Best Practices for Documenting the Workflows
- Use circles to indicate where a process starts.
- Use rectangles to indicate a step in the process.
- Use arrows to show connections between steps.
- Use diamonds to indicate decision points.
- Add text to decision point arrows to indicate which decision causes you to go one direction in the process vs another direction.
- Show swim lanes to indicate which teams complete which tasks.
Questions to Ask
SOFTWARE
- What additional software are you using? Can you show me how you are using it?
TEAMWORK
- Which teams work together?
- How well are the teams working together?
- Are the problems they are experiencing technological challenges or cultural challenges?
TRAINING AND LEARNING
- Are they using the old software to its fullest potential?
EXTERNAL STANDARDS
- What external standards do they need to follow?
- Are there standards that are not being followed?
INTERNAL STANDARDS
- What internal standards do they need to follow?
- Are there standards that are not being followed?
- Are there best practices that are being followed that should be added to the standards?
- What computers do you typically use and what operating systems do they have?
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
- What custom parts, standards or templates need to be created or followed for the pilot project or the majority of your projects?
- Do you need different standards for different types of projects?
- Does each project type need to have its own template?
INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- What internal requirements do your workflows need to incorporate?
- Are there teams that need to touch the project that were not listed in the “What’s possible demo”?
STAKEHOLDERS
- Who are your stakeholders?
- Do you have an executive sponsor?
- How often will your stakeholder expect to be updated on the progress?
POWER USERS
- Who are the users who know the most about the technology you are using today?
- Who are the users who learn new technology the fastest?
- Who are the experts on your standards and ways of working?
REQUIRED OUTPUT
- What file types do you need to output your projects to (hard copy, electronic, transmittals, file extensions)?
- How do you measure success?
- Are there certain key performance indicators you need to hit?
