Dive into a step-by-step breakdown of business process modeling — with techniques, applications and use cases to implement in your organization.
Business process modeling has become an indispensable way for businesses to achieve optimal efficiency. From enhancing transparency and accountability to fostering innovation and adaptability, business process modeling emerges as a catalyst for positive change in organizations.
Business process modeling is a representation of an organization's business processes using visual diagrams or models. It serves as a blueprint, providing a clear vision of how different activities, tasks and resources across departments are interconnected within an organization.
The primary goal is to break down complex workflows into manageable components by identifying, analyzing and optimizing business processes.
By providing a visual framework, business process modeling aids in decision-making and process optimization. It also enables organizations to identify potential bottlenecks and inefficiencies, paving the way for continuous improvement.
It provides a visual framework that aids in decision-making, process optimization and ultimately contributes to the overall effectiveness of an organization's workflow.
There are various techniques for organizational workflow optimization. Let’s dive right into the different techniques:
BPMN utilizes a set of graphical symbols and elements to create diagrams that capture the intricacies of organizational workflows. Its standardized and universal notation facilitates effective communication and collaboration for stakeholders across different departments, ensuring a shared understanding of complex processes.
Common elements include:
By bridging the gap between technical and nontechnical stakeholders with a shared language, BPMN can be used to effectively represent various organizational activities to drive targeted improvements.
UML provides a standardized and object-oriented chart that visually represents relationships between various actors and systems within a business context. This versatile modeling language encompasses several types of diagrams, including:
UML diagrams are most suitable for complex organizational structures, especially in software development projects.
The adaptability and wide-ranging applicability of UML make it a valuable tool for modeling and understanding diverse business processes with intricate relationships and dependencies.
Flowcharts are a simple and versatile modeling technique. They employ a standardized set of shapes and symbols to represent various elements and actions within a process. These shapes include rectangles for processes, diamonds for decision points, ovals for start and end points, and arrows for indicating the flow of activities.
Flowcharts can be used across various industries and are particularly effective in mapping out straightforward, linear processes with clear start and end points.
Examples of applications include outlining order processing in e-commerce, visualizing the steps of a customer service procedure or documenting the entire employee onboarding cycle in HR.
Flowcharts can also be adapted to represent multiple workflows separately within the same diagram, offering a clear and concise view of specific business processes. This makes them a fundamental tool for process analysis, documentation and improvement.
Gantt charts are visual tools useful for project management and scheduling with a timeline view of tasks, depicting the duration from start to finish.
The chart uses horizontal bars representing each task, placed along a timeline, allowing for a clear visualization of the project schedule and roadmap. It can also be updated to reflect changes in task progress.
Gantt charts find their worth in project management and for tasks that require strict adherence to timelines, where understanding the connection between different activities is crucial.
It serves as a useful tool for project managers when planning timelines, allowing resources to be allocated efficiently and ensuring key milestones are met.
Should the team encounter a roadblock, the dynamic nature of this technique also allows for changes in timelines, making it a valuable tool for controlling the execution of projects, even in the world of remote work.
Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) diagrams are project management tools used to schedule, organize and coordinate tasks within a project. They represent tasks as points connected by arrows to show task flow, with time values to aid in estimating project completion time.
PERT diagrams are beneficial for large-scale projects with uncertain timeframes and parallel activities that require coordination.
Often used in industries such as construction and IT, PERT diagrams help project managers analyze critical paths, allocate resources efficiently and identify potential delays that could impact project timelines.
By providing a visual representation of task interdependencies, PERT diagrams contribute to improved project control and successful project completion within predefined schedules.
Business process modeling provides several benefits to organizations, facilitating the optimization and clarity of business operations. Here are some key advantages:
Business process modeling uses notations and symbols to visually represent complex workflows in organizations, making them accessible and understandable for workers at all levels.
Now, processes are broken down into comprehensible components, which helps teams accurately pinpoint bottlenecks and inefficiencies — eventually promoting more streamlined workflows.
Business process modeling improves communication among teams and departments using visual models.
These models serve as a universal language for both technical and non-technical personnel to overcome traditional communication barriers. This helps foster collaboration and reduce misunderstandings, ensuring team alignment.
Business process modeling analyzes workflows to identify resource utilization inefficiencies, optimizing monetary, time, manpower and technology resources.
This ensures efficient allocation, contributing to higher productivity and cost-savings.
Business process modeling gives decision-makers a clear understanding of process implications by visualizing end-to-end activities.
Documented business rules would also eliminate guesswork. This means decisions are based on real data and facts, leading to improved decision-making.
Business process modeling identifies tasks for automation, highlighting areas where rule-based processes can be streamlined, reducing human resource burden and minimizing errors.
This strategic approach enhances efficiency, keeping organizations competitive and adaptable to market demands.
Selecting the right tool is crucial for achieving your desired outcomes in process optimization and efficiency.
With the diverse range of business process modeling tools on the market, here are some questions to help you make an informed choice:
These business process modeling tools aid in visualizing, communicating and improving business processes — all of which facilitate better decision-making and collaboration.
Implementing business process modeling effectively is key to reaping its benefits. Here’s a guide on integrating this technique into your business operations:
Throughout this entire process, involving the right stakeholders is also crucial for successful business process modeling implementation. Engaged stakeholders contribute valuable insights, ensure organizational buy-in and provide the necessary support for successful implementation.
After implementation, encourage a mindset that values ongoing refinement and adaptation. This is key to driving continuous improvement and success in achieving organizational objectives with business process modeling.
Business process modeling can be successfully applied across different industries with specific challenges using a structured approach to analyze, optimize and implement processes. These case studies highlight the benefits of business process modeling in enhancing organizational operations:
A fashion designer company grappling with operational inefficiencies and employee frustration sought a solution from Hyland to implement a robotic process automation (RPA) solution into their existing IT set-up to get a clear representation of ongoing processes.
This approach allowed them to identify bottlenecks and redundancies, leading to the automation of various tasks across store operations, administration, accounts payable and treasury, reducing the need for human intervention.
RPA implementation led to a more efficient supply chain, saving over eight hours of daily manual administration work with more than 80% of deployed bots now working autonomously, enhancing accuracy across various operational tasks.
Hyland RPA not only addressed immediate challenges but positioned the designer for sustained success through optimized processes and increased efficiency.
Hyland RPA bots at work
Hyland RPA bots accomplished 80% of work autonomously, without human intervention and saved more than 8 hours a day in manual labor.
M Health Fairview, a renowned academic health system, faced the challenge of handling around 9 million patient documents annually. Manual processing led to extended turnaround times and increased workload.
Leveraging business process modeling solutions, M Health Fairview mapped out its challenges and chose Hyland Intelligent MedRecords (IMR) to automate document sorting, provide intelligent capture, extraction and validation.
The implementation offered a visual understanding of patient flow, assisting M Health Fairview in identifying and addressing areas of inefficiency. This integrated solution helped improve document processing speed and accuracy for their network of hospitals — automating the classification of 208 document types in the process.
Embracing future trends positions organizations to drive strategic innovation, enhance customer satisfaction and foster sustainable growth through their initiatives. Here are some trends concerning business process modeling:
AI and ML technologies will empower business process modeling tools to analyze extensive datasets, predict outcomes and automate decision-making. This integration will enhance the intelligence of business processes, making them more adaptable and responsive in changing business environments, ultimately leading to operational efficiency.
Explore Gartner’s analysis of a wide range of AI innovations, as well as the analyst firm’s predictions on which are likely to be the most transformative.
Which AI is most likely to pay off, and soonest? Review this Gartner report for insight.
The evolution of business process modeling will create a heightened emphasis on cloud-based solutions, which allow real-time collaboration among teams, offering advantages such as rapid deployment and cost-effectiveness.
Business process modeling tools will be tailored to note customer journeys, analyze feedback and quickly implement changes to enhance satisfaction. This customer-centric approach aligns with the growing importance of delivering exceptional experiences to remain competitive in the market.
Low-code and no-code platforms are expected to simplify business process modeling tool interfaces, empowering nontechnical users to actively contribute to innovation and improvement. This fosters collaboration, accelerates the pace of process improvements and ensures that business process modeling becomes a joint effort across different business functions.
Business process modeling will play a crucial role in enforcing processes that are aligned with environmental standards and regulatory requirements. Its structured approach will address the complexity of compliance, providing organizations with the tools to navigate and meet regulatory obligations effectively.
Integrating intelligent document processing (IDP) solutions such as Hyland IDP is a crucial step for enhancing business process modeling. While business process modeling provides the roadmap for optimizing workflows, IDP efficiently handles the fuel that drives these processes: Documents and data.
In fact, beyond streamlining document handling, Hyland IDP offers a built-in low-code BPMN designer. This allows business users and process experts to directly contribute to business process modeling initiatives and design efficient, data-driven processes without getting bogged down in technical complexities.
IDC MarketScape named Hyland a Leader in intelligent document processing for its IDP capabilities and strategies.
Let’s look at the specific ways Hyland IDP supports business process modeling efforts in organizations:
Hyland IDP uses advanced optical character recognition (OCR) and AI-driven classification to accelerate document processing within business process modeling. This capability reduces manual effort, accelerates task completion and eliminates bottlenecks.
The swift and automated document handling ensures that processes progress seamlessly, contributing to enhanced operational efficiency while maintaining competitive agility in dynamic business environments.
Within the business process modeling framework, Hyland IDP ensures precision in data handling through intelligent character recognition and data extraction.
By minimizing errors in document interpretation, the IDP technology contributes to better decision-making and enables organizations to optimize their processes effectively.
Hyland IDP seamlessly integrates with existing systems, a key aspect for businesses implementing business process modeling techniques to handle large document volumes. This versatility makes it a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes, ensuring the IDP solution can scale alongside evolving business needs.
The integration capabilities of Hyland IDP contribute to a smooth and cohesive workflow, enhancing the overall effectiveness of business processes.
By automating the processing of sensitive information, Hyland IDP can prioritize data security and regulatory compliance. IDP technology addresses key concerns in data management by adhering to industry standards and data protection protocols.
This is particularly important in business process modeling, where ensuring compliance and safeguarding sensitive information are big aspects of operational excellence.
A standout feature of Hyland IDP is its ability to learn and adapt over time within the business process modeling process. This embodies the principle of continuous improvement as the technology evolves with usage, hence improving the document processing and classification process.
This adaptability ensures that the IDP solution remains effective and aligned with evolving business requirements, contributing to sustained process optimization.
> Read more: How AI-powered IDP is the future of intelligent enterprise
As businesses navigate through the difficulties of modern markets, business process modeling serves as a guide, allowing for the analysis, optimization and innovation of processes. It also demands strategic decisions, continuous refinement and a forward-thinking approach.
By embracing business process modeling as a transformative strategy, organizations can navigate the complexities of the business terrain with agility, resilience and a vision for sustained success.
Ready to get started? Chat with Hyland about IDP.
“Customers and partners give Hyland high marks for the ease of use of its platform. Especially noteworthy were comments regarding its logic and flow for document ingestion, classification, and extraction, as well as dashboard building and customization,” according to the MarketScape for Worldwide Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Software 2023-2024 Vendor Assessment.
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