What is a business process?
A business process is "a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome and implies a strong emphasis on how work is done within an organization".
Business processes describe how an organization harnesses staff and resources in order to execute tasks and create valued results. In the execution of processes, staff use or consume resources (ie., IT, equipment, material assets) to produce desires outcomes. Defining processes allows us to describe how the business performs this work, including how it flows through the organization.
This flow starts with some type of trigger (event), moving through the organization and crossing several organizational boundaries until it produces the final outcome.
Businesses often organize work around narrow functions with limited interaction across the enterprise. Workers tend to think in terms of their individual departments and managers rather than the complete end-to-end, customer-centric view of the process. In order to focus on process, we use a language that includes a graphical representation of business processes. This representation clearly shows the interrelationships between staff.
We document business processes by using graphical business process models. By modelling a business process, we can analyze and define work based on the process itself rather than functions, divisions, organizational units, geographical locations or products.
Processes are a directed activity that represents the work the organization performs. The design of new processes or improvement of existing ones that increase the efficiency of a given capability is an ongoing business objective.
We typically define processes in some type of hierarchical structure. At its highest level, a process definition does not contain enough detail to actually describe how to perform the work. It generally describes what staff do. Therefore, it must be decomposed to a level that an individual or system can perform the work. The levels of process documentation are shown below:
Level 1: Process Model
Top Level Map of the entire organization. Each box represents a business process chain. A business process chain is a group of linked (serial or parallel) processes.
Level 2 Process Chain
Process Chain Map of one of the level one chevrons. Each box represents a group of sub-processes.
Level 3 Process Map
At this level, physical work is represented. Each box represents an activity which produces an outcome. Analysis of existing processes are undertaken.
Level 4 Task Documentation
This represents a procedure or narrative which represents the decomposition of a task into further detail. Describes HOW the task is performed.
Level 5 Step-by-Step Documentation
This represents detailed information about how to complete an activity. Each item is a specific action to be taken – (e.g., screen – field level procedures).
