A series of steps or actions that are taken in order to achieve a particular result or goal. Everything we do, see others doing, have machines do for us, or see nature doing is a process. Processes can be found in various areas of life, including business, manufacturing, computing, and more.

Standard Definition of a Process
explaining what is a process with a process flow

A process is a series of steps and decisions involved in completing work. We may not realize it, but processes are everywhere, including every aspect of leisure and work. A few examples of processes might include:

  • Preparing breakfast
  • Placing an order
  • Developing a budget
  • Writing a work order
  • Triaging a patient
  • Cleaning a room
  • Changing the oil in a car
  • Strapping down a truck
  • Refueling an aircraft
  • Putting gas in the car

What is Missing from the Standard Process Definition?

A lot! Let me explain why the overused standard process definition won’t describe most processes and why it fails during a process improvement project. At ESPN, a basic process exists for submitting a background check for a new hire. The process is described below:

what is a process help diagram

The process seems straightforward, with little room for error. However, hiding underneath the basic definition are key pieces of information that illuminate the problem and the process improvement solution.

Timing and Interdependency

Timing and interdependency are key to understanding real process behavior. In the background check process described above, the submitter only submitted background checks on Tuesday between 3:00 and 3:30 PM. That means a pending background check could sit in the queue for up to 7 days before submission. Three similar delays in the background check process could add 14 unnecessary days. Understanding the timing of activities within a process is critical to any improvement methodology, yet it remains unseen because the basic definition doesn’t describe it. The basic definition of a process does not include the framework to describe when a process occurs.

Variabilityprocess steps

Normally (no pun intended), averages describe processing time for activities under study. Averages work well to describe a business process containing no variability in time (or process direction), not utilizing people, and without interruptions. In other words, averages hide critical business process behavior. Why do averages mask process behavior? It would be like trying to explain the dynamics of a family from a single photograph. You get some information from a picture, but you have no clue what happened immediately before or after the shutter’s click. Variable times cause throughput loss because the system can’t be balanced precisely. From the entity’s perspective, waiting will occur at various points in the process. Sometimes, there is more waiting than processing. Benjamin Franklin stated this principle concisely when he said: “Lost time is never found again.” If variability in “time and direction” are ignored, the real capability of a system will be hidden. Understanding the effect of the variability in the “background check process” mentioned above gave rise to new solutions that mitigated the extreme variability.

If Timing, Interdependency, and Variability are so important, why are they ignored in process definitions?

Traditional tools don’t have the framework for capturing or seeing the effect of these critical process factors. Without a framework for capturing and using information, it will be ignored by almost everyone. The framework opens the eyes of the process improvement expert so that they can make effective decisions.

“If you don’t have “word” to describe something, you can’t see it. If you can’t see it, you can’t manage it.”

A New Definition for “What is a Process?”

A process consists of four major elements:

  • • Steps and decisions — the flowchart. A series of steps and decisions describing the way work is completed.
  • • Variability of processing time and flow — the pattern of processing times.
  • Timing and interdependence — when the arrivals happen, when people work, etc.
  • Assignment of resources — how many are assigned, and where are they assigned?

The expanded definition of a process describes the behavior of the current system. By expanding the definition of a process to include timing, interdependency, variability, and resource assignment, a model not only helps visualize what is happening within the system but also allows us to experiment with potential changes. A model enables us to predict how adjustments might influence outcomes, providing a powerful tool for process improvement and decision-making.