The first step in defining a business process is to work out where you want to be at the end of it.   More precisely, where do you want the person you are serving to be at the end of it.

This involves stepping up a level or two from your usual narrative – from the minutiae of how it gets done to what it is you are really trying to achieve.   This helps you identify ‘what’ has to happen, which in turn can open you up to different ‘hows’ for making it happen.

Write down (or better still get someone else to write down) the process you want to think about as a narrative.   Then ask yourself these questions:

• What things should be true after this process is completed?
• Which of those things is truly meaningful to the person you are serving (your prospect, client or customer)?
  • What is it that matters to them?
  • What difference will they notice?
  • What is it that they are paying you for?
• How could you best sum that up in a two-word phrase, composed of a verb followed by a noun?   This phrase should be binary, it’s either true or it’s not.  You’ve either done it or you haven’t.

Now you’ve found the point of your process.  It’s probably much bigger than you thought.