Where to begin business process modeling?

Knowing where to begin business process modeling can seem impossible – you have a wealth of information spread out in front of you and no clue where to start. In our previous articles, ‘The basics of business process modeling‘ and ‘Why am I doing this?,’ we  covered the reasons why businesses may undertake business process modeling. But knowing the basics and the why is only half the battle. Should you wish to benefit from a good business process strategy, an understanding of best practices is vital.

With this in mind, we spoke to two experienced business process consultants to shed some light on where to begin business process modeling.

Where to begin business process modeling: don’t overdo it

“The first thing a company should do when starting business process modeling is not to go into detail,” explains Marios Forsos, a business process consultant for erwin  “Focus on the ways you can protect yourself and your clients by identifying, in the very abstract, the processes that are undocumented and understand the risks.”

Forsos advises documenting these and mapping the broad process stages without being analytic. “Then you can make an investment in a database tool, such as those provided by erwin, spending a little money with very little effort for an enormous result,” she says.

Where to begin business process modeling: collaborate

Next is gaining an understanding of exactly what it is that you do. Forsos continues: “A good business process consultancy will aid you in drawing out every process by talking to everyone who works in your organization and providing an objective, third-party point of view on ways you can improve what you are doing, identifying what is what and who knows what.”

A collaborative approach is key for knowledge sharing and transfer. This is why more and more organizations turn to erwin to improve visibility and collaboration quickly and efficiently.

“Business process modeling should be a company-wide initiative to help the organization identify why it is doing it in the first place,” Forsos adds. “Sharing ideas collaboratively will help identify goals to help you work faster and with greater flexibility, which should be the fundamental driver for modern companies.”

Keeping a business-outcome focus

“The endgame with business process management is to have a knowledge warehouse, but it’s also to improve your processes,” notes Tony Mauro, an erwin business process consultant. “It allows you to identify manual processes so you have the opportunity to automate and improve them.”

Digital transformation is driving industry and that means converting manual processes into digital ones, Mauro says. “Such a change usually involves employees doing their jobs online and on the go, i.e., mobile, rather than at their desks.”

If you think erwin can help you get started with business processing modeling, then get in touch with us today.

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