Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development

by Alec Sharp, Patrick McDermott

This extensively revised second edition of the acclaimed and bestselling book, Workflow Modeling serves as a complete guide to discovering, scoping, assessing, modeling, and redesigning business processes. Taking into account the feedback from clients, workshop students, business professionals and other readers of the first edition, the authors have created this thoroughly updated and expanded resource, offering you clear, current, and concise guidance on creating highly effective workflow systems for your organization. Providing proven techniques for identifying, modeling, and redesigning business processes, and explaining how to implement workflow improvement, this book helps you define requirements for systems development or systems acquisition. By showing you how to build visual models for illustrating workflow, the authors help you to assess your current business processes and see where process improvement and systems development can take place.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Reference, Technology, Leadership

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2008

About the author

Alec Sharp, a senior consultant with Clariteq Systems Consulting, has deep expertise in a rare combination of fields – process modelling, analysis, and redesign; business-oriented data modelling; and business analysis and requirements specification. Increasingly, his work involves facilitation, organisational change, and project recovery. His 40+ years of hands-on consulting experience, practical approaches, and global reputation in model-driven methods have made him a sought-after resource around the world.

Reviews

[Nasser Modarresi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describing A very practicing methodlogy for Business Process Reengineering, But lacks in "process prioritization and selection" domain.

[Henrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was satisfactory, although a little smug and long-winded.

[Florianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great methodologies, examples and illustrations. I would have give. five stars if it was organized in a way that it was not repetitive.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's beginning to show signs of age. It makes for an OK review if you are out of practice with this stuff but I found it lacking in one critical area - How to get from the As-is (current) state to the To-be (future) state. Jumping into the last chapter and saying use Case Analysis is not enough. Needs either a dose of Design for Six Sigma or better yet Theory of Constraints.

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical guide to process modelling. Most books on the subject list best practices and frameworks and end up with such a level of abstraction that become useless for those who want to learn something. Conversely this book has a practical approach based on experience. It doesn't just explain what to do, it explains first of all what not to do!

[Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for doing process improvement. Especially important is the section on understanding and documenting the current process; don't make the mistake of trying to get someplace when you don't even know where your coming from!

[Denis Korsunov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great source of advices how to discover, assess, model as-is and to-be business processes. Features of authors' approach are: steady focus on essence of process, keep diagrams as simple as possible, step-by-step actions and sufficiency test of collected data by "enablers". Recommended!

[Philana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very easy to understand the purpose and function of process mapping. One of the best resources I found that was easy to translate to my business needs.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed, therefore a dry read, but will keep this handy as a reference at work. Lots of marked up insights for a normally rushed process.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear process modeling and improvement textbook. Great examples. Easy to implement