Business Process Modelling Course

Lesson 1 • What Is a Business Process

Defines business processes and distinguishes them from tasks and projects. Anchors the chapter by establishing the fundamental unit of analysis for all subsequent modelling work.

Lesson 2 • Types of Business Process Models

Surveys descriptive, analytical, and executable model types and their appropriate use cases. Helps learners select the right modelling approach for a given organisational context.

Lesson 3 • Key Concepts and Terminology

Introduces essential modelling vocabulary including events, activities, gateways, and flows. Provides a shared language learners will apply throughout the entire course.

Lesson 4 • Overview of Modelling Standards and Notations

Introduces major notations including BPMN, EPC, and flowcharts at a high level. Sets expectations for the notation-specific chapters that follow.

Lesson 1 • Defining Process Scope and Boundaries

Teaches how to set clear start and end points and identify what falls inside or outside a process. Prevents scope creep and ensures models remain focused and useful.

Lesson 2 • Process Discovery Techniques

Covers structured methods for uncovering how processes actually operate. Equips learners to gather reliable raw material before any diagram is drawn.

Lesson 3 • Structuring Process Narratives

Guides learners in converting raw interview notes into structured written descriptions. Bridges the gap between discovery and formal diagramming.

Lesson 4 • Identifying Roles and Responsibilities

Explains how to map participants, roles, and accountability within a process. Directly informs the use of pools and lanes in formal notation.

Lesson 1 • Drawing Sequential Process Flows

Teaches how to represent linear sequences of activities accurately. Builds the core diagramming skill before introducing branching and looping logic.

Lesson 2 • Representing Loops and Iterations

Explains how to diagram repetitive activities and feedback loops without creating confusing diagrams. Prepares learners for more complex control flow in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Modelling Decisions and Branches

Covers how to represent conditional logic and alternative paths in flowcharts. Enables learners to model real-world processes that involve choices and exceptions.

Lesson 4 • Flowchart Quality and Readability

Provides guidelines for layout, spacing, and labelling to produce professional diagrams. Reinforces that a model's value depends on how easily stakeholders can read it.

Lesson 1 • Events in BPMN

Covers start, intermediate, and end events and their trigger types. Learners accurately place events to define where processes begin, pause, and conclude.

Lesson 2 • Connecting Elements and Artifacts

Covers sequence flows, message flows, associations, and data objects. Completes the learner's toolkit for building fully connected BPMN diagrams.

Lesson 3 • Gateways and Control Flow

Explains exclusive, inclusive, parallel, and event-based gateways. Learners model complex routing logic that reflects real decision-making in organisations.

Lesson 4 • BPMN Structure and Participants

Explains pools, lanes, and participant boundaries in BPMN. Establishes how organisational roles and systems are represented before activities are added.

Lesson 1 • BPMN Modelling Best Practices

Consolidates rules for diagram clarity, naming, and structural consistency in BPMN. Ensures learners produce models that are readable by both technical and business audiences.

Lesson 2 • Collaboration and Choreography Diagrams

Introduces BPMN collaboration and choreography views for multi-party processes. Learners model inter-organisational interactions and message exchange sequences.

Lesson 3 • Parallel and Complex Process Patterns

Covers parallel branching, synchronisation, and complex gateway patterns. Prepares learners to model concurrent workflows common in operations and supply chains.

Lesson 4 • Exception Handling and Error Events

Models error boundary events, escalation flows, and compensation patterns. Equips learners to represent what happens when processes deviate from the happy path.

Lesson 1 • Bottleneck and Constraint Analysis

Teaches how to locate and quantify bottlenecks using process models and data. Enables learners to prioritise improvement efforts where they will have the greatest impact.

Lesson 2 • Simulation Basics for Process Analysis

Introduces discrete-event simulation concepts applied to process models. Learners understand how simulation predicts performance before changes are implemented.

Lesson 3 • Risk Identification in Process Models

Explains how to annotate process models with risk information and control points. Bridges process modelling with risk management and internal control frameworks.

Lesson 4 • Qualitative Process Analysis Techniques

Covers value-added analysis, root cause analysis, and process walk-throughs. Provides learners with structured methods for diagnosing process problems without numerical data.

Lesson 1 • Process Redesign Principles

Introduces core redesign heuristics such as elimination, automation, and integration. Gives learners a structured toolkit for generating improvement options systematically.

Lesson 2 • Evaluating Redesign Options

Covers cost-benefit analysis, feasibility assessment, and trade-off evaluation for redesign alternatives. Enables learners to recommend the most viable improvement option.

Lesson 3 • Change Impact and Transition Planning

Addresses how process changes affect roles, systems, and stakeholders. Prepares learners to plan a realistic transition from current to future process state.

Lesson 4 • Lean Thinking Applied to Processes

Applies lean principles including flow, pull, and waste reduction to process models. Connects widely used operational improvement philosophy directly to modelling practice.

Lesson 1 • Aligning Processes with Strategy

Connects process models to organisational strategy, objectives, and key results. Enables learners to prioritise process work based on strategic value.

Lesson 2 • Process Ownership and Accountability

Defines the role of process owners and their responsibilities for model maintenance. Establishes the human governance layer that keeps process models accurate over time.

Lesson 3 • Building a Process Repository

Covers how to organise, classify, and maintain a centralised library of process models. Enables organisations to reuse, compare, and govern models at scale.

Lesson 4 • Process Maturity Models

Introduces maturity frameworks that assess an organisation's process management capability. Helps learners diagnose current maturity and plan targeted improvements.