A step triggers something further away.
When an order is registered, a delivery starts in another system. Move the step, and the starting point moves too.
Before a process change
What else changes when the process changes?
A process change is often drawn as a new flow chart. What shows less is everything around it: the systems the process reads from, the steps it triggers and those who receive the result.
The maps never leave the user's computer.
What tends to be forgotten
Three things that show only when it is too late.
Two processes read the same data.
You change how customer details are filled in. Another process, which nobody in the project owns, reads the same fields.
A system assumes the old order.
An integration waits for a step to be done. In the new process the step comes later.
An example
The answer comes as a sentence to take to the next meeting.
- Register order triggers Deliver.
- Customer service depends on Deliver.
- Deliver reads data from Stock levels.
The question: what happens if Register order changes?
The answer in TopidarIf Register order changes, Deliver and customer service are affected. Customer service via Deliver.
- 1
Enter the process and the steps it triggers or contributes to.
- 2
Add what each step reads data from and which systems it requires.
- 3
Choose the process and press What if. The answer shows what breaks, is disrupted or is barely noticed.
What the map does not tell you
The map shows what you have entered.
Topidar finds no dependencies by itself. It works from what people know and write down, and shows what follows from it.
The map gets better the more parts of the organisation take part. That is also why it is worth making together.