6 Best Practices for Business Process Modelling

 

Business process modelling is a critical element for managing and measuring processes, which forms the foundation for all activities going forward. Without a well-documented and well-structured base, redesigning the processes is nearly impossible, and the dream of achieving better process performance and increased productivity remains elusive. 

In order to ensure successful business improvement initiatives, it is essential to follow best practices in Business Process Modelling. Here are six simple and reliable steps to follow:

Create a Process Library/Framework: Start by scoping your business for business processes and create a Process Library, which holds the names of all the business processes in the organization or section of the organization. Set a minimum and maximum limit of tasks per process and name your processes specifically.

Focus on Process Components while Mapping: A business process model should contain four distinct components, including tasks, roles, documents, and applications, for overall analysis and improvement of the process.

Choose a Limited Number of Tasks: Break down the process into several logical manageable 'chunks of information' and limit the number of tasks to between 5 and 20. This makes the document to-the-point and easy-to-understand for the process doers.

Find Suitable Verbs for Naming Tasks: Use clearly defined verbs that accurately reflect the current activity and avoid verbs that are too high level and do not reflect precisely what is happening in the process.

Be Systematic About Process Flows: Follow a systematic approach while representing process flows, and keep it organized by displaying not crossing any process flows.

Label Events Appropriately: Label all events in the process map with a small text description of 1-2 words to give better clarity of what other "activities" are happening apart from the step-by-step tasks within a process.

It is crucial to set your best practices for business process modelling before you start your process mapping initiative to ensure that all team members use the same "language" in documenting the business processes. 

This practice ensures that all process maps are understandable and easy to make changes for business improvement. Following these best practices will help you achieve better process performance and increased productivity in your business.