Business Analysis Practice: Techniques Document

Business Process Modeling Techniques

Copyright 2011

Last Modified Tuesday, May 22, 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1-1 BUSINESS PROCESS MODELING TECHNIQUES ............................................. 2-1
Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 2-1 Business Context Diagram ................................................................................................................................. 2-2 Business Process Diagram .................................................................................................................................. 2-2 Business Process Discovery Techniques ............................................................................................................ 2-3 Interviews ......................................................................................................................................................... 2-3 Facilitated Workshops ...................................................................................................................................... 2-4 Observation ...................................................................................................................................................... 2-5 Existing Documentation ................................................................................................................................... 2-5

MODEL CURRENT STATE .................................................................................. 3-1

Create a Current State Business Context Diagram ......................................................................................... 3-1 Create a Current State Business Process Diagram .......................................................................................... 3-2

ANALYZE CURRENT STATE .............................................................................. 4-1

Identify Pain Points ............................................................................................................................................ 4-1 Identify Opportunities for Improving the Current State Process .................................................................. 4-2 Helpful Hints for Modeling and Usage ............................................................................................................. 4-2

MODEL FUTURE STATE ..................................................................................... 5-1

Create a Future State Business Context Diagram ........................................................................................... 5-1 Create a Future State Business Process Diagram ............................................................................................ 5-2

APPENDIX ............................................................................................................ 6-1

Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................... 6-1

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Business Process Modeling Techniques describes the methods for creating business process diagrams in Visio. The objective of this document is to define techniques for modeling Delta business processes using Visio. It includes the techniques to: Model a current state business process Analyze a current state business process Model a future state business process. All Business Process Diagrams should comply with Deltas standards for modeling business processes. Refer to the document Business Process Modeling Standards for Visio for information on modeling standards at Delta.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Business Process Modeling Techniques

BUSINESS PROCESS MODELING TECHNIQUES

Overview
As a general approach, the technique for modeling the current state and then re-designing a future state follows the method outlined below. 1. Model The Current State First, the existing or current business process is modeled to gain a thorough understanding of the process. The resulting diagram provides a graphical representation of the process which enables and facilitates communication with our business partners. For more information on creating a current state business process model, refer to the section Model Current State. 2. Analyze The Current State The current process is reviewed to identify problem areas, pain points and gaps in the process. These are then analyzed to identify potential opportunities for improvement in the process. The improvement opportunities will address the problem areas with effective and efficient solutions. For the techniques to analyze the current state, refer to the section Analyze Current State. 3. Model The Future State The future process is then re-designed using the existing process as a foundation and incorporating the improvement opportunities. For the technique to create a future state business process diagram, refer to section Model Future State. Two types of diagrams are used to model the business process for both the current state and the future state: Business Context Diagram, and Business Process Diagram. Techniques are available for creating both current state and future state Business Context Diagrams and Business Process Diagrams.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Business Process Modeling Techniques

Business Context Diagram

A Business Context Diagram is a high level diagram that depicts the business domain, actors (roles, organizations, external entities and systems) outside the business domain, and interactions between the business domain and the actors. The Business Context Diagram shows how the business domain interacts with its environment (i.e. external stakeholders). The Business Context Diagram is important in that it helps define the scope and the boundaries of the work effort. Only those processes within the business domain and those associated with the business interactions are in scope. All other processes are excluded from the current state diagrams. The Business Context Diagram is comprised of the following components: Business Domain Actors Interactions. The Business Domain is the area of the business which is being addressed by the project. The business domain is composed of internal roles, organizations and systems that work together to deliver products and services to customers. The Actors are the roles, organizations, systems and external entities that serve as the sources and recipients of the interactions to and from the business domain. Actors lie outside the boundaries of the business domain and are not under the control of the business domain. The business Interactions are the deliverables (information or materials) produced or received by the external actors to/from the business domain. Interactions produced by an external actor and received by the business domain cause a response within the business domain. The response will generally result in a new interaction from the business domain to the external actor.

Business Process Diagram

A business process is the flow of work across organizational boundaries. It starts with an event that initiates the process and concludes with a deliverable produced by the process. In between, the process consists of work activities, decisions that alter the path of the work and workflows which define the sequence of the work. The Business Process Diagram is a graphical depiction of the flow of work within the business domain. It portrays: Events that initiate or trigger the process, Activities that accomplish the work, Decisions that alter the path of the work, Actors responsible for performing each activity and making each decision, Workflows representing the hand-off or transfer of work, and Deliverables produced by the process.
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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Business Process Modeling Techniques

The Business Process Diagram is distinguished by the presence of swim lanes representing the participants (actors) in the process. Activities and decisions that are the responsibility of the actor are placed in the actors swim lane. Another key characteristic of the diagram is the use of workflows represented by directional arrows. The workflows show the sequence of execution of the activities in the diagram and also show the passing of control from one activity to another. The cross-functional nature of a business process is illustrated by the passing of control between actors (i.e. across swim lanes). Business process diagrams may be composed of a set of diagrams illustrating the business process from the highest level (Level 0) to more detailed level processes (Level 1, Level 2, etc.). As activities in a process are decomposed, more detailed levels of granularity of the process are exposed and represented in the business process diagram.

Business Process Discovery Techniques

In order to draw the Business Context Diagram and the Business Process Diagram, it is first necessary to identify and capture the content of the diagrams: the inputs, activities, decisions, workflows and deliverables. To do this, the following techniques can be used: Interviews Facilitated workshops Observation Existing documentation - Business Process Diagrams - Text documents such as procedure documents, training documents, etc. For these discovery techniques, it is extremely important that the Business Analyst work with the Business Partner to define the current state business process. The business users closest to the actual activities and tasks in the process will have the most current and accurate knowledge of the process itself. Although Subject Matter Experts may be knowledgeable in the business process, it is the business users current knowledge of the process that is critical to modeling the current state accurately. Ultimately, the Business Partner must agree with and approve the current state business process.

Interviews
An interview is a guided conversation in which one or more persons ask questions of and gather information from another person. Interviews can either be structured or unstructured. The end result from a set of interviews is a better understanding of the topic under investigation, such as a business process. Interviews can be: One-on-one most common method Two interviewers to one interviewee more costly but highly effective One interviewer and a group of interviewees - seems more economical but, in general, less effective. Most interviews are done face to face; however, interviews can be performed via telephone, video conferencing, web conferencing or email.
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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Business Process Modeling Techniques

Interview Process
The interview process consists of the following steps: 1. Set-up the interview 2. Plan and prepare for the interview 3. Conduct the interview 4. Document the information gathered and identify areas that need further investigation.

Interview Questions
Preparing and using a set of questions during your interview will help keep you focused and will help avoid going down unproductive paths of questioning. When interviewing several people who perform the same job, a standard set of questions will help you compare their answers. There are three types of content questions that can be asked during the interview: Open-ended - encourages unstructured responses Closed-ended - limits or restricts the responses Range of responses enables tabulation and comparison of results.

Helpful Hints
Listen actively Be engaged Avoid things that would disrupt the interview process Adapt interviewing style to the communication style of interviewee Use the appropriate type of question for each situation - open-ended versus closed ended versus range of values.

Facilitated Workshops
A facilitated workshop is a powerful technique for eliciting the activities, workflow and deliverables in a business process. Key stakeholders in the business process participate for the duration of the workshop to draw out the business process. In the session, the facilitator assists the group to arrive at a consensus understanding of the business process. Each stakeholder has a voice in developing the business process diagram. All stakeholders contribute their knowledge and understanding of the process and their interaction in the process with other stakeholders to develop the workshop deliverables. Deliverables from the workshop can include either/both the current state and future state diagrams for: Business Context Diagram Business Process Diagram.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Business Process Modeling Techniques

The Workshop Process

The workshop process includes a structured set of activities that helps the team achieve their goal of modeling a business process. Careful planning is the key to a successful workshop. The structure of each workshop consists of a set of activities: Workshop opening Objectives and deliverables Workshop process Performance of the workshop activities Workshop close Participants in the workshop can include: Executive Sponsor Subject Matter Experts Project Manager Facilitator Recorder (Co-Facilitator) Business Analysts.

Observation
An effective technique for identifying the activities, workflow and deliverables in a business process can be to observe the actual process. Watching each participant execute their assigned tasks in the process allows the observer to see first-hand how the process is performed and how it flows. An added benefit is that the observer can ask questions of the participant, such as: What tasks are being performed? Why are the tasks performed? What are the inefficiencies in the process? How can the process be improved? The observer will document the findings and prepare a diagram of the process.

Existing Documentation
For some business processes, the business process diagrams may have already been created. In other situations where business process diagrams do not exist and it is not possible to use the previously mentioned techniques (interviews, facilitated workshops, or observation), then the existing text documents, such as procedure documents or training documents, can be reviewed to identify activities and their sequence. The documents may contain descriptions of the business process from which a business process diagram can be created. To discover the activities and tasks in the process, review the document and look for verbs in the text, particularly those verbs that express action; for example, Purchase ticket Assign seat Print boarding pass

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Each of these examples will be an activity in a business process. The noun in each example will be the output or deliverable produced by the activity. The flow of work can be determined by the sequence in which the verb-noun combinations are found in the document.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Current State

MODEL CURRENT STATE

When modeling the current state of a business process, the following two diagrams need to be created: Current state Business Context Diagram Current state Business Process Diagram. The sections immediately below describe the techniques to create these diagrams.

Create a Current State Business Context Diagram

The objective of the Business Context Diagram is to capture how the business domain interacts with its external environment (i.e. with the external stakeholders not under the control of the business domain). It is a high level model used to define the scope and boundaries of the business domain. The most significant or important business interactions (flow of communications and materials) between the business domain and the external stakeholders are captured. The technique for creating the Business Context Diagram for the current state is outlined below. 1. Identify Business Domain The first step in creating a Business Context Diagram is to identify the business domain. A business domain is the portion of the business which is being addressed by the project. A business domain helps to define the boundaries and scope of the project or area under consideration. Draw a rectangle with rounded corners to represent the business domain. The rectangle should be placed in the center of the diagram. Name the business domain. 2. Identify Actors Determine all stakeholders (actors) external to the business domain that interact with the business domain. The actors can be roles, organizations, external entities or systems. For each Role, Organization, External Entity and System actor, draw the appropriate icon around the outside of the business domain. Place the System actors on the bottom of the diagram. Name each actor on the diagram. 3. Identify Interactions All business interactions are identified between the business domain and the actors external to the business domain. The business domain receives interactions from external stakeholders as events or inputs. The business domain initiates a response to the input as an output interaction to the external stakeholder. Since the Business Context Diagram is a high level model, only the most important business interactions are captured. Draw each inbound and outbound interaction as a directional arrow between the business domain and the external stakeholder. Do not use double headed arrows. Name each interaction.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Current State

Create a Current State Business Process Diagram

After the Business Context Diagram is created, the next step is to create the Business Process Diagram for the existing business processes to illustrate how work is currently done. The technique for creating the business process diagram for the current state follows the approach outlined below. 1. Identify the Actors Identify all of the actors that participate in the business process. The actors are the roles, organizations, external entities and systems both inside and outside the business domain that are responsible for performing the activities, making the decisions and producing the deliverables. Use the stakeholders listed in the Business Context Diagram as a starting point. For each actor, draw a swim lane in the business process diagram. Start with the Customer in the top swim lane. Place the swim lanes for System Actors at the bottom of the diagram. Name each swim lane with the Actors name. 2. Identify the Inputs/Outputs of the Business Process Identify the business events that initiate or trigger the business process, the inputs to the process and outputs (deliverables) from the process. The Business Context Diagram can be used as a starting point to identify these components. If the input is from an unknown source or is outside of the business domain, draw the source with the Source icon. Name each source. Similarly, if the output is going to an unknown recipient or is outside of the scope of work, draw a Sink icon to receive the output. 3. Identify the Activities and Decisions Identify the activities representing the work that is done in the business process. Use the Business Context Diagram to drive discovery of the activities inside the business domain. Start with the primary or most common work flow and assign activities and decisions to the actor responsible for them. Draw the activities and decisions owned by each actor in the appropriate swim lane using the Activity and Decision icons, respectively. Use a unique name for each activity and decision. Ensure that the names accurately convey the meaning of the activity or decision so that there is no misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the meaning. Start with the highest level activities and then decompose to lower levels of granularity as needed. If only detailed level activities are available, then define a high level activity by grouping activities together. Decisions are drawn with two or more output paths. Each path shows the appropriate route based upon the evaluation of the decision or condition. Label each output path with the decision or condition name.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Current State

4. Define the Workflows Determine and define the sequence of the work from activity to activity in the business process. Information or other work products that are passed between activities are documented as deliverables in the workflow. Draw the workflow starting from the beginning of the process through to the end of the process. An effective alternative method is to start sequencing the work flow in reverse from the final deliverable back to the beginning of the process. Use the workflow icon, a single directional arrow, to represent each workflow. Use deliverable names to name workflows that are outputs from activities. 5. Refine the Workflows Do an informal walk through of the workflows. Verify that the sequence of the work between activities in the workflow is correct. Determine any missing actors, activities, decisions or hand-offs between actors. Use an iterative approach to validate the completeness and accuracy of the Business Process Diagram.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Analyze Current State

ANALYZE CURRENT STATE

After the current state Business Process Diagram has been completed, the diagram is analyzed to: Identify pain points, problem areas and gaps in the process Identify potential opportunities for improvement for each pain point in the current business process. Potential improvement opportunities can be implemented to optimize the business process making it more efficient and effective.

Identify Pain Points

The questions below guide the analysis of a current state business process diagram. 1. Activity analysis: Determine the activities that add value and those that do not Determine the activities that are duplicates or redundant Determine the activities that consume the most time Determine if the activity is cost effective Determine if the activity timely Determine if the activity resource efficient Determine if the activity is performed by the proper organization Determine if the performers of the activity possess the proper skills Determine if the proper tools available to the performers of the activity 2. Organization analysis: Determine if the organization is structured properly to perform its activities effectively Determine if the proper skills exist within the organization to perform the activities Determine if the organization is in a location to pass work and deliverables conveniently Determine if the number of organizations participating in the business process is optimum in order to minimize the hand-offs (workflows) between actors 3. Process deliverable analysis: Determine if the needs and wants of the customer being met? Determine if the deliverables supplied to the customer are in a correct and convenient form Determine if there are any activities in the business domain that the customer can perform? 4. Assess inter-relationships with the Business Domain: Verify that the hand-offs between actors are accurate

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Analyze Current State

Identify Opportunities for Improving the Current State Process

Actions that can be taken to improve business processes include: Minimize non value add activities Eliminate duplication of effort Reduce and simplify hand-offs Use parallel processes where possible Off-load work to customers and suppliers Build quality into process Eliminate downstream inspections and reviews Use enabling technologies Empower people at the lowest possible level Minimize those who are part of the process Identify and remove constraints Anticipate how other projects may impact your business domain.

Helpful Hints for Modeling and Usage

Use Deltas Templates, Stencils and Icons to model Business Context Diagrams and Business Process Diagrams. Name all icons workflow arrows (deliverables) and swim lanes. Minimize the number of workflow lines that cross each other.

Business Context Diagrams

Group instances of Roles, Organizations, Systems and External Entities together. Put all Systems at the bottom of the page.

Business Process Diagrams

All processes start with a Start icon, a Source icon or an Off Page Reference icon. All processes end with an End icon or a Sink icon.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Future State

MODEL FUTURE STATE

In most cases, the current state business process must be modeled and analyzed prior to modeling the future state process. The pain points, problem areas and gaps in the process will have been identified. Opportunities for potential improvements in the current process have been determined. A current state business process diagram must be created when redesigning a current state business process for a new future state. There are some instances where the current state business process will not be modeled before creating a future state process; for example , when reengineering a process, that is , obliterating the existing process and replacing it with a completely new process. However, it is best practice and it is recommended that a current state business process diagram be created before creating a new future state. The reason for doing this is to ensure that all of the functions and capabilities of the existing process be identified and understood so that they may be incorporated into the future state process. The two types of diagrams need to be created to model the future state for a business process: Future state Business Context Diagram Future state Business Process Diagram.

Create a Future State Business Context Diagram

The objective of the Business Context Diagram is to capture how the future state business domain will interact with its external stakeholders. Again, only the most important business interactions (flow of communications and materials) between the business domain and the external stakeholders are captured. The technique for creating the Business Context Diagram for the future state is outlined below. 1. Identify Business Domain Use the current state Business Context Diagram as the basis for the future state Business Context Diagram. Note any changes Draw a rectangle with rounded corners in the center of the diagram to represent the future state business domain. Name the business domain. 2. Identify New and Deleted Actors Identify any new actors that now interact with the business domain. Identify all actors that no longer interact with the business domain. For each new Role, Organization, External Entity and System Actor, draw the appropriate icon around the outside of the business domain. Place the System actors on the bottom of the diagram. Name each actor on the diagram.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Future State

For each Actor that no longer interacts with the business domain, remove the actors icon from the diagram. 3. Identify New and Deleted Interactions For each new actor, draw each new inbound and outbound interaction as a directional arrow between the business domain and the external stakeholder. Be sure to identify only the most important business interactions. Do not use double headed arrows. Name each interaction. For each Actor that no longer interacts with the business domain, remove the actors interactions with the business domain from the diagram.

Create a Future State Business Process Diagram

Once the Business Context Diagram is created, the next step is to create the Business Process Diagram for the redesigned, future business processes. The technique for creating the Business Process Diagram for the future state is described below. 1. Incorporate Improvement Opportunities into the Future State Business Process Use the future state business process diagram as the basis for creating the future state business process diagram. The improvement opportunities are identified to resolve the current state pain points, problem areas and gaps are now incorporated into the future state process. 2. Incorporate New Business Functions and Capabilities into the Future State Business Process The business may request new functions or capabilities that do not exist in the current business process. These new business functions and capabilities can be incorporated into the future state process. 3. Identify New or Deleted Actors If the future state business process requires new actors (i.e. new roles, organizations, external entities, or systems) to participate in the re-designed process, then add these new actors to the future state business process diagram as new swim lanes. Similarly, if an actor no longer has any involvement in the future business process, remove the actors swim lane from the appropriate business process diagrams. Ensure that there is a swim lane in the business process diagram for each actor. Put the Customer in the top swim lane and place System Actor swim lanes at the bottom of the diagram. 4. Identify New Inputs/Outputs of the Business Process Identify new business events that initiate or trigger the business process, new inputs to the process and new outputs (deliverables) from the process. The Business Context Diagram can be used as a starting point to identify these components. If the input is from an unknown source or is outside of the business domain, draw the source with the Source icon. Name each source.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Model Future State

Similarly, if the output is going to an unknown recipient or is outside of the scope of work, draw a Sink icon to receive the output. 5. Identify New and Deleted Activities and Decisions Any new activities and decisions are identified. Assign responsibility for each new activity and decision to the appropriate actor. Draw the new activities and decisions owned by each actor in the appropriate swim lane. Each new activity may be decomposed into lower level activities if additional detail is needed. Start with the highest level activities and then decompose to lower levels of granularity as needed. Remove any activities or decisions that are no longer part of the future process. 6. Map New and Revised Workflows Determine the new sequence for performance of the work activities. Show the workflows as deliverables between the activities. Draw the workflows using the deliverable icon. Define the new sequence of the work from activity to activity in the business process. Show workflows as deliverables between the activities. Information or other work products that are passed between activities are deliverables in the workflow. Decisions are documented with two or more output paths. Each path shows the appropriate route based upon the evaluation of the decision or condition. Label each output path with the decision or condition name. Use the workflow (deliverable) icon, a single directional arrow, to represent each workflow. Use deliverable names to name workflows that are outputs from activities. 7. Ensure Completeness and Accuracy Review and validate the future process to ensure completeness and accuracy of the new business process diagram. Do an informal walk through of the workflows. Verify that the sequence of the work between activities in the workflow is correct. Determine any missing actors, activities, decisions or hand-offs between actors. Check that the opportunities for improvement as well as the new business functions and capabilities have been added correctly to the business process diagram.

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Appendix

APPENDIX

Glossary
Term Actor Definition Role, Organization, External Entity or System that performs the work in a business process High level context diagram depicting scope and main interactions between the business domain and other roles, organizations, systems and external entities; generally known as a Business Context Diagram Work that is performed by an actor

Actor Diagram

Activity

High level context diagram depicting scope and main interactions Business Context Diagram between the business domain and other roles, organizations, systems and external entities; also known as an Actor Diagram Business Domain Business Process Business Process Diagram Business Process Map Current State Decision Deliverable External Entity Future state Interaction Organization Role Sink Area of the business that is being addressed by the project A set of logically related activities or tasks performed together to produce a specific service or product Swim lane diagram that depicts the actors, activities, decisions, workflows and deliverables in a business process Synonymous with Business Process Diagram The condition or circumstances of existing or As-Is operations A choice in flow of work that leads to two or more different workflow paths Output of an activity in a business process An actor (typically, an organization) that is external to both Delta and the business domain The condition or circumstances of desired or To-Be operations Deliverable produced or received by the external actors to/from the business domain A business entity or business unit that participates in performing part of a business process A business function that is performed by an individual human resource Represents an unknown destination of information or a destination

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Business Process Modeling Techniques: Appendix

that is out-of-scope Source Information from an unknown or out of scope actor; Also, can be an event that initiates a business process A pallet of icons that are dragged and dropped onto a template when creating a Visio diagram; Enables consistent diagram style and formatting Horizontal band in a Business Process Diagram which represents the actor (Role, Organization, External Entity or System) performing the activities in the swim lane Technology that automates business tasks, activities and functions A structured framework used to create a Visio diagram; Enables consistent diagram style and formatting The passing of control from one activity to another; It signals the completion of one activity and the initiation of the next. Software application for modeling business processes

Stencil

Swim Lane System Template Workflow Visio

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