Summary
Business process discovery, also called process discovery or just BPD, is the first stage in business process improvement. It involves understanding and mapping out the current state of a business process, so that improvements can be made.
Process discovery can be used to improve all sorts of business processes, from manufacturing to customer service.
As businesses become more complex, the need for accurate and up-to-date business process models becomes more acute. Business process discovery is a method used to create these models.
In this post, we’ll take a look at what business process discovery is, why it’s important, and how it can be used to improve business operations.
What is Business Process Discovery?
Business process discovery, also called process discovery or just BPD, is the first stage in business process improvement. It involves understanding and mapping out the current state of a business process, so that improvements can be made.
There are many different techniques that can be used for business process discovery, but the most important part is to involve all stakeholders in the process. This will ensure that the discovered business process is accurate and reflects the needs of everyone involved.
Process discovery is
- The first step in understanding and improving the way the business works
- Involves mapping out all of the steps involved in a particular business process, from start to finish
- Set of tools and techniques used to define, map and analyze an organization’s current business processes
Image source: Mediamodifier at Unsplash
Why is Business Process Discovery Used? Benefits of Process Discovery
Once the current state of the business process has been discovered, the next stage is to identify areas for improvement. This can be done by looking at things like process efficiency, process effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.
There are many reasons why process discovery is used, including:
- Understanding and document the real-world processes that people use to complete a task
- It can help organizations identify inefficiencies in their current processes
- Understand how their employees really work
- Find new ways to improve their business
- Document as-is processes for compliance or audit purposes
Process discovery can be used to improve all sorts of business processes, from manufacturing to customer service.
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Process Discovery in BPM
In business process management (BPM), process discovery is the first stage in the process improvement cycle. It is where we understand and document the current state of a business process.
This understanding is then used to identify areas of improvement and generate ideas for process improvement. Process discovery is an important step in any BPM initiative.
In a report on BPM, Gartner Research indicates that process discovery might be the most important skill of all
Source: Gartner Research on BPM
Process Discovery vs Process Mapping vs Process Documentation
The terms process discovery, process mapping, and process documentation are often used interchangeably, but there are some key differences between them.
- Process discovery is the act of uncovering and understanding the steps involved in a process. Process discovery has a more bottom-up approach, where businesses start by analyzing data and then work to understand how the process works
- Process mapping is the act of visually representing the steps in a process. Process mapping, on the other hand, is typically a more top-down approach, where businesses start with a high-level understanding of the process and then map out the details.
- Process documentation is the act of creating a written record of the steps in a process. This means outlining a detailed description of how a process needs to be executed.
Business Process Discovery Methods: How to use Process Discovery
There are several methods that can be used to discover business processes.
Image source: Datarundown
Let’s look at the most common ones a bit closer
Interviews
Interviews are a great way to gather first-hand information about a business process. This can be done through one-on-one interviews with employees, customers, or other stakeholders.
Interviews are a good option if you need to gather detailed information from a small number of people.
Focus Groups
A focus group is a small, but representative, group of people who are asked about their opinions, feelings, or beliefs on a certain topic. This type of qualitative research is often used in the early stages.
By bringing together a group of people who are familiar with a particular process, you can gain valuable insights into how the process works and identify potential improvements.
There are a number of factors to consider, from finding the right participants to asking the right questions. But if done correctly, a focus group can be a powerful tool for process discovery.
Workshops
Workshops are a good option if you need to gather detailed information from a group of people and also want to involve them in the discovery process.
Workshops are a great way to get started. In a workshop, a group of people come together to brainstorm and map out the steps involved in a process. This can be a great way to get everyone on the same page and to ensure that no steps are missed.
Workshops are similar to focus groups, but they are usually larger and more structured. They often involve activities and exercises, and they are usually led by an expert on the topic.
Document Analysis
This technique involves analyzing documents to identify the activities that make up a process. Documents can include things like process maps, process descriptions, swimlane diagrams, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and more.
Process Map
Process mapping is a tool that can be used to discover, document, and improve business processes. It involves creating a flowchart that shows the steps in a process, who is responsible for each step, and where handoffs occur.
This can be a helpful tool for businesses of all sizes, as it can provide a clear picture of how a process works and where improvements can be made.
Process Mining
Process mining is a data mining technique that can be used to discover, monitor, and optimize business processes.
Process mining techniques can be used to automatically discover process models from event logs. The algorithms take event data as input and then generate a process model that represents the events in the log.
If you are curios to learn more about process mining, we recommend our Introduction to process mining, or check out all of our posts related to process mining
Which Method Should You Choose For Process Discovery?
As we just have seen, process discovery can be done manually or with the help of software.
Manual process discovery is typically done through interviews and observation. This can be a time-consuming and error-prone process, but it’s often the best way to understand complex processes.
Software-assisted process discovery is typically done through business process modeling notation (BPMN) tools. These tools can help you visualize and map out processes quickly and easily.
Best Practices for Business Process Discovery
The following components are often found through a good process discovery project:
- Every step in the process. The goal of process discovery is to identify every step in the process. It is essential to first understand what the current process is and how it works
- Who performs each step. Who is responsible for each step and is doing the actions that we are identifying
- How long does it take to finish each step: The time it takes to perform an action. This information is valuable when trying to identify time saving improvements
- The systems used at each step: What are the different systems that are used to complete each action and how those systems work together and influence one another
- Methods for converting the results of one step into the input for the following one: Looking at how the different steps relate to each other and how dependent they are of each other. How is the output of step A turning into input for step B
Challenges with Process Discovery
While process discovery can be incredibly helpful, there are a number of challenges associated with it.
- Difficult to identify all of the steps in a process. This is particularly true for complex processes that involve many different people and tasks.
- Time-consuming and Expensive. It can be difficult to find the time and resources to conduct a thorough analysis of a process. Process discovery algorithms often require a lot of human input and supervision.
- Clearly Document all the steps. It can be challenging to clearly document a process in a way that is easy for others to understand. Many discovery algorithms struggle to cope with noise and outliers in the data, which can lead to inaccurate and incomplete results
- Explainability. It is often hard for humans to understand the discovered processes, especially if they are complex or involve many events.
Despite these challenges, process discovery can be a valuable tool for improving process efficiency and effectiveness. By taking the time to carefully analyze a process, organizations can identify ways to improve the process and make it more efficient.
Conclusion: Process Discovery
We have learned about what process discovery is, how it can be used to improve business processes, and the different techniques that can be used to discover processes. We have also seen how process discovery can be used to create process models that can be used to improve the efficiency of business operations.
We hope that this article has provided you with a better understanding of process discovery and how it can be used to improve business processes.
FAQ: Business Process Discovery
What is Business Process Discovery?
Business Process Discovery (BPD) is a methodology used to map out and understand the workflows of an organization. It helps businesses to improve their efficiency by identifying areas where processes can be streamlined or automated.
Why is Process Discovery used?
Process Discovery can be used to discover new ways of working, to optimize existing processes, or to troubleshoot problems within an organization. It involves interviews, observations, and analysis of data to understand how work is currently being done.
What are the different methods used in process discovery?
There are many different methods that can be used to discover processes. Some of the most common methods include interviews, observations, workshops, document analysis, and process mining.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eEach of these methods has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the best method for a particular organization will depend on the specific goals of the process discovery project.
