In this guide, we will delve into what is BPMN, including its history, when and how to use it, and the benefits it brings to the table. We’ll explore what is BPMN, BPMN diagram elements, and business process modeling notation symbols, and provide examples to illustrate their practical applications. Additionally, we’ll discuss the challenges of creating BPMN diagrams and how tools like Creately can simplify the process.
What is BPMN?
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standardized diagramming language that provides a graphical representation of business processes, enabling organizations to document, analyze, and optimize their workflows. Unlike traditional flowcharts, BPMN diagrams are rich with specific symbols and notations that cater to the complexities of modern business activities.
Here’s what sets BPMN apart:
- Standardization: BPMN is a globally recognized standard, ensuring consistency and clarity across various stakeholders and software tools.
- Expressiveness: With a comprehensive set of symbols, BPMN can illustrate complex process dynamics such as parallel tasks, events, and decision gateways.
- Versatility: It’s suitable for both technical users who design and implement processes and business stakeholders who need to understand them.
While other process modeling languages exist, BPMN’s widespread adoption is due to its balance of simplicity and expressiveness. It bridges the gap between the technical implementation of processes and the business strategy that guides them.
History of BPMN
Now that you know what is BPMN, here are some key milestones that have shaped BPMN into the robust framework it is today. These milestones not only reflect the technical advancements but also the collaborative efforts of key organizations and figures dedicated to the development of BPMN.
- Early beginnings (1990s) - BPMN emerged in the 1990s as businesses sought a standardized method for modeling processes. Various techniques were used, but there was no universal standard.
- Introduction of BPMN (2004) - BPMN was introduced by the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) in 2004 to provide a standardized visual notation for business processes, making it accessible to both business analysts and developers.
- Transition to OMG (2005) - In 2005, BPMI merged with the Object Management Group (OMG), gaining wider recognition and continued development.
- BPMN 2.0 (2011) - BPMN 2.0 was released in 2011, introducing key improvements like interoperability with BPEL and the ability to model executable processes. It included features like sub-processes, event-driven processes, and choreography.
- Ongoing evolution (2010s – oresent) - BPMN continued to evolve and became the standard in process modeling for various industries, including healthcare, finance, and IT. It supports digital transformation efforts and is integrated with emerging technologies like AI and RPA.
- Future of BPMN - BPMN will likely continue to evolve, further integrating with AI and automation tools, ensuring its relevance in future business process management.
When to Use BPMN
BPMN diagrams are particularly beneficial in scenarios where clear communication and detailed process mapping are essential. Here are some appropriate use cases for BPMN diagrams:
Complex workflow visualization: When dealing with intricate workflows that involve multiple stakeholders, BPMN diagrams provide a standardized method to visualize and communicate the processes.
Business process improvement: BPMN is ideal for identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies in existing processes, helping teams to optimize and refine their workflows.
System integration planning: For projects that require the integration of various systems, BPMN diagrams can outline the interactions and data flow between these systems, leading to a smoother integration.
BPMN Examples
BPMN diagrams serve as a universal language, bridging the gap between process design and implementation. Let’s delve into some illustrative examples from various industries:
- Healthcare: A BPMN diagram can map out patient admission processes, making sure that each step from registration to discharge is clearly defined and optimized for efficiency and patient care.
- Manufacturing: BPMN diagrams are used to streamline production workflows, identifying bottlenecks and enabling seamless coordination between different departments, from procurement to shipping.
- Banking: In the banking sector, BPMN diagrams facilitate the visualization of loan approval processes, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
Explore more BPMN templates here.
Features of BPMN
Business Process Model and Notation is renowned for its extensive set of elements and symbols. Each element represents different activities, decisions, and flows within a business process, ensuring that every detail can be captured.
- Task and activity symbols: From simple tasks to complex subprocesses, BPMN includes a variety of symbols to denote work being done.
- Gateway symbols: Decision points in a process are clearly depicted with gateway symbols, guiding the flow based on conditions.
- Event symbols: Events that trigger or result from process steps are represented with distinct symbols, indicating start, intermediate, and end states.
- Connecting objects: Sequence flows, message flows, and associations are the lifelines that connect elements, illustrating the interaction between different parts of the process.
BPMN 2.0 Diagram Elements and Symbols
Understanding the core elements of BPMN 2.0 diagrams is crucial for anyone involved in business process modeling or who wants to learn what is BPMN. These elements are represented by a variety of symbols, each with a specific meaning and purpose within the BPMN framework.
| Object | Description |
|---|---|
| Event | Represents something that happens during the course of a process. There are various types of events, including start events, intermediate events, and end events. |
| Activity | Represents a task or work that needs to be performed. It can be a task, subprocess, or transaction. |
| Sequence Flow | Indicates the order in which activities are performed. |
| Message Flow | Represents the flow of messages between two entities. |
| Association | Connects artifacts, data, or text annotations to activities or flow objects. |
| Exclusive Gateway | Represents a decision where only one path can be taken. |
| Inclusive Gateway | Represents a decision where multiple paths can be taken. |
| Parallel Gateway | Represents a point in the process where multiple activities can occur in parallel. |
| Complex Gateway | Represents a decision that involves complex conditions. |
| Pool | Represents a participant in the process, often used to denote different organizations or departments. |
| Lane | Text |
| Paragraph | Divides a pool into sub-divisions, typically representing different roles or responsibilities within a participant. |
| Data Object | Represents data used or produced within a process. |
| Group | Groups related elements together in a visual manner. |
| Text Annotation | Provides additional information or comments. |
Benefits of BPMN
BPMN offers many benefits that streamline organizational processes and improve operational efficiency. Here are some of the key advantages:
Streamlining process management and communication: BPMN diagrams serve as a universal language, allowing stakeholders from different departments or even different organizations to understand and manage complex processes with ease. This common visual language eliminates ambiguity and fosters clear communication.
Improving documentation and compliance tracking: With BPMN, documenting processes becomes more structured and standardized, which is crucial for maintaining compliance with industry regulations. The BPMN diagram can be used as a reference point to make sure all regulatory requirements are met.
Facilitating process automation and improvement: BPMN is not just about mapping out current processes; it’s also a tool for identifying areas of improvement. Inefficiencies become obvious when you visualize the workflow, so you can automate and continuously improve it.
How to Create a BPMN Diagram
Creating a BPMN diagram involves visually representing the steps and components of a business process.
Step 1: Identify the Process
Clearly define the boundaries and scope of the business process you want to model using BPMN.
Step 2: Choose a Tool
Choose a BPMN-compliant modeling tool. For example, you can use Creately’s BPMN software to quickly visualize your business processes. It comes with pre-made templates and an extensive shape libraries for BPMN 2.0, flowcharts, & process maps, real-time collaboration and powerful diagramming and AI capabilities.
Step 3: Draw the BPMN diagram
- Begin your BPMN diagram with a start event. This represents the initiation point of the process.
- Use rounded rectangles to represent activities or tasks within the process. Place them in sequence to show the flow of the process.
- Use diamond-shaped gateways to represent decision points in the process. These indicate where the flow can take different paths based on conditions.
- Use arrows to connect activities in the order they occur. Sequence flows represent the flow of the process from one task to the next.
- Use parallel gateways to show parallel paths in the process. Use exclusive gateways for mutually exclusive paths based on conditions.
- Represent the completion points of the process using end events. There can be different types of end events, such as normal end, error end, or cancel end.
- Use data objects to represent data exchanged between activities. Include artifacts such as annotations or groups to provide additional information.
- If your process involves collaboration between different entities, use pools to represent separate participants and lanes to represent their specific responsibilities.
Step 4: Annotate and Document
Add annotations to provide additional information or details about specific elements in the diagram. Document any relevant information that enhances understanding.
Step 5: Validate and Review
Share the BPMN diagram with stakeholders to validate its accuracy and completeness. Address any feedback or questions.
BPMN Subprocesses
In business process modeling notation, sub-models or subprocesses are used to represent a modular and hierarchical structure within a larger process. Subprocesses make complex processes more manageable and understandable. There are two main types of subprocesses in BPMN:
Collapsed subprocess
A collapsed subprocess represents a subprocess at a higher level of abstraction. It is shown as a single shape, often a rounded rectangle, with a plus sign inside. This indicates that there is more detail hidden within the subprocess. When a BPMN diagram is intended for a higher-level overview, collapsed subprocesses provide a concise representation.
Expanded subprocess
An expanded subprocess provides a detailed view of the subprocess within the main process. When you expand a subprocess, you reveal the internal activities, events, and gateways that make up that subprocess. The expanded subprocess allows for a more in-depth understanding of the contained activities and their relationships.
Key points about sub-models in business process modeling notation
Reusable components: Subprocesses can be reused in multiple places within a BPMN diagram or even in different BPMN diagrams. This promotes modularity and consistency across processes.
Separation of concerns: Subprocesses support the separation of concerns by breaking down a complex process into smaller, more manageable parts. Each subprocess can represent a specific aspect or functionality of the overall process.
Encapsulation: Subprocesses encapsulate a set of activities, events, and gateways, providing a higher-level abstraction. This can improve the readability of the main process and make it easier to focus on specific aspects.
Call activities: BPMN includes a specific element called a “Call Activity” to represent the invocation of a reusable subprocess. A Call Activity can reference a subprocess defined elsewhere, allowing for modular design and consistent use of subprocesses across processes.
Transaction subprocess: Business process modeling notation also supports a special type of subprocess called a “Transaction Subprocess,” which allows for the modeling of transactional behavior, including compensation activities in case of failures.
Who Uses Business Process Modeling
BPMN is a versatile tool used by professionals across various fields to design, analyze, and optimize business processes. It provides a standardized way to visually represent workflows, making it easier for teams to collaborate, automate tasks, and improve efficiency. Here’s a look at the key groups that benefit from using BPMN:
- Business analysts: Use BPMN to create clear process models, analyze workflows, and identify areas for improvement. They help businesses understand and document processes to drive better decision-making.
- Process managers: Leverage BPMN to optimize business processes, monitor performance, and ensure processes run efficiently. They use BPMN to communicate process changes and improvements to teams.
- IT teams: Use BPMN to design and implement automated workflows within software systems. BPMN helps ensure that processes are integrated seamlessly across different platforms and applications.
- Developers: Use BPMN to build process-driven applications by translating business process models into executable code, helping streamline automation and ensure alignment with business goals.
- Industries: BPMN is used across various sectors like healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail to model, optimize, and automate business processes, improving overall operational efficiency and reducing errors.
Helpful Resources
Learn the essentials of process mapping with our comprehensive guide. Discover techniques, best practices, and tools to streamline workflows and improve efficiency.
Explore various business process modeling techniques with real-world examples. Learn how to visualize, analyze, and improve workflows for greater efficiency and clarity.
Master business process analysis with our complete guide. Learn key techniques, best practices, and tools to optimize workflows and enhance organizational efficiency.
Quickly visualize, model, analyze, & document business processes to manage them more effectively
Quick Tips for Drawing More Effective BPMN Diagrams
Understand your process: Gain a deep understanding of the business process before starting the diagram. Clearly define the scope, objectives, and key activities.
Follow BPMN standards: Adhere to BPMN standards to maintain consistency and compatibility with BPMN-compliant tools.
Sequence flow clarity: Clearly define the sequence flow between activities. Ensure a logical and easily understandable order of execution.
Correctly use gateways: Understand and correctly use gateways (decision, inclusive, exclusive) to represent branching and merging points in the process.
Use swimlanes wisely: Pools and lanes help visualize collaboration, so use them when appropriate for your process.
Annotate and document: Add annotations to explain complex parts of the process. Use comments or documentation to provide additional details.
Simplify complex processes: Break down complex processes into subprocesses or use expansion markers to simplify the view.
Consider process improvement: Use the BPMN diagram as a basis for process improvement discussions within your organization.
The Goal of BPMN
The goal of BPMN is to establish a standardized visual language to represent business processes, fostering collaboration and clear communication. Business process modeling notation provides a universally accepted notation, facilitating the modeling and documentation of complex processes, as well as analysis, optimization, and automation. From design to execution and continuous improvement, it supports business processes throughout their lifecycle, bridging the gap between business and technical professionals. Ultimately, BPMN serves as a powerful tool to improve understanding, streamline communication, and drive efficiency in business process management.
Why Use BPMN
Organizations use BPMN to improve communication, collaboration, and understanding of their business processes. Here’s why they are important;
1. Standardized notation
Business process modeling notation provides a standardized notation that is widely accepted in the business process management domain. This common language ensures consistency and clarity in communicating business processes.
2. Clear visualization
It allows for the clear and intuitive visualization of complex business processes, making it easier for stakeholders to understand, analyze, and improve workflows.
3. Communication
BPMN serves as a communication tool between business and technical stakeholders. It bridges the gap between business analysts and IT professionals by providing a shared visual language.
4. Process improvement
Organizations use BPMN to model existing business processes and identify areas for improvement. It supports the analysis and optimization of workflows to boost efficiency and effectiveness.
5. Process automation
Business process modeling notation is often used in conjunction with business process automation tools. The standardized notation allows for a smoother transition from process design to automated execution.
6. Training and onboarding
BPMN diagrams serve as valuable training materials for new employees, providing a visual guide to understand how various processes within an organization work.
7. Risk management
Business process modeling notation allows organizations to identify potential bottlenecks, risks, and inefficiencies in their processes, enabling proactive risk management strategies.
Challenges of Creating a BPMN Diagram
Learning about what is BPMN, it’s important to know the challenges of creating a BPMN diagram as well. It can be hard to create a BPMN diagram, even for the most technically savvy product managers. Intricacies of BPMN notation combined with complicated business processes can lead to these problems:
| Challenge | Solution | |
|---|---|---|
| Complexity and detail | Visualizing elaborate business processes can lead to complex BPMN diagrams. | Simplify, use subprocesses, and focus on high-level views. |
| Stakeholder collaboration | Making sure collaboration among diverse stakeholders with varying expertise. | Facilitate workshops, seek input, and use BPMN as a visual bridge. |
| Selecting the right level of detail | Balancing detail for understanding without overwhelming viewers. | Tailor detail to the audience and purpose, emphasizing key elements. |
| Tool selection and training | Choosing the right BPMN tool and maintaining team proficiency. | Select user-friendly tools aligned with needs, and provide training for proficiency. |
BPMN vs. UML
BPMN (Business Process Modeling and Notation) is designed for modeling business processes, focusing on visualizing and improving workflows. In contrast, UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a broader modeling language used in software engineering for designing and documenting software systems. BPMN is tailored for business stakeholders, while UML is primarily used by software developers and technical stakeholders. While both use standardized notations, BPMN emphasizes business processes' temporal aspects, and UML covers a wider range of software design aspects. Organizations may use one or both depending on their project needs.
Read more: BPMN vs UML: Choosing the Right Modeling Language
BPMN Vs. Flowchart
BPMN (Business Process Modeling and Notation) is specialized for modeling business processes with standardized symbols, focusing on clarity and communication for business stakeholders. Flowcharts, more versatile in application, doesn’t have strict standardization and can represent various processes beyond business, providing flexibility in detail and symbols. The choice depends on the specific purpose and audience of the BPMN diagram.
How Creately Can Help You to Create a BPMN Diagram
Creating a BPMN diagram can be a complex task, but with Creately, the process becomes significantly more manageable. Here’s how you can use Creately to draw a comprehensive BPMN diagram;
Easily create complex BPMN diagrams
With standard BPMN 2.0 shapes and ready-to-use templates to create complex BPMN diagrams easily. Quickly change visual attributes of the BPMN diagram using the quick toolbar and host multiple templates to analyze them side by side on the infinite canvas.
Modeling and creating live maps
Creately’s advanced modeling capabilities allow you to create “living” BPMN diagrams that automatically update as processes evolve. This ensures that all linked diagrams stay accurate, reflecting changes across the entire process map without requiring manual updates. It helps centralize information and supports long-term process mapping.
Capture process requirements effectively
Use the integrated notes for each shape to capture and document process details and embed documents, add images, and attach links for better context. Or embed images, documents, videos, etc. relevant to the process directly on the canvas for quick reference. Keep track of changes made to the diagram with version control.
Collaborate and share easily across teams
Easily control access to public & private process details for external stakeholders with advanced workspace sharing options and collaborate with cross-functional teams & clients on a shared canvas. Connect with your existing tools and workflows with powerful integrations for Confluence, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, etc.
Learn how to create a BPMN diagram with Creately.
Conclusion; What Is BPMN
As we wrap up our exploration of what is BPMN, it’s clear that this standardized language has a significant impact on business efficiency. By providing a clear and consistent way to document processes, BPMN helps organizations to analyze and improve their operations effectively.
Business process modeling notation is a powerful tool for improving business efficiency. By providing a clear and consistent way to document processes, it helps organizations easily analyze and improve their workflows. BPMN simplifies communication between teams, making it easier to understand and improve operations.
With its flexibility, business process modeling notation can be used across various industries to identify inefficiencies and align teams. By adopting BPMN, businesses can streamline processes, reduce errors, and make better decisions. It’s an essential tool for any organization looking to improve its operations.
