Before attempting to model a business process, you should first define its scope so you know how it starts, how it ends and whether it is really one process or many.

1. Defining Process Scope
An Introduction by Declan Chellar

2. THE NEED FOR RIGOUR
• Most business subject matter experts (SMEs) do not have a
formal understanding of “process”.
• SMEs often cannot distinguish between business functional
areas, general areas of business activity, business processes
and sub-processes.
• Inexperienced BAs often take the SMEs’ word that “X” is a
process, and jump straight into modelling atomic tasks
without understanding the scope of the process. This is
mere process “mapping”.

3. THE NEED FOR RIGOUR
• A key disadvantage of this approach is the failure to
understand what starts each process and how each one
ends.
• Another drawback is the failure to understand how many
processes need to be modelled, leading to wildly inaccurate
estimates.
• A more rigorous approach is needed in order to drive out
process types, candidate processes, sub-processes and then
atomic tasks.
• This rigourous approach is process “modelling”.

4. OVERVIEW
1. Identify in-scope process types
2. Identify candidate processes
3. Define the process boundary
4. Identify process performers
5. Identify key process stages
6. Assign stages to roles
7. Explore process detail

5. IDENTIFY IN-SCOPE PROCESS TYPES
• By team/department, e.g.: Accounting
• By event, e.g.: Month-end
• By business concept, e.g.: Loan
– Loan Origination
– Loan Maintenance
– Loan Final Settlement

6. IDENTIFY ACTIVITIES BY PROCESS TYPE
• Loan Origination
– Originate Loan
– Price Loan
– Review Proposal
– Review
Documentation
– Open Account
– Transfer Funds
• Loan Maintenance
– Drawdown Loan
– Rollover Loan
– Take Payment
– Charge Fee
– Amend Details
– Release Security

7. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• INTENT! INTENT! INTENT!
• A business process has a single intent
• What does each instance of the process represent?
• Identify and label the key end-state of an activity to reveal the
intent of the process (Noun + Past Participle)
• Name the process accordingly (Verb + Noun)
• Activities with multiple key end-states probably conceal multiple
processes
• Several activities driving toward the same end-state are likely sub-processes
within a single process

8. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• What does each instance of the process represent? In other
words, what is the thing that is being processed? Is it one thing
or many things? What if the start of the “process” creates
things one at a time but another part handles them in a batch?

9. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• There is a difference between “Review Document” and
“Review Documents”.
• The diagram below on the left is an example of three instances
of the former. On the right is an example of a single instance of
the latter.

10. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• If your process has stages for both “Review Document” and
“Review Documents”, then it is probably two processes, the
second being a batch process.
Review Document
Review Document
Review Document
Review Documents

11. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• A business process has a single intent
Candidate
Process A
Primary
End-state A
• Identify and name the primary end-state of an candidate process
to reveal its intent
• There may be exceptional end-states but we are not concerned
with them yet

12. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• When a candidate process seems to have with more than one
primary end-state, it probably conceals multiple processes
Candidate
Process A
Primary
end-state A
Primary
end-state B
Candidate
Process A
Primary
end-state A
Primary
end-state B
Candidate
Process B

13. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• Several candidate processes which ultimately drive toward the
same primary end-state are likely sub-processes within an
overarching process
Candidate
Process A
Candidate
Process B
Primary
end-state A
Candidate
Process C

14. IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PROCESSES
• Several candidate processes which ultimately drive toward the
same primary end-state are likely sub-processes within an
overarching process
Primary end-state
A
Candidate Process A
Candidate
Sub-process
A3
Candidate
Sub-process
A2
Candidate
Sub-process
A1

15. DEFINE THE PROCESS BOUNDARY
• End-state defines the intent but is only half the process
boundary
• Identify the event that typically starts the process to close the
boundary of the process
Start event end-state

16. IDENTIFY KEY PROCESS STAGES
• Identify and name the key stages the process must go through
from start event to end-state
• Some of those stages may turn out to be sub-processes, others
may be atomic steps
1 2 3 4

17. IDENTIFY PROCESS PERFORMERS
• Identify and name the key performers tasks within the process
• Performers may be teams or roles but not named people

18. ASSIGN STAGES TO ROLES
• Assign the key stages to the roles that perform them
1
2 3
4

19. SIPOC CORRESPONDENCE
• Your organisation may be using the Six Sigma concept of SIPOC,
which stands for:
– Supplier (provides inputs to the process)
– Inputs (resources or data needed by the process)
– Process (the process converts inputs into outputs to provide benefit to
customers)
– Outputs (what the process produces)
– Customers (the recipients of the process output)
• Your organisation may require you to define process scope in SIPOC
terms.

20. SIPOC CORRESPONDENCE
• What we defined so far corresponds to the “P” in SIPOC.
1
2 3
4

21. SIPOC CORRESPONDENCE
SIPOC CONCEPT BPMN SHAPE
Supplier • Black-box Pool
Input • Incoming Message Flow
• Incoming Data Association
Process • White-box Pool
Output • Outgoing Message Flow
• Outgoing Data Association
Customer • Black-box Pool
• The table above relates to the process as a whole for
scope definition only, as you can apply SIPOC to
individual process activities.

22. SIPOC CORRESPONDENCE
• When defining the scope of a process, you will not yet know all
the Message Flows, Data Stores and Black-box pools required.
• Most will be revealed as you explore process detail.
• However, at the scope level, you should be able to identify a
minimum set to satisfy SIPOC.

23. SIPOC CORRESPONDENCE
1
2 3
4
Supplier and/or Customer
Supplier and/or Customer
Input
Input Output
Output
Process

24. EXPLORE PROCESS DETAIL
• You now have a context within which to
explore process detail, such as:
– Atomic tasks:
• Actions
• Decision points
– Interactions with external processes
– Interactions with known IT systems
– Alternate flows (only after primary is done)
– Exception flows (only after primary is done)

25. Care to discuss further?
www.chellar.com/AnalysisFu/
LinkedIn: es.linkedin.com/in/declanchellar/
Twitter: @AnalysisFu