Bookshelf Home | Contents | Index | Search | PDF

Siebel Business Process Implementation Guide > Siebel Business Process Components and Categories > Building Your Own Business Process Diagrams >

Creating a Business Process Diagram

---

Multiple business processes comprise a process domain. You should map each business process separately on its own page. Choose a logical starting point within the list of business processes you intend to map. It is likely that you will revisit and update the list of business processes as you are creating the business process diagrams.

Line Styles

When creating business process diagrams, using lines in a consistent manner is important to communicating the meaning of a business process. A business process diagram always shows forward progress, using the bottom axis for time measurement. Return loops, common in flowcharts, are typically not used in business process diagrams. Lines are meant to show inputs and outputs, so it is often helpful to label the lines. By labeling a line with the output of its step, you can make it clear that specific results must be achieved within a step before moving onto the next step.

Table 4 shows the line-routing conventions used in the business process diagrams.

Table 4.  Line-Routing Conventions for Business Process Diagrams

Symbol	Description
	Whenever possible, route arrows into the left side of a step and out of the right side to communicate the flow between tasks and views. This preserves the concept of the bottom axis as the timeline.
	When routing lines out of a decision box, label lines with appropriate descriptors, such as Yes or No.

To create a business process diagram

Determine the roles involved in the business process. By definition, a business process involves multiple groups, individuals, or systems within an organization.

If you are mapping a business process that happens entirely within a single functional area, such as the sales organization, you should make use of as many roles in that functional area as are appropriate. If a business process involves multiple functional areas within the company, you can simply label the swimlane with that function name, unless the particular role within the functional area adds to understanding of the business process.

For example, if you are building a marketing business process for lead management, you want to represent several different roles within the functional area of marketing to depict the interaction and work performed by various roles in the marketing department. The end of the business process involves the hand-off of leads to the sales department. In this case, it is important to note which role in the sales department receives leads: a telesales representative, who then qualifies the leads. Calling this role out in the label for its swimlane adds to the overall understanding of the lead management business process you are creating.

Create one swimlane for each role and label each swimlane.

NOTE:  When creating a multipage process diagram, it is best to repeat the swimlane labels on every page.

Determine the inputs of this business process. What needs to have happened before this business process can begin? What information is necessary to have? What triggers this business process?
Place a Start step symbol in the first role's swimlane. If necessary, you can use a process connector symbol to indicate this business process is initiated by another business process. The process connector can then be linked to the previous business process diagram using the hyperlink capability of many desktop applications.
Determine the output of the business process. What is the end result? When is this business process complete? What is the logical conclusion of the business event?
Place an End step symbol at the far right of the diagram. In some cases, this can be a process connector symbol instead, indicating a link to another business process rather than an end of the business event.
Place the appropriate task symbol in the diagram to create the first step in the business process. Label this step with a brief verb-noun combination that describes the action taken. If this step is performed within the Siebel application, place the Siebel View icon just above the task symbol.
Continue placing task symbols to indicate the subsequent steps of the business process, linking the steps with arrows in a forward motion, left to right. When necessary, label the arrow lines to show the outputs of the steps.
Once you have mapped all of the steps in the business process, link your final task symbol to the End step symbol or the off-page connector symbol that represents the end of the business process.

Once you have determined the flow of the business process, you should define the subprocesses that it contains, as necessary. In many cases, a step within a business process is a subprocess. Instructions for creating subprocess diagrams are explained in Creating a Subprocess Diagram, but in completing the job of building a business process diagram, it is necessary to understand which tasks will comprise a business process, and which tasks will instead comprise a subprocess within that business process.

NOTE:  When you complete the task explained in To decide which tasks comprise subprocesses, you may have identified subprocesses that you need to add as steps within the business process diagram you have created. In this case, repeat Step 8 in the To create a business process diagram procedure until all the steps that represent subprocesses appear in your diagram.

To decide which tasks comprise subprocesses

Consider how the business process will be used.

A subprocess is a sequence of steps generally performed by one person and likely to be used in multiple business processes or on its own. As you build your business process diagrams, you may see patterns of subprocesses emerge that can help you determine whether a sequence of steps is a business process all its own, or a subprocess contained within multiple business processes.

In general, there are three reasons to create subprocesses when building business process diagrams:

Reusability. Patterns repeat. When subprocesses can be identified, this technology or these procedures can be built once and called on by many business processes.
Independent utility. Subprocesses are often useful on their own (stand-alone) and can be executed outside the context of a business process. For this reason, it is useful to identify, and if appropriate, code them separately.
Hiding extraneous detail. Creating subprocesses in a business process helps convey understanding of the business process without getting into lower-level detail. Step-by-step interactions with a system are generally captured at the system level. This level of detail is not required and is usually not desired when describing how a business process works at a high level.
Determine how the tasks within a sequence of steps are divided between roles. Generally, if a single role in a business process is performing three or more steps consecutively, consider whether or not these steps hang together logically. If they do, you should consider creating a subprocess for this sequence of steps.

Do's and Do Not's for Creating a Business Process Diagram

Siebel Systems recommends the following practices in creating business process diagrams:

Do name your business process diagram files according to the hierarchy explained in Hierarchy of Business Process Diagram Levels. For example, the name Respond to Email Subprocess clearly identifies the file as a subprocess diagram.
Do title the diagrams by placing a header in the file that displays the business process name.
Do create steps with descriptions using action verbs such as: Define, Create, Generate, Synchronize, Publish, Determine, Approve, Update, Prepare, Price, Modify, Apply, Identify, Assess, Update, Promote, and Send.
Do show, when appropriate, how steps within the business process correspond to views in the Siebel application. Place the Siebel View icon directly above a task box when its task is accomplished using the Siebel application.
Do identify integration points that exist within the Siebel application and which can be called from the user interface. Note both types of integration: integrations performed through UAN, and point-to-point integrations already built. These two types of integrations should be depicted differently.
Do make sure that all business processes have a clear starting point and a clear ending point.
Do create a list of accepted roles and function names for the labeling of swimlanes so that swimlanes for various business processes are not labeled inconsistently, with various labels representing the same role or function.
Do decide on an accepted style for labeling the boxes in task symbols, for example, all text within the boxes should use title case: Process Customer Information not Process customer information.
Do, when developing multipage business process maps, label each page with the "[page number] of [total pages]" format. This pagination format is particularly useful when printing diagrams and when sending files to colleagues electronically, as it helps to make sure that all pages are printed or received.
Do format business process maps for landscape pages. Business process maps are typically no more than one page high for ease of review, but they may be multiple pages in length.
Do not use vague descriptions for tasks, such as Manage, Maintain, and Monitor.
Do not use the conjunction and in a task box. If two tasks need to happen, split them into separate steps.
Do not use a slash [ / ] in a task box, such as Create/Update Item. Split the two tasks into separate steps.
Do not use plural nouns to indicate that the system or individual should process multiple items. For example, use Create Bundle (one bundle) not Create Bundles, Enter Order (one customer order) not Enter Orders. Following this guideline helps to keep your business process focused on a fixed timeline and a specific action.
Do not resize boxes, unless absolutely necessary.
Do not change text size in boxes, unless absolutely necessary.
Do not show return loops, unless absolutely necessary. The bottom axis of a business process diagram represents time. Return loops violate the implicit time sequence.
Do not change any of the colors in the diagram.
Do not add any new shapes to the diagram.
Do not use Siebel View icons above subprocess symbols. Use the Siebel View icons only for steps within a business process diagram or within a subprocess diagram.

Bookshelf Home | Contents | Index | Search | PDF