Efficient Use of BPMN

Principles, Practices, and Patterns

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About Instructor

Dr. Darius Šilingas, darius.silingas@nomagic.com Principal Consultant and Head of Solutions

Department at No Magic Europe Expert in software, systems and business

modeling, delivered ~200 training / consulting sessions in 20 countries

Head of BPM module of Master in Management studies at ISM Executive School

Organizer of annual conference BPM in Practice in Lithuania

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Introduction

Principles

Practices

Patterns

Wrap up

Business Process Modeling: State of the Practice

− Business process modeling practice is not yet mature

− Modelers create complex and inconsistent business process diagrams that are not accepted by stakeholders

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Anti Pattern: Informal Drawings with Non-Standard Notation

How to optimize the service time

for the VIP customers?

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Business Process Modeling: Advancing State of the Practice

+ Use modeling standards

+ Establish a set of principles for efficient modeling

+ Apply modeling best practices

+ Reuse business process patterns

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BPMN – the Standard for Business Process Modeling

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is known as de facto standard for graphical business modeling

For basic modeling about 20 BPMN elements are sufficient 1 day of training is enough to learn BPMN basics

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Introduction

Principles

Practices

Patterns

Wrap up

A Primary Set of Principles for Efficient BPMN

1. Unified Business Process Understanding

2. A Minimal Subset of BPMN Elements

3. Strict Naming Conventions

4. Simple Business Process Diagrams

5. Appropriate Abstraction

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Unified Business Process Understanding

Business Process is a reusable set of related activities, which is performed by an organization in order to create business value (product, service, document) leading towards achieving organization’s business goals.

Can you define

... a clear beginning?

... a clear end?

... the business value process brings?… a set of composing activities?… a reusable sequence of activities?

Examples: Provide Loan Fulfill Order Organize Conference Prepare Annual Budget Handle Incident Report Perform Financial Audit Recruit New Employee

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A Minimal Subset of BPMN Elements

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Strict Naming Conventions

Participant: a noun, e.g. Delegate, Seminar Coordinator Activities: a strong verb + a noun, e.g. Announce Seminar Events: a noun, e.g. Registration Request, Registration Deadline

Data objects: a noun, e.g. Customer List, Feedback Form Gateways: unnamed (!) – gateways do not perform work Sequence Flow: named only after a data-based gateway, gives

a condition on which it is activated, e.g. Participants > 30

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Language influences thinking

Simple Business Process Diagrams – Multiple Levels of Detail

Rule: up to 10 activities in a single diagram

Question: How many tasks can we define in 3 levels of detail?

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Appropriate Abstraction

“All models are wrong but some are useful.”

W. Edwards Demming

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Introduction

Principles

Practices

Patterns

Wrap up

Throwaway Modeling

Business processes are modelled for short-term usage Typically for scoping change in business improvement projects

A particular aspect is emphasized Automation, data exchange, task durations, waste, etc.

Process consistency and completeness is not the main concern

Apply simplest tools Do not forget to throw away the model!

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Sustainable Modeling

• Business process model is a corporate asset that provides a long-term value and needs to be maintained and evolved

Strict adherence to the principles is necessary A need for a real process modeling tool

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Practices for Sustainable Business Process Modeling

1. Model Ownership

2. Collaborative Modeling

3. Model Review

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Model Ownership

• Each business process is assigned to an owner, who is responsible for creating and maintaining its model (in collaboration with process stakeholders)

Gives a clear contact point for process improvements Enables business process model sustainability

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Collaborative Modeling

• Business process modeling is a tool for improving communication and collaboration

Modeling needs to be performed in teams Certain techniques like pair modeling can be applied

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Model Review

• A quality of model needs to be assessed on a regular basis Review by subject matter experts focuses on the content Review by modeling mentor focuses on the form

Enables high-quality and sustainable models Helps to improve modeling skills

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Introduction

Principles

Practices

Patterns

Wrap up

Pattern #1: Deferred Choice

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Pattern #2: Internal Business Error

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Handle Offer Request

Anti Pattern: Repeating Event

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Pattern #3: Interruptible Subprocess

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Some Business Process Blueprints in BPMN

1. Reservation

2. Competition

3. Consolidation

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Blueprint #1: Reservation

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Blueprint #2: Competition

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Collect Proposals

Blueprint #3: Consolidation

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Introduction

Principles

Practices

Patterns

Wrap up

Building Sustainable Business Modeling Culture

Use business modeling standards like BPMN

Stick to a set of principles for efficient modeling

Apply best practices for modeling, models usage & management

Learn and apply business process patterns and blueprints

Improving business models is a never ending journey...

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Modeling Culture

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Modeling

Model Usage

Model Governance

High Value from Modeling and Models

Center of Excellenc

ePrinciples

think BIG

start SMALL

and EVOLVE

The Recipe for Success

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The Truth is in the Models

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®

The End

Thank you for attention!

Any questions???Recommended Reading:• Refactoring BPMN Models: From Bad Smells to Best

Practices and Process Patterns (in BPMN 2.0 Handbook)• BPMN articles at www.modernanalyst.com

Let’s Keep in Touch e-mail: darius.silingas@nomagic.com Skype: darius.silingas Twitter: dariussilingas LinkedIn: http://lt.linkedin.com/in/dariussilingas

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