What is the best way to define a business process?
There is more to a process than just the tasks and decisions which define the flow of information or material. You also need to define the resources required and the influences which affect the operation of the process. But even to describe the process flow clearly and in a format which staff can understand and use easily can be a challenge. The best way to show (or “map”) a process flow is now widely accepted to be as a flowchart. A process flowchart shows “what has to be done”, and a deployment flowchart, also shows the departments and job functions involved – “who should do it”. The deployment flowchart is a matrix, often presented with job functions along the x-axis and tasks or activities down the y-axis. There are other types and formats of flowchart. Some are little more than a diagram with indeterminate “objects” linked by lines which suggest connections back and forward, up and down and occasionally round in a circle. Some would say that the attempt in ISO9001:2000 to illustra
