Version 5.0 of my BPMessentials BPMN training will soon be available, in live classroom, virtual classroom, and online/on-demand formats. This is the first major revision since publication of my book, BPMN Method and Style, in June 2009. Since then I’ve trained around 1000 students on BPMessentials 4.x, and a number of lessons learned have been incorporated in the new version.
The biggest change is the way we talk about BPMN “style”. When BPMN’s critics complain about how unintelligible the language is, most often they are referring to diagrams with “bad style” (if they are legal at all). Modeled after Strunk and White’s classic Elements of Style, a short guide to rules of English composition and usage, my BPMN style is a set of do’s and don’t’s that make process diagrams more clear, complete, and shareable between business and IT. I used to teach it as a set of principles and best practice recommendations, but that made it too easy for students to ignore. In the new training, it’s an enumerated list of rules… you can validate your models against those rules in the tool we use, Process Modeler for Visio from ito-commerce. Previously I had made available for students an online style rule validation tool, but it was cumbersome to use: You had to export the diagram to BPMN 2.0 XML from the tool, upload to my website, then run the validation. If you didn’t have popups unblocked, it wouldn’t tell you but you wouldn’t see any result. (I learned the hard way that many people have no idea how to unblock popups in their web browser.) Anyway, beginning with Process Modeler 5 service release 5, style rule validation is baked right into the modeling tool, so you can see the errors in the same tool you use to correct them. This is huge!
Another change is the way we do certification. Unlike some other entities offering certification in BPM, we do not purport to certify anything more than proficiency in BPMN modeling. In fact, it’s even narrower than that: Students must not only understand BPMN 2.0 as officially described by OMG, but be able to create diagrams consistent with my “method and style” approach. In previous versions of the training, students had to create two process models, one with a given scenario, the other more freeform but required to include a list of “Level 2” elements, including event gateway, error throw-catch, timer and message intermediate events. They would email the models to me for review, and they would have to correct them until they were good enough. It was a great way to interact one-on-one with students, but it was very labor-intensive (for both me and the student) and difficult to complete in the 60-day time limit. In the new version, there is only one exercise, essentially the freeform one from the previous training. But first the student has to pass an online multiple-choice exam.
Most people expect certification to be based on an exam, but passing it is not so easy. You need 80% correct to pass, and careful attention to the training and student notes is necessary. You get three chances to pass (a different set of questions each time), and if you don’t pass you cannot be certified. The exercise is still where much of the one-on-one interaction with students occurs. Previously, most of my time was consumed with reporting the equivalent of BPMN grammar errors, but that is now all detectable with validation built into the tool. Now, before submitting the exercise, students must validate in the tool and fix all the reported errors, including the style rule violations. Now I can focus on finer points of business logic and model structure rather than the simple things. It’s more efficient for both students and me, and gets students (hopefully) used to good modeling habits they will stick with after certification is complete.
In terms of BPMN 2.0 itself, we now teach the proper use of Call Activity and how to link the called process – what was called a “reusable subprocess” in BPMN 1.2 – in the tool. In the real world, modeling process fragments in separate files is important both for reuse and flexible process governance. We also emphasize the difference between a process communicating with external entities via messages (message flow and message events) and via shared data (update/retrieval of data stores). And we spend more time on the intersection of BPMN and process architecture, the real meaning of key BPMN concepts like “activity” and “process”… without which none of it really makes sense.
The course outline is given below.
- Why Learn BPMN?
- BPMN By Example
- The Method
- BPMN Style
- Events
- Branching and Merging
- Iteration
- Following the Rules
- Certification and Beyond
In the live 2-day version, we cover Level 1 (Parts 1-4) on the first day and Level 2 (Parts 5-9) on the second day. Part 1 explains what BPMN is, where it fits in the broader landscape of business process management, and how it differs from traditional flowcharting. In Part 2 we’ll jump right into the tool,, and we’ll build up a BPMN model together using the Level 1 palette. Students learn the meaning and proper use of the most commonly employed shapes and symbols. In Part 3 we step through the method, a step-by-step recipe that takes you from a blank Visio page to a complete Level 1 model, constructed in a top-down hierarchical manner, with traceability between all the process levels. In Part 4 we cover the basic elements of BPMN style, rules and conventions that make process diagrams easily understood, even by those that don’t know anything about your process or even your terminology. In part 5 we dive deeper into events, the hallmark of Level 2 modeling with BPMN. We focus on the Big 3 – message, timer, and error events – and the various ways to use them. In Part 6 we talk some advanced branching and merging patterns that go beyond those we saw in Level 1. Part 7 covers a subtle topic, iteration through looping and multi-instance activities, and models requiring two or more BPMN processes to work. In Part 8 we return to BPMN style, and show you how to use diagram validation built into the tool to not only check against violations of the BPMN spec but find and fix style rule violations – deviations from the conventions required for good BPMN. We finish with a discussion of our certification process, and where to go next after the training.
I’ll be announcing dates and special introductory pricing for a new virtual classroom version shortly. Contact me to discuss BPMN training in your organization.
I used to teach it as a set of principles and best practice recommendations, but that made it too easy for students to ignore.