Business process workflow or workflow business process management is a diagram used to represent a process in an uncomplicated way. It leaves clear the information flow between the agents that are part of the process and the activities sequence, allowing a general analysis of what happens. The aim is to rationalize this flow, searching for more productivity and better results.
With the business process workflow we can identify:
- What is being done
- The time spent
- Distance covered by the documents
- Who is performing the tasks
- How do the workflows between the process participants
Besides the business process workflow, we can also use the word flowchart. As we saw, it allows us to identify a logic diagramming to represent a dynamic phenomenon that happens over time. The flowchart is highly used in the workflow business process management and can be classified as an “artifact” when used to the modeling notation.
It can help: what is workflow?
Key characteristics and workflow notations
The business process workflow must always have a beginning point, tasks, and an end point.
See some of the symbols used to draw a flowchart:
- Longed circle: indicated the beginning and end of the business process workflow.
- Arrow: indicates the direction of the flowchart.
- Rectangle: in it, we describe actions, always with the verb in the infinitive.
- Diamond: represents question or alternatives and, because of that, always will have two exit arrows, one for each alternative.
We recommend that the arrows do not cross. Understand more: business modeling notation.
See this video about how to create and use business process workflows:
Now, that you know what flowchart is, and how it will help workflow business process management, read about process modeling and start the project!