Why this matters
As a Business Analyst, you don’t just draw BPMN diagrams—you use them to find faster, cheaper, and more reliable ways to deliver outcomes. Spotting process improvement opportunities lets you reduce wait times, remove rework, simplify approvals, and prevent errors—directly impacting cost, customer satisfaction, compliance, and team productivity.
- Reduce cycle time: Identify unnecessary steps and long waits.
- Cut costs: Remove duplicate work and manual handoffs.
- Improve quality: Error-proof risky steps and standardize work.
- Boost visibility: Define clear metrics and ownership.
Who this is for
- Business Analysts mapping as-is/to-be processes in BPMN.
- Product Owners and Operations Analysts reducing waste and delays.
- Team Leads improving handoffs between roles/systems.
Prerequisites
- Basic BPMN notation: events, tasks, gateways, pools/lanes.
- Understanding of current business process scope and goals.
- Ability to read a simple swimlane diagram.
Concept explained simply
Process improvement opportunities are concrete changes that make a process simpler, faster, cheaper, or safer. In BPMN, you read the flow like a story, then ask: where are we waiting, repeating, or guessing? Improvements often fall into a few reliable patterns.
Mental model: FASTER
- Filter out: Remove non-value steps and duplicate work.
- Automate: Use systems for repetitive/manual tasks.
- Simplify: Reduce approvals, forms, and variants.
- Transfer left: Validate earlier to avoid rework later.
- Error-proof: Add validations and standard work.
- Re-sequence: Parallelize and reorder for flow.
Tip: Where to look first
- Long waits before/after gateways (approvals, decisions).
- Loops that send work back to earlier steps (rework).
- Multiple handoffs between lanes without clear ownership.
- Manual data entry or copy-paste from one system to another.
How to spot opportunities in a BPMN diagram
Step 1: Trace the happy path from start to end. Note where work waits and who touches it.
Step 2: Mark gateways. For each decision/merge, ask what data is needed and when it becomes available.
Step 3: Identify loops and rework. What triggers them? Can you validate earlier?
Step 4: Examine handoffs across lanes. Are roles adding value or just relaying?
Step 5: Check for manual tasks that a system could handle (routing, notifications, validation).
Step 6: Consider sequence. What can run in parallel without risk?
Step 7: Define a measurable outcome per improvement (time, cost, error rate).
Quick checklist
- Any approvals that could be auto-approved based on rules?
- Any re-entry loops caused by missing/poor-quality inputs?
- Any wait states with no SLA or escalation?
- Any manual double entry between systems?
- Any sequential tasks that could be parallel?
- Any steps with unclear owner or success criteria?
Worked examples
Example 1: Order approval
As-is highlights:
- Sales submits order → Finance reviews → Manager approves → Order fulfilled.
- Loop: If data incomplete, it goes back to Sales.
- Wait: Manager approval for all orders.
Improvement opportunities
- Auto-approve orders under a threshold with clean credit check (Automate, Simplify).
- Mandatory fields and format checks at Sales submission (Transfer left, Error-proof).
- Parallelize Finance review and stock reservation when risk is low (Re-sequence).
- Escalation if approval waits >24 hours (Simplify flow, SLA).
Example 2: Support ticket triage
As-is highlights:
- Customer submits ticket → Tier 1 triage → Assign to team → Tech requests missing info → Back to Tier 1.
- Many back-and-forth messages for basic details.
Improvement opportunities
- Dynamic intake form based on category to collect required data (Transfer left, Error-proof).
- Auto-routing by category/priority (Automate).
- Service catalog with known solutions to auto-resolve common issues (Automate, Filter out).
- Parallel notify customer and assign technician (Re-sequence).
Example 3: Employee onboarding
As-is highlights:
- HR collects documents → IT creates accounts → Manager assigns training → Employee waits for laptop.
- Sequential steps cause long delays before day one.
Improvement opportunities
- Trigger IT account creation when offer is accepted, not after forms are complete (Re-sequence).
- Template-based role profiles to auto-provision standard access (Automate, Standardize).
- Pre-boarding checklist sent to employee with auto-reminders (Automate, Error-proof).
Exercises and practice
Do the exercise below. Compare your answer with the solution. Rework your BPMN diagram if needed.
Exercise 1: Spot improvements in a mini BPMN
Read the simple flow (textual BPMN) and list at least 4 improvement opportunities:
Process snippet
Start → Receive Application (Clerk) → Exclusive Gateway: Complete? - No → Request More Info (Email) → Wait for Reply → Back to Receive Application - Yes → Manual Data Entry into System A (Clerk) → Send for Approval (Manager) → Wait for Manager Approval → If Approved → Update System B (Clerk) → End → If Rejected → Notify Applicant → End
- Write improvements using the FASTER model. Name the step(s) you would change and the measurable effect (e.g., reduce wait by X, cut rework by Y%).
Example solution
- Add mandatory field checks at submission to reduce the "No" branch by 60% (Transfer left, Error-proof).
- Replace manual data entry with integration to System A (Automate).
- Auto-approve low-risk applications based on rules (Simplify/Automate).
- Post-approval, auto-update System B via integration (Automate).
- Add SLA: escalate if manager wait > 1 business day (Simplify flow, SLA).
- Send applicant a dynamic form for missing info to avoid email back-and-forth (Error-proof).
Self-check checklist
- Your list contains at least one improvement for: validation earlier, automation, and re-sequencing/parallelization.
- Each improvement names the affected BPMN step or gateway.
- You included a measurable outcome (time, cost, or error rate).
Common mistakes and how to self-check
- Optimizing the wrong step: Fix where the biggest wait or rework occurs. Self-check: mark times and counts per step.
- Too many approvals: If risk-based rules can handle it, remove extra approvals. Self-check: what risk is mitigated, and can data do it?
- Automating broken steps: Simplify before you automate. Self-check: can a step be removed entirely?
- Ignoring handoffs: Each handoff can add delay. Self-check: count lane changes; can you consolidate ownership?
- Missing metrics: No target, no improvement. Self-check: define baseline and success criteria.
Practical projects
- Map a current approval flow in your team. Propose 3 improvements using FASTER. Include before/after BPMN and expected metrics.
- Take a high-volume support request and design a dynamic intake + auto-routing. Show which rework loop disappears.
- Choose a process with 3+ lanes. Reduce handoffs by regrouping tasks and adding one integration. Document SLA changes.
Next steps
- Apply FASTER to one real process this week and measure a small win (e.g., remove a redundant approval).
- Create a habit: every gateway must justify its delay vs. risk; every loop must have a prevention step earlier.
- Share before/after BPMN with stakeholders and capture feedback to refine.
Learning path
- Learn BPMN basics → Map as-is → Identify bottlenecks → Propose to-be with FASTER → Pilot → Measure → Roll out.
- Complement with data: basic cycle-time and throughput metrics to prove impact.
Mini challenge
You have a claims process with two approvals in sequence and a rework loop for missing documents. In two bullets, propose improvements that 1) remove one approval for low-risk cases, and 2) cut rework by validating earlier. Add one metric for success.
Example answer to compare
- Auto-approve claims under $1,000 with clean history using rules; escalate others to single approver. Target: 40% auto-approval.
- Dynamic upload checklist at intake with required fields and image validation. Target: rework rate < 5%.
Take the quick test
Test is available to everyone. Only logged-in users will have their progress saved.