Approval Bottleneck: How to Find the Cause of Delays Before Process Automation
When document approval takes weeks, management's first reaction is to automate the "Approve" button. However, automating a chaotic process only accelerates the execution of erroneous actions. To find the real bottleneck, it is necessary to analyse the interaction of roles, repetitive cycles, and task handoff rules before implementing technological solutions.
As-Is Current State Audit and Identification of Organisational Gaps
The desire to speed up business processes using IT tools without prior analysis often leads to the opposite effect. If a regulation contains internal contradictions, automation scales these errors, forcing users to generate inaccurate data faster or return documents for revision more frequently. A business process analyst must start by capturing the actual state of affairs, separating declared rules from actual practice.
To build a high-quality management system, organisations often turn to the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology. This methodology is a cycle of continuous quality improvement, rather than just a one-off audit tool. The planning phase (Plan) in this cycle requires a clear understanding of the baseline — the current As-Is state. The analyst must document in detail every step a document goes through from creation to archiving. This allows for the identification of informal agreements and workarounds that employees use to compensate for shortcomings in the official regulations.
Automating an unoptimised regulation only scales chaos: before implementing IT tools, it is essential to deconstruct repetitive cycles (rework) and clearly define areas of responsibility.
- Analysis of current regulations: Verifying compliance of the recorded rules with the actual execution of tasks by departments at each stage.
- Identification of handoff points: Defining the boundaries of responsibility when a document transitions between different departments and officials.
- Capturing repetitive cycles: Identifying stages where documents are most frequently returned for revision due to initiation errors.
- Assessment of information gaps: Checking the availability of all necessary data and supporting materials at the initial stage of the process.
Visualising Routes in BPMN and Defining Responsibility Boundaries
Process modelling is a critical step before development begins. Using the BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) standard allows for the creation of a graphical process model that serves as a bridge between technical developers and business users. BPMN provides a standardised graphical notation to visualise business processes, including roles, events, and the sequence of actions. This simplifies the analysis of task flows and interactions between different departments.
The specification allows for the modelling of complex gateways and loops, which helps identify hidden document return loops for revision before development begins. The process owner must clearly distinguish between description tools and actual changes. The standard describes the rules for building diagrams but does not contain methodological recommendations for optimising or reducing process duration.
- Visualisation is not optimisation: The BPMN graphical notation only displays the current or target state, but does not automatically improve process logic.
- Automation is not equivalent to optimisation: Implementing an IT system without changing the logic of the regulation simply transfers paper chaos into the digital space.
- Cycle time is an analysis metric: Assessing process duration helps find delays, but automation alone does not guarantee its reduction.
- Standardisation precedes coding: Clear rules and approval criteria must be approved before writing the first line of code.
A process approach requires not only describing actions but also clearly assigning responsibility. The DSTU ISO 9001:2015 standard requires the application of a process approach, which includes defining inputs, outputs, sequence, and interaction of processes within the organisation. To ensure proper management quality, it is necessary to appoint responsible persons — process owners — and define criteria for evaluating their effectiveness. Without this, a document can sit in a queue for weeks, as no department bears responsibility for the final result.
Cycle Time Assessment via BABOK Methodology and Eliminating Functional Barriers
For a deeper understanding of the causes of delays, the Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO) applies Process Analysis using the BABOK methodology. This approach is aimed at identifying inefficiencies, redundant steps, and repetitive cycles (rework). One of the key metrics here is cycle time — the total time required to complete a process from start to finish.
The methodology recommends measuring the duration of a task's stay in each specific status. This allows for the identification of factors that slow down the handoff of tasks between roles. It often turns out that a document waits for hours or days to be handed off due to the lack of clear verification criteria or due to functional barriers between departments. The analysis helps localise these delays and prepare the ground for designing an improved state.
Designing the To-Be Target State and Selecting Flexible IT Tools
After identifying all bottlenecks, the systems architect, together with business analysts, designs the target state (To-Be). This involves eliminating steps that do not create added value, standardising input requirements, and optimising routes. Only after approving the new logic and eliminating organisational gaps can you proceed to configuring the information system. The choice of the right tools at this stage determines how flexible the system will be in the future.
To implement the designed To-Be routes, it is advisable to use systems with a model-driven architecture that support BPMN notation at the engine level. For example, the UnityBase platform and the Megapolis.DocNet system from IQusion allow for the transfer of visualised process logic directly into the working environment. Thanks to the built-in business process designer, architects can configure routes in accordance with approved regulations, ensuring control of execution discipline and the use of qualified electronic signatures (QES) without excessive coding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What signs indicate that an approval regulation is not ready for automation?
A regulation requires revision if it lacks clear criteria for transitioning a document between statuses, no single process owner is defined, and a significant portion of communication between departments occurs through informal channels that cannot be described by logical rules.
How to correctly measure cycle time to localise delays?
Instead of capturing only the overall duration of the process, it is necessary to measure the time a document spends in each individual status and the waiting time for handoff between roles. This allows for the identification of specific stages where functional barriers arise.
What role does the BPMN standard play in preparing for the implementation of a document management system?
BPMN provides standardised visualisation of routes, allowing business analysts and developers to jointly identify complex gateways and hidden document return loops for revision even before starting to configure the IT system.
