Modelling Processes Flashcards
What is a process?
Set off related activities or tasks that together transform inputs to outputs which being value to the customer.
Why do businesses model processes?
To train.
To find improvements or efficiency gains.
To find opportunities to automate.
To find problems or bottlenecks.
To ensure consistency.
To satisfy a regulator.
Aids communication and understanding.
Part of business architecture.
What is the hierarchy of business processes?
Enterprise level - often shown as a value stream. Shows processes relationship to each other (Inc dependencies) and how they interconnect to create the final product or service the customer sees.
Event-response level - what most people think of. Series of tasks. Each is one person one place one time .
Actor-task level - expands on the detail of each task. Steps taken.
What does an organisational chart show and not show?
Shows: Roles and reporting lines.
Doesn’t show: Interactions between depts, how the organisation responds to an event.
Why is an enterprise level diagram helpful?
Helps show lie of land.
Establishes boundaries.
Establishes dependencies and associations.
What framework is helpful for building an enterprise level diagram?
SIPOC - suppliers, inputs, processes, outputs, customers.
Expanded by Harmon to include external environment and competitors.
Porters value chain.
What is the value proposition?
The definition of an organisations products or services, which demonstrates that we understand what our customers need and can provide that. It is what differentiates us from our competitions. It can include features of the product, cusometer relationship aspects, and reputational aspects.
What types of business event are there?
Internal
External
Time bound
Why are business rules needed, and where do they come from?
To enable decisions to be made and to guide the execution of the process.
Best practice, experience, business policy, external constraints.
Why is it useful to use a standard notation?
More easily understood
Ensures consistency
Supports integration across different departments
Supports unambiguous communication
What is the key notation in a UML process map?
Actors and swimlanes
Initial node - circle
Tasks - rounded rectangle
Flows and handoffs
Decisions - diamond with guard conditions
Forks and joins
Final node - bullseye
Flow finals - crossed circle
Why measure process performance?
Time spent analysing, creating and managing processes is wasted if no one monitors them.
If we don’t, how do we know if we’re meeting customers needs in a way that is sustainable to the organisation.
On what basis do we monitor processes?
Time, cost, quality.
Remember, customers may not apply the same measures you do.
eg. Time from queueing vs time from front of the queue.
What is a task?
Something done by one actor in one place at one time.
What information do we need to know about a task?
Name of the task
Actor
Business event
Inputs
Outputs
Costs
Measures
Standards - define best practice (internal or external)
Business rules - constrains (restrict) and operational guidance
Steps
