Transforme seus Processos em Vantagem Competitiva

BPMN notation: the visual language of processes

BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) is the most widely used international standard for drawing processes — open, maintained by a non-profit organization and independent of any software vendor, which keeps the mapping valid even if the company switches systems later. These are the elements that show up in practically every flow we draw for a client:

• Events

  Shown as circles, they mark the start, intermediate points and end of a process. The start circle has a thin border — e.g. "order received" — the end circle has a thicker border, like "invoice issued and delivered to the customer". Intermediate events record something that happens along the way, like "payment confirmed".

• Activities

  Rounded-corner rectangles represent the work itself: a manual task performed by a person, an automatic task performed by a system, or an entire sub-process — marked with a small "+" sign — that hides a more detailed flow inside it, so the main process view stays uncluttered.

• Gateways

  Diamonds mark decision points. The exclusive gateway (marked with an X) follows only one possible path, like "credit approved? yes or no". The parallel gateway (marked with a +) follows every path at once. The inclusive gateway (marked with a circle) follows one or more paths, depending on how many conditions apply.

• Lanes and pools

  Pools represent different organizations or systems; lanes (swimlanes) split a pool among the people, teams or departments responsible. It's at the lines separating lanes that a process most often stalls: every time an activity crosses from one lane to another, there's a risk of waiting, queuing or information lost in the handoff.

• Data objects and annotations

  Beyond the flow symbols, BPMN lets you attach data objects (documents, forms, records) and text annotations directly on the diagram, making clear which information goes in and out of each activity without relying on a separate document to explain what the flowchart doesn't show.

Process maturity levels: where your company stands today

Before designing the next step, you need to know what stage the company's process management is at today. We use a five-level scale, inspired by the process maturity models most used in the market, to position each area of the operation before proposing an evolution plan — there's no point proposing automation for a process that isn't even mapped yet.

1. 1

   Initial (ad hoc)

   The process exists, but isn't documented anywhere. Each execution depends on the memory and working style of whoever holds the role at that moment, and changes — without anyone deciding it — whenever that person goes on leave, changes roles or leaves the company.

2. 2

   Repeatable

   A preferred way of doing the task already exists, but it's informal: passed on by word of mouth within the team, with no formal design, no BPMN notation and no single recorded version to use as a reference when training someone new.

3. 3

   Defined

   The process is mapped in BPMN, documented and standardized across every area that runs it. Any new hire learns the same version of the process, and any audit gets the same answer no matter who is asked.

4. 4

   Managed

   Beyond being defined, the process is continuously measured: cycle time, error rate, volume per period and cost per transaction are tracked through indicators and dashboards — not through the gut feeling of whoever runs it day to day.

5. 5

   Optimized

   The company uses its own indicators to keep improving the process, testing small adjustments, automating the steps that make sense, and revisiting the design before the problem shows up as a customer complaint or a hit to the bottom line.