Guidelines for developing new processes

Before you create a new process, we recommend that you first understand what you are trying to achieve. The steps below provide a guideline for developing your new processes.

The first step is to map out the process on paper, so that you have a visual idea of what you are trying to achieve. Are you using an existing manual process that you know well? Can you make improvements to the manual process? We recommend that you talk to the people who perform these tasks on a day-to-day basis, and ask their advice. They are crucial to the successful deployment of your new processes.

The next step is to break down the stages of the process.

• What are the steps required to get from the Start status to the End status?
• At each stage of the process, think about the information that needs to be captured in the process.
  The following questions can help you think about what you are trying to achieve.
• Do you have the required business objects, attributes and relationships in place? If not, can you adapt any existing ones, or do you need to create new ones?
• Which windows do you want users to see? Do you have any existing windows that suit the process, or do you need to create new ones?
• Do users need to see a window (in order to provide more information, for example), or can they click an action instance in the Actions list to confirm that an action is complete in order to advance the process?
• Who needs to complete these steps; what assignments have to be made? Do you know to whom you want the process to be assigned? In the example used in this chapter, each process assignment is to the Human Resources department. They oversee the process, ensuring that each task is completed and all the conditions have been met. Do you have an idea of a specific role to oversee this process, or a group or specific user? You can specify any or all of the above.

If the standard business objects and windows do not suit your requirements for your new process, it is a good idea to create them beforehand. You can indicate that a specific window is used for a particular process. For example, you may have two different processes, and you can specify different start-up windows for these. For information about creating business objects, see Business objects.