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for Documenting, Developing, Improving & Managing
Business Processes
A key to knowing HOW to map a business process is
knowing WHAT to map.
If you want to understand the
INFORMATION FLOW -- not just who does work and where work is
done, but WHAT is done to WHAT documents, WHAT systems, how documents
(electronic and paper) work together, where information is introduced, where
it comes from and how it is used, then you need the details. Here is
how you document the details...
Many maps are drawn to show a high-level conceptual flow
of data through a few locations. They show a string of ambiguous
Activity Boxes and Decision Diamonds. Box and arrow diagrams and swimlane
diagrams are examples of high-level conceptual maps.
Map Real Things -- the 'Documents' that drive
the process. What is a document? A
document is something physical. It is something you can see. An item
is a form, an electronic file, an email, a document, a spreadsheet,
a CD, a database, an application, a log sheet, a reference book,
etc. We record, transmit and store information on documents.
Documents
convey the information that drives our processes.
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When you follow the documents,
all information changes present themselves. |
Documents give
substance to a process map. They enable us to assemble an
otherwise nebulous collection of activities into an organized,
reality-based system. Each Document is charted as a separate
horizontal flow
line that is identified at its beginning with a label.
What Documents
are involved in the process?
No other process mapping method addresses this basic question!
How can you understand
a process if you don't know the documents that drive it?
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Click to view larger image.
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Labels
Each Document in a Graham Process Map is represented as its own horizontal
line. Each line begins with a Label 
that identifies the document. If you want to know what documents are in a process,
read the Labels...or if you are working with the software, take a look at
the Table of Contents report that lists all the Labels. |
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Relationships between the documents are
shown with Effects and Brackets.
Since no other methods display multiple document flows, they offer no way to see
relationships between them.
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Click to view larger image.
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Effects
Effects are the Vee shapes that point from one line (Source
Document) into a symbol on another line (Target Document). The effect is a
simple yet extremely powerful charting element -- it says that the
activity that occurs at the point of the effect doesn't happen
without the Source Document. In the illustration, the Shipping Papers
that kick off this process provide the information that is entered
in the Log Book and in the Receiving Database. The Shipping Papers
are then used to check the entries made into the Receiving Database.
The Receiving Database prints out the Receiving Ticket. |
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Click to view larger image. |
Brackets
An Opening Bracket is used when Documents are separated. It is
immediately followed by Labels that identify the Documents that have
been separated. The 4-part Receiving Ticket is separated in this
example. The separating step is followed immediately by an Opening
Bracket containing four Labels that begin a separate flow line for
each of the individual Receiving Ticket parts. This is a clear
display of parallel processing.A Closing Bracket is used
when Documents are physically assembled. A Closing Bracket is shown near
the lower right corner of the illustration where the Credit Copy of
the Receiving Ticket is attached to the Shipping Papers.
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