A process has the following characteristics:

• it always has a trigger,
• is a logical sequence of activities that have to be carried out
• and creates output (product/service) for an internal or external customer.

In order to make the right distinction which activities have to be distinguished within a process, we use the OTOPOP principle. The OTOPOP principle implicates that an activity is performed in One Time (continuous flow), at One Place and by One Person. Be sure that each Future Process Activity Has Intrinsic Value.
To be complete: within activities one can distinguish actions as the most elementary units.

Creating Process flows

• Designing process flows can be done by means of workshops. Brown paper process mapping is a tool that is commonly used. State of the art BPM tools make it possible to do the process design directly in the tool.
   When using workshops, the preparation is essential: arrange rooms, materials and most important of all the right participants. E.g. involve the process owner, executioners, suppliers, customer representatives.
• Starting from events/triggers – “you sit behind your desk, when do you start to act” – determine the process steps to be taken. As said before, brown paper process mapping is a convenient tool, but it is also possible to do this online.

Process design workshop:

• Get process owner / executioners / suppliers / customers representatives
• Bring a resource to help documenting the workshop results, preferably directly into the BPM tool.
• In scope:
  •  events
  • process steps (with description)
  • roles (not positions !!)
  • RACIV
  • Business services
  • information usage
  • Document usage (includes operational reporting)
• Out of scope
  • Organization structure
  • Management reporting
  • Performance
  • Competencies
  • Applications
  • Governance
• Output
  • First draft process

Review the process:

• Consultant alone:
  • Integrate the processing times into the process model
  • Calculate consequences in achieving flow

Improve the process:

Utilize the workshop of the other future state design activities to continuously improve the process design. This may require several iterations before the final results is achieved