Have you been asked to do a process model and you just don't know the amount of detail that you need to do a successful process model? The level of granularity that you have in your process model will determine how useful it will be.

Any process model that you create has to stop somewhere. 

Now I'm not just talking about the left and right limits of that process. That's important but I'm talking about the level of detail that you place into that process. It is very tempting for us as process professionals to go in and have a look at all of the detailed processes and model those out because that's the stuff that's easy to obtain. Either by watching somebody do it or by looking up existing documentation. But when do you know it's time to stop? Well that's just as critical. 

The depth of process modeling is determined by the highest level to the lowest level of modeling. The highest level being the abstract level and the lowest level being the tactical level.

So in other words, from the abstract to the tactical, you need to make some leaps and bounds about how much granularity there is. Determining this granularity and keeping it consistent will ensure that process models created across your organization are consistent with your thinking. They're consistent to provide value to the organization and consistent for any end user consuming these process models to know what to expect. The key to ensuring the right level of granularity is, revisit your purposeful modeling. The purpose of modeling defines how much detail you require in these process models. More importantly, if you're going to use these process models for say communication then you need to ensure you're capturing the what of any kind of process.

An example could be clearing of a purchase order. The ‘what’ is, well, clearing up the purchase order. The ‘how’ is the detailed steps of where to click, the five to seven or so clicks on the application that determine the successful clearance of a purchase order.

So when you're process modeling all these tiers you need to be aware of which tier you're going to use for the right purpose.

Communication tiers are usually higher and of course tactical or more detailed information is usually at the lower tiers. Once you determine the kind of granularity you require based on your purpose of modeling, you are then able to extend that onto your conventions and standards and ensure that it remains as part of the way you work going forward.

So don't forget that each time you process model, it's tempting to stay at the lower levels but you need to bring yourself up to the abstract level and work your way down. The top down approach will ensure that the depth of modeling is consistent throughout the effort of process modeling in your organization. Now I'm not saying that every single process model needs to be the same amount of granularity. It depends on the purpose. The purpose highly determines how much information you put in each process model. The higher the level, the less information and of course the lower the level, the more detail that you want to put in there.

But ensure that you know you have an end game in mind. This kind of thinking of the detail helps you identify when to stop modeling and always approach from a top down -from an abstract to a tactical level.