Background
The project had appointed a working group with responsibility for describing the process. A specific process variant had been chosen: Factory-made house on virgin land with a new detailed plan. The reason for choosing this was that they wanted to be able to use the idea of the space of possibilities, in which the user places his chosen house model in a geometric space that illustrates the planning regulations that apply. Examples of planning regulations are the number of storeys, building area and distance to the plot boundary.
Problem statement
A number of process models in BPMN format had been created but encountered several problems:
- The process was described at various levels of detail. Some were very detailed and others were very comprehensive - in the same model.
- It was difficult to agree on the process model. The municipal self-government has led to each municipality implementing its own variant of the process, and the detailed level in the model clearly showed the differences between different municipalities. One question that was discussed was which of the variants to choose.
- The first narrow case that had been chosen could certainly be described in the model, but how would one harmonize and connect the future process with a process flow that the administrators they recognize and can relate to? The selected process variant constitutes only 2% of all building permit applications.
The building permit process - draft for FJL
Workshop
The project group that was responsible for the process modeling contacted aRway. The idea came in connection with a training that aRway carried out at the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning where several of the project members participated.
The project team expressed the following needs:
- Clear rules of the game - "How to model processes?"
- An experienced workshop leader
- The main focus was the selected process variant ("Factory-made villa on virgin land with a new detailed plan"), but if time and opportunity were given, they would prefer a more general process.
- The workshop would be completed in 8 hours, ie a full day
Preparations
A workshop architect / facilitator and a modeler took part in the material produced so far.
To find the right level, the focus should be on finding artifacts according to the following definition.
Identifying process steps is secondary - once you have identified the artifacts, you will find the process steps by formulating "active verb + noun" which gives the artifact as output.
By focusing on the artifacts, you also avoid the risk of ending up at too detailed a level (or at different levels). The valuable artifacts are only available at level 4. At level 5, the result is an event that an activity can be clearly marked.
Above are candidates for artifacts marked with "heart".
aRway also received access to excellent material from Höganäs municipality, which describes the entire building permit process in a general sense.
Implementation
The workshop was held in Falsterbo for a full day. The project had gathered 8 participants and aRway held the workshop with a business architect / facilitator and a modeler.
We used milk cardboard and post-it notes to create as much commitment as possible, while the results were modeled into the project's model library in Sparx.
aRway showed the expected result from ear to loaf. 30-40 process steps with about 50 artifacts that cover the entire flow according to the following model:
We started from the artifacts identified during the preparations by going through the material used from FJL and Höganäs. In this way, we build credibility through traceability to materials that are well known and we get a quick start so we do not have to start with a blank board.
The first task was to set up the artifacts in the logical order in which they are created, based on the selected process variant ("Factory-made villa on virgin land with a new detailed plan"), and at the same time name the process steps. Here it was important that the participants set the names themselves, with the requirement that one must follow the naming standard "active verb + noun" and that there must be a clear connection to the subsequent artifact.
Pictures from the workshop.
The work went quickly, above expectations, and we were able to extend the flow to include a more general building permit without requirements for a factory-made villa, virgin land and a new detailed plan.
The result was modeled into the model library:
The model includes the process "Apply to build". During the afternoon, there was time to divide the flow into processes at level 3.
The result was the following:
Lessons learned (from the participants)
- It's stupid to throw yourself into process modeling without first setting the rules of the game. All participants have different experiences and expertise, and they also have different perceptions about notation and definitions of, for example, process and input / output.
- Get help from an experienced "referee" who has clear rules of the game.
- Use a proven notation and method.
- Process modeling with Prime Arch is easy to get into, even if you have not done it before. aRway's introduction with Shop Groceries de-dramatizes and concretizes what it's about - and that's no wonder!