From Binders to BPMS: Building the Ultimate Process Library

Every process excellence function has a foundation—a cornerstone that holds everything together. For me, it’s the process library. If you’ve ever wondered what it should include or how to structure it, you’re in good company. Let’s dive into this essential tool for organizational success.

The Evolution of the Process Library

A little nostalgia first. My father’s workplace had processes in binders—physical, dusty, and rarely updated. When I entered the industry, Visio and Word files ruled the day, locked in “controlled” folders on someone’s desktop. Then came shared network drives, and now, we’ve arrived at Business Process Management Systems (BPMS), purpose-built for documentation and analysis.

What’s clear is that the how has changed dramatically, but the why remains the same: a process library is your organization’s single source of truth for how things get done.

What Goes Inside?

The first question any process excellence professional must answer is deceptively simple: what should your library contain? The answer defines the scope of your efforts—and the size of your headaches!

In my experience, the library should focus on approved business processes that reflect business as usual. Here’s what that means:

• Key Value Chains: The high-level activities that drive your organization’s value delivery.
• Key Activities: The foundational actions that support those value chains.
• Cross-Functional Interactions: How departments work together to deliver results.

Importantly, there’s a cutoff point. Intra-functional processes—those contained within a single department—should typically be treated as procedures, not part of the library. Unless you have an army of analysts (and who does?), you’ll quickly drown in detail if you try to capture everything.

How to Structure It

Once you’ve defined your content, the next challenge is structure. Options abound:

1. Organizational Structure: Align processes by department or team.
2. Ownership: Group processes by process owners.
3. Value Chains: Map processes to their place in the value chain.
4. Capabilities: Organize processes by the capabilities they support.

While all these methods have their merits, modern BPMS tools make structure less critical. What matters more is enabling multiple views of your processes. For example:

• One view organized by ownership.
• Another by functional area.
• A third by value chain.

Investing in the ability to generate these perspectives pays off in spades later.

Invest in the Right Tools

Finally, a great library needs great tools. A robust BPMS allows you to link processes to roles, KPIs, risks, and more. This creates a web of information that I call “Organizational Process Intelligence.” With the right system, you can shift from managing processes to driving strategic insights—unlocking the full potential of process excellence.

What’s Your Take?

What does your process library look like? Are there elements you think should be included—or approaches you’ve seen that work better? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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