Every year, we conduct a survey of process professionals to understand the current priorities and challenges they expect to face in the coming year. According to the 2024 survey, process professionals are focused on the following areas this year:

1. Process management (97% of survey respondents)
2. Continuous improvement (86% of survey respondents)
3. Data and measurement (83% of survey respondents)
4. Strategic planning (69% of survey respondents)
5. Project management (68% of survey respondents)
6. Benchmarking (46% of survey respondents)

Considering this is an annual survey, one of my favorite ways to analyze the data is to see how the trends change and evolve from year to year. While the top focus areas – process management, continuous improvement, and data and measurement - have remained the same, their importance has continued to grow. The most significant change this year is the switch in importance between strategic planning and project management. In both 2023 and 2022, project management was the number four priority; however, in 2024, strategic planning has moved up to the number four spot, bumping project management to number 5. 

In the survey, we dig a bit deeper into each priority and ask what organizations are focused on within each category. Let’s dig into the results from the top three priorities and see how APQC’s research can help arm you with tools and tactics for success. (Learn more in the full survey report.)

Process Management Priorities and Challenges

Within process management, the majority of organizations identified  “defining and mapping end-to-end processes” as their top focus. Previously, embedding a process-thinking culture and aligning process work to the organizational strategic objectives were dominant on the top priorities' lists, but have now been replaced by picking the right KPIs. This year, organizations are less focused on how to get their organization to where it needs to be and more focused on measuring success. 

Knowing this, it’s not surprising that I get many questions around measuring the success or ROI of business process management. As we continue to create best practices and useful content around this topic, we discovered in the 2024 priorities survey that organizations primarily use KPIs to:

• Track overall performance of the company
• Manage short-term objectives 
• Identify improvement opportunities 

Keeping in line with KPIs, I hosted a roundtable last year on finding the right measures. Regardless of whether you're tracking strategic or operational goals, finding the right measures has presented a challenge for many organizations. Even measures that look good on the surface might not provide the right insight for leaders and decision-makers. 

To explore this more in-depth, I recommend these articles:

1. How to Get Employee Buy-in for Measurement
2. Picking the Right Measures
3. Finding the Right Measures for Process and Performance Management and the Business

Continuous Improvement Priorities and Challenges 

According to our 2024 survey, organizations struggle the most with aligning their continuous improvement efforts. In prior years, organizations primarily struggled with creating a continuous improvement culture; however, this year, that priority has dropped to number two. 

Late last year, I met with process professionals via a virtual roundtable, and they discussed more about their continuous improvement initiatives for 2024: 

• Organizations are changing how they link their improvement opportunities - possibly to costs/benefits of the improvement versus just the strategic alignment.
• To try to avoid the "next best thing", organizations want to stop, analyze and provide recommendations in order to vet the ideas and ensure the company is aligned. 

This is where end-to-end process mapping can be beneficial, allowing organizations to make balanced improvements. By understanding what happens before and after a particular phase of the process, you can better suggest or improve one process without adversely affecting another. 

Here are a few resources related to continuous improvement I suggest you review: 

1. How Continuous Improvement and Measurement Will Evolve for Process and Performance Management in 2024
2. Three Benefits of Strong End-to-End Process Governance
3. Creating a Continuous Improvement and Process Driven Culture

Data and Measurement Priorities and Challenges 

According to our 2024 survey, organizations continue to struggle with establishing a data-driven culture. When thinking about establishing a data-driven culture, change, and engagement are two topics that come to mind. Creating a data-driven culture is a long-term undertaking that requires careful planning and preparation; top-to-bottom, widespread commitment; and enduring attention and effort. 

Often, change efforts are met with resistance and related challenges such as engaging diverse management or learning styles, achieving consensus for enterprise-wide change, ensuring access to the necessary resources, and helping employees make the changes part of their daily routines. Shifting to a data-driven culture is no exception. Effective change management must evaluate many factors to design a deployment AND sustainment approach that helps decision-makers as they move along the decision-making spectrum. 

View APQC’s content collection: Change Management for Establishing a Data-driven Culture and Making Change Management Mindful to learn more.

Join me on the webinar!

Join me and my colleague, Kelli South, for an upcoming webinar, What to Expect in Process and Performance Management in 2024, taking place February 27 at 11:00  a.m. CST to hear more about the results of the 2024 priorities and challenges survey.