Both Scott Francis (Leading from Below) and Adam Deane (BPM: Business Politics Management) did a good job of articulating and demonstrating how important politics are in implementing a BPM project. I couldn’t agree more – managing politics is a big part of getting anything done in a business of any size.

There is one point that I think they both missed (or at least didn’t focus on) – managing those politics is just as important as managing the process – and politics exist in every (yes every) non-routine process in business. Unless the process is fully automated (or so routine that it should be fully automated) – people and their judgment are involved. Once that is the case, politics are sure to follow. Those politics are managed in meetings, discussions, conversations, email and documents. Also, they are just as important as the process itself – since they influence the outcome of the process.

So yes, Business Politics Management is the cousin of Business Process Management – a kissing cousin. Most BPMS vendors don’t consider politics something a BPMS should address. In my opinion as long as BPMS tools ignore all the stuff that goes on around the process (i.e. politics), but has influence on the outcome of the process – they have a big hole in functionality.