The Leonardo Blog

In life there are things that you cannot control, like the weather or the release of the next iPhone. Fortunately enough, there are things that you can, like process models. Imagine a world where everyone creates process models and there are lots and lots of people who submit in all this data into a central location. What you're gonna end up with very quickly is a mess. You don't have to imagine this. It happens right now. I share with you three very simple steps you can undertake to ensure that you've got a robust governance structure to handle this mess. In the world of process modeling, it's often the case that a lot of people create lots of good content. Everyone has the right intention. They want valuable models, they want useful stuff, and most importantly, they want to contribute. However, very quickly, when there's a lot of people involved in creating process models, you end up with a big mess. One way to handle that big mess is to understand some structures and place some measures that you, as a leader, in this space can ensure that the content that is produced is still valuable, useful, and well-understood by everyone who use it. So here are the three steps that you can undertake to ensure good governance across process model creation.

Every single process model that you create is part of a larger ecosystem, an ecosystem of dependency and relationships. It definitely is because in real life, your processes are related to one another. In this video, we talk about what that ecosystem framework is, and how to place your models in there. Every single model tells a story of the organization, a story of how processes deliver value. However, on its own, it may not fully describe what's going on. More specifically, it may not describe the relationships and the dependencies, which means that each process model that you create on its own may not be able to show you an impact cause at the start of the process, and its effects downstream.

Have you thought about how process models will be used in your organization? If you have, that's great. Have you thought about the second time they'll be used, the third, or the fourth time? Here are some tips on how to ensure continuous use of your process models. There is no point in creating process models without a purpose. The point is now how do you ensure that the second and the third time that you use your process models, it's just as effective as the first time. I go back to my mantra which says, create a process model once, it's useful. Use it again, it's valuable. The secret sauce in making sure that any organization uses process models over and over again is not scientific except it's just about making sure that these process modeling activities are well embedded in existing organizational methodologies. Some of the methodologies that I'll be talking about today include change management methodology, process improvement methodology, and project management methodology.

Models created by different people in different parts of the organization with a different set of skills often create very, very different models. Now, this can be a problem because you are trying to keep models consistent. Why would you want to keep process models consistent across different areas of your organization? Well, one simple reason. You want to keep widespread use of your process models. That's what makes them valuable. And in order to get that widespread use, people in different parts of the organization need to be able to understand these process models. Take for example our language. You're able to understand me because we agreed that the English language is spoken in a certain way with certain structure, certain grammatical tense, and because of that, I'm able to communicate. Same way with process models.

Hey everyone and welcome once again to the process sessions. In this video I'll be talking about resolving the process modeler's dilemma. What is the dilemma? You might ask. It's a delicate balance of conformance, accuracy, and fit for purpose for every single process model you have. Imagine this you have to create a process model for your senior management group and you decide to put in a process model that they can understand easily. Chances that that process model is fit for the purpose of your presentation, but it may be thin on details such as granularity. It might also not conform to those standards that the organization conforms to. Now it may be the case that that's happened, and if it has ever happened to you, or if you can imagine it you're not alone. That's why you need to resolve the modeler's dilemma.