Learn How to Model Workflow
Book review: Workflow Modeling
Modeling workflow is not something I tend to whoop and holler about.
Flowcharts, business process automation, workflow management are all common
currency in the office space, but up to now they haven’t been the
cause of real stimulation.
This seems to change, however, when reading Alec Sharp’s extremely
practical, and highly accessible book entitled Workflow Modeling
(Artech House, Inc.). Not only is this book fun to read, but it’s
important to read—and the reason for this goes beyond the fact that
it’s extremely well written and well structured.
Indeed, Workflow Modeling offers so much more than just
an entertaining lunch break escape (although I should mention that, despite
the work-a-day nature of the content, this book really can suck you in).
While virtually anyone can write a well thought out book on workflow modeling,
Sharp is able to actually make sense of it. Before reading this book,
I thought that I knew about business process management. After finishing
this book, I realized that I had been virtually stumbling around in the
dark.
And I don’t think I’m alone. You see, when it comes to workflow
automation, it’s extremely important to have a coherent instruction
booklet in place for knowledge growth as well as easy reference. It’s
not that any of the material here is new. It’s not. You can find
the same information by reading practically any other book on the subject—or
just browsing the web for business process management. What makes this
book special is how it’s packaged: it can actually change the way
you manage your office’s workflow or your company’s business
process management.
The book covers topics that range from Unified Modeling Language to human
resources, from rules and policies to motivations, environmental constraints,
measurements and more.
Indeed, I found Workflow Modeling to be as much of a
hands-on manual as it is a fascinating read. Instead of walls upon walls
of words, Sharp and his editors have made sure to include plenty of checklists
and graphs. When I applied the principles of Workflow Modeling
to a small BPM project for my company’s office space, I
found that nearly half the time this book was either in my hand or well
within reach. This is far more than management theory—it’s
workflow practice.
But you’re probably asking, at this point, how a run-of-the-mill
book on workflow could be so essential to managing BPM integration in
the office space. In fact, before setting out to test the merits of this
manual, I wondered the same thing. After finding out how useful it was,
I thought I’d spell out just what, exactly makes this book such
an excellent tool.
Before listing the benefits, however, I’d like to reiterate that
none of the basic knowledge here is new. Instead, this book offers an
approach to problem solving that is completely unique, and therefore invaluable
to anyone seeking to reorganize the way in which processes are managed
at the enterprise level.
A few of the most insightful kernels of knowledge found in Workflow
Modeling are as follows:
1). When managing business processes, remember the big picture. This
may sound like a cliché—and it is—but I put it here
because of the way in which the author offers a concrete, step-by-step
approach to defining what problems need to be solved at onset—rather
than halfway through—the process of implementing a BPM solution.
2). Understanding the in-place company processes. Nearly every BPM solution
will have to deal, in some way, with an existing infrastructure such as
ERP (enterprise resource planning). Modeling Workflow does an excellent
job of taking the reader through the incremental and essential steps to
straddling BPM software over a pre-existing system.
One complaint I have, however, is that Sharp seems to spend very little
time on the “total overhaul” question. Although his advice
is very astute when it comes to integrating BPM with an already in-place
structure, he offers precious little to those who face the rare circumstance
of complete BPM re-structuring.
3). Problem solving. Sharp is an ace when it comes to solving management
solutions. And Workflow Modeling is no stranger to this
rhetorical strategy. After passing this book around to several colleagues
in my workflow implementation team, I found that their response was overwhelmingly
positive. But when managing a team, I look for a lot more than just praise
from others about my good taste in books: I look for results. Sharp’s
BPM implementation strategies are highly accessible, and for the first
time in my career I found that my team and I were, literally, on the same
page.
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