Seven Process Modeling Guidelines (7PMG)

When enterprises see their productivity, quality, or regulatory compliance challenged, they often set up process-aware information systems like ERP systems to bring about fundamental improvements. But without a proper understanding of the business processes that need to be supported, they are doomed to fail. Mapping business processes as graphical models is an important step in this kind of initiatives. It is estimated that organizations that had the best results spent more than 40 percent of the total project time on discovery and construction of their initial process model. Business process modeling software has greatly eased the standardization, storage, and sharing of diagrams. But despite existing tool support, there is a notable uncertainty among practitioners about how to create process models that analysts and business professionals can easily analyze and understand. Available modeling frameworks and guidelines provide insight into the major quality categories, but remain too abstract to be directly applicable in practice. Against this background, we propose a set of seven guidelines for process modeling, called 7PMG. Each of its elements is based on findings from sound quantitative research into the relationship between process modeling styles on the one hand and both model understanding and error-proneness on the other. In this way, 7PMG not only contrasts earlier work that has been criticized for its lack of empirical foundation. It also offers guidance that practitioners can apply in their business-process centered initiatives straightaway.