The Business Process Improvement Toolkit

Name: The Business Process Improvement Toolkit
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Learn how, why, and when to use key business process improvement tools and techniques to improve business performance

Created byCrow Dillon-Parkin

Last updated 9/2025

English

What you'll learn

Understand the principles of business process improvement (BPI) and business process re-engineering (BPR)
Identify the main tools and techniques used in business process improvement
Evaluate which business process improvement techniques are best for your project or organization
Apply the tools and techniques during the course case study
Use the business process improvement toolkit appropriately back in your workplace
Describe the 6 steps of the business process improvement process
Connect process changes to strategic initiatives
Develop process models to visualize workflows and processes
Define performance metrics to evaluate the success of process improvments

Course content

3 sections • 27 lectures • 1h 57m total length

Welcome to the Business Process Improvement Toolkit1:48
Introduction to the course and the instructor.
Course Objectives: What You Will Achieve2:01
Introducing the course objectives, the course case study, and the course notes.
Business Process Improvement: Stepping Through BPI End-to-End4:10
A walkthrough of the BPI process steps from beginning to end, giving you an overview of what we will be covering in the course.
Assessing Your BPI Knowledge: What Do You Already Know?2:45
After this lecture you can assess your own BPI knowledge, based on what you already know, and what you have just seen about the BPI process in Lecture 3. At the end of the course you can re-assess your BPI knowledge and see how much you have learned.

Business Operations and the Growth of Specialization3:34
Learn about the rise of specialization in workplaces and organizations, and how this affects business operations. Use the activity resources to identify specialization and siloes at MetroMart (the course case study) and in your own organization.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Specialization: Balancing Clarity & Collaboration0:49
Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of specialization. Use the activity resources to identify advantages and disadvantages of specialization in your own organization.
Business Functional Areas and Processes: Seeing the Bigger Picture3:39
In this lecture you will learn about business functional areas and processes. Use the activity resources to identify business functions and processes at MetroMart and in your own organization.
Understanding Functional Relationships: Beyond the Organizational Chart1:42
In this lecture you will learn about how functional relationships work across the organization, in ways that might not be obvious from the organizational charts. Use the activity resources to identify functional relationships at MetroMart and in your own organization.
What Are Handovers? Critical Transitions Points for Managing Business Processes8:09
In this lecture you will learn about handovers and bottlenecks, and be able to identify where these happen in your organization. Use the activity resources to identify handovers and bottlenecks at MetroMart and in your own organization.
Business Processes: The Building Blocks of Improvement7:45
Learn how to identify and describe business processes. We cannot improve our processes until we can identify them. Use the attached activity resources to describe business processes at MetroMart and in your own organization. You will be able to draw a basic UML activity diagram.
The Value Chain: How Your Organization Delivers Value3:28
Learn about the value chain and identify what business activities and processes create value in an organization. Use the attached activity resources to identify the value chain at MetroMart and in your own organization.
What Triggers Process Improvement? Responding to Business Drivers2:19
Identify the business drivers that trigger business process improvements. Use the activity resources to identify the business drivers in your own organization.
Why Even the Best Processes Decline Over Time9:18
Learn why and how business processes can decline over time, and what to do about it. Use the activity resources to identify declining processes at MetroMart and in your own organization, and suggest which process improvement approach to take.
BPI vs BPR: Fine-tuning or Total Transformation?4:41
Learn the differences between BPI and BPR, and when it is best to take each approach to business process improvement. Use the activity resources to identify declining processes at MetroMart and in your own organization, and suggest which process improvement approach to take.
Organizational Change and Process Improvement: Strategy Alignment and Metrics2:46
Learn how process improvement is connected to organizational strategy and performance metrics. Use the activity resources to investigate what KPIs your own organization is using (or should be using) to drive process improvement.
Understanding the Organization: Three Key Components5:34
Learn how the organization's mission and vision, together with its organizational and stakeholder needs, impacts on process change. Use the activity resources to examine these components for MetroMart, and then for your own organization.

The BPI Process Steps: Six Steps to Optimization1:11
Revisit the six steps in the BPI process, before we go into each step in detail. There is a quiz you can take after the lecture to check your learning.
The BPI Process Steps
Step 1: Identify the Process: Creating and Using a Process Inventory8:53
Learn how the BPI process starts by identifying the processes currently in use. Use the activity resources and the MetroMart case study to create a process inventory.
Step 1: Model the Process: What Is Process Modelling?2:06
Learn more about process modelling and why it is helpful. Use the activity resources to model one of the MetroMart processes using draw.io or any other drawing tool of your choice (there is a tutorial for draw.io in Lecture 10).
Step 2: Analyse the Problem: Prioritize the Process for Improvement13:11
Learn how to create an As-Is and To-Be comparison, and how to prioritize processes for improvement. Use the activity resources to practice these tasks.
Step 2: Analyze the Process: Gap Analysis4:57
Learn how to conduct a gap analysis of the problem, which you can then use to create an action plan for filling the gaps. Use the activity resources to perform a gap analysis for MetroMart.
Step 3: Improve the Process: Drive Meaningful Process Improvement3:25
Learn how to verify the process model and apply the main improvement techniques. Use the activity resources to suggest process improvements for MetroMart.
Step 4: Assess the Improved Process: Evaluate Success Using KPIs2:00
Learn about the importance of assessing the planned improvements before implementation, to avoid negative impacts, and using KPIs to check that improvements will bring the benefits you expect. Use the activity resources to reflect on the Deming Cycle and to define KPIs for MetroMart and your own organization.
Step 5: Implement the Improved Process: Overcoming Resistance to Change7:16
Learn about the steps to implement improved processes, and strategies to help overcome any resistance to change. Use the activity resources to practice addressing resistance and to plan a phased implementation.
Step 6: Continuous Improvement: Improvement Never Ends...6:08
Learn about different continuous improvement methods and when they would be useful. Use the activity resources to design a continuous improvement plan for a process, and to remind yourself of the key external factors that affect processes.
Conclusion: Improving Processes Is Essential for Growth and Success2:43
Course conclusion: a recap of the BPI Process. Use the activity resources to reflect on a process you want to improve, and to reassess your BPI knowledge now that you have finished the course. There is also a useful quick start guide to BPI that you can use as a prompt for your future BPI projects.
Bonus Lecture1:32

Requirements

No business process improvement experience is needed, you will learn the key concepts and techniques in this course.
It is useful if you have access to drawing software, but if you don't the course has a tutorial to help you use a free tool for process modelling.

Description

The Business Process Improvement Toolkit is designed to teach you how to use the main tools and techniques for business process improvement (BPI). Whatever your current role is, you have probably noticed areas for improvement in your organization, and working in business process improvement at any level can be extremely rewarding. Whether you’re working for yourself as a solopreneur, or for a global organization, or anything in between, there is always room for improvement – but improvement does not happen all by itself.

The course is designed to give you enough context and conceptual information to be able to understand what tools to apply where and when. If you already have some experience with business process improvement techniques, you can go straight to the sections that you think are most relevant to your current situation and come back to the rationale later.

During this course we will define what we mean by business processes, explore how to document and describe business processes, and understand how process improvement fits in with business strategy. You can work through the accompanying case study activities to start putting theory into practice, so that you will have skills that you can apply back in your own workplace.

You will learn how to:

Apply a structured business process improvement framework to solve specific process problems in your organization
Align business process improvements with business goals and strategy
- Connect process changes to strategic initiatives
Develop process models that visualize workflows
- Share these with stakeholders to get their input and promote buy-in
Use performance metrics to drive improvements
- Select the appropriate performance metrics for your organization
Implement sustainable changes
- Design lasting modifications to boost organizational efficiency

By the end of the course, you will understand all the key standard terms used in BPI, and the standard BPI process steps.

More importantly you will know what tools and techniques to use for each step, and the most appropriate process improvement approach to take for your organization.

Who this course is for:

People who know that something needs improving in their organization but don't know where to start
People who have heard about business process improvement but aren't sure what it is
People who have some experience of process improvement who want to learn best practices
Experienced process improvers who want to consolidate their skills and make sure they are still doing it right
Business analysts looking to expand their skillset

The Business Process Improvement Toolkit

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction to the Business Process Improvement Toolkit4 lectures • 11min

What is Business Process Improvement and Why Do We Need It?12 lectures • 54min

How Do We Follow the BPI Process Steps and What Techniques Can We Use?11 lectures • 53min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: