various internal business processes more integrated and efficient.
- Evaluate various processes for opportunities to improve business performance.
- Lead change in an organization's culture.
- Lead change in an organization's culture.
- Lead problem-solving efforts related to internal processes.
- Manage business processes.
- Optimize business processes to minimize costs and maximize efficiency.
Frequently Asked Questions
To develop your business process skills, you can enroll in a degree program like a B.S. in Information Technology. You can also take online courses and attend workshops related to business process management, lean management, Six Sigma, and project management.
You can practice process mapping using tools like Microsoft Visio and Lucidchart or even a pen and paper. To stay updated with the latest trends and best practices in business process management, you can follow industry blogs and read books or research papers on process optimization.
You can apply business process skills to your current role by identifying inefficiencies, streamlining workflows, and improving overall operations. To begin with, analyze your current processes to identify bottlenecks or areas that can be optimized. Then, develop a plan to implement changes and improvements. For instance, you might apply Lean principles to eliminate wastage and enhance production efficiency in manufacturing.
Technology is a crucial element in both learning and applying business process skills. In the learning phase, you can use technology in online courses, simulations, and virtual labs that provide hands-on experience to interact with and practice automation techniques.
In the workplace, you can use tools like BPM software, workflow automation platforms, and data analytics to model, analyze, automate, and continuously improve processes, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in your business.
Yes. You can take a course in Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP) and Business Process Management (BPM).
The specific courses or certificates you choose will depend on your career goals, existing skills, and the areas you want to strengthen.
