How to Capture a Process in Skore

Congratulations on getting your Skore Workspace! Your process discovery experiences are about to become collaborative, enjoyable and satisfying. In this article we’d like to show you how to capture a process in Skore and explain why it is so effective.

For this exercise we are using the aircraft turnaround process as an example as it demonstrates the many different aspects of process visualisation and is a pretty complex process.

The basic components of a process

Processes are a series of activities that transform inputs into outputs. At the core we need to know what happens, who does and why. Skore is built around these core questions.

Drawing a process with Skore means adding a What box to describe what happens and who does it, then a Why box to describe the output of each step in the process.

Need to know how to add a Why or What box? Click here

Click on each box to edit text and describe the activity, the role that does the activity and the output of that activity.

Let’s use a simple activity: Unload Passengers

In this example the person responsible for safely unloading the passengers is the Cabin Manager. The reason we unload the passengers… well apart from the fact they want to reach their destination… we need to get them off as quickly as possible so we can start preparing the cabin for the next flight.

You can read it like a story:

As a Cabin Manager I need to unload passengers so that the cabin can be inspected and cleaned.

Drawing process flows

Now we know how to define a single activity in a process let’s look at how to create process flows. If you feel really confident you can start capturing activities in a flow. However here we recommend an easier way to get started and make sense of business processes.

Your audience will always find it easier to tell you what they do rather than why they do it. In fact asking someone directly why they do something can make people feel uncomfortable.

So let’s start with some basics. First off we want to clearly show what process we’re mapping. Make sure you have the title of the process clearly visible.

Next let’s set the ‘scope’ of the process. This means where the process starts and where it finishes. The first input and the final output.

Now we know what we’re looking at, the next step is to try to capture the main activities. So start putting a few what boxes onto the page and then ask what the main tasks are.

That wasn’t so hard and we didn’t upset anyone yet. Rearrange so all activities are in the right order. So now try to add the role of the person who owns this piece of work.

The next stage is to add the outputs. Each output becomes the input for the next activity so think of them as the handover from one to the next. What tells you one activity has finished and the next is ready to start.

This could be as easy as a document completed, a signature captured or a form approved. As you capture these you can link all the boxes together in order.

Creating detailed views of a process

Once we’ve described the high level process we can start to explore how it works at a more detailed level. Some people call these sub-processes or drill downs.

You don’t have to create a detailed view for every activity, it depends on whether you need to know more about that activity or not. If you do then this is how.

Simply click the detailed view icon on the what box.

You’ll immediately move to a new diagram. Look at the breadcrumb and you’ll see you’ve entered a new level of detail.

Now start drawing the next level of process. You can start your scope by dragging the inputs and outputs from the parent level onto the canvas from the Create menu.

Then follow the previous instructions to create flows.

If you need to create more details you can. There is no limit to the number of detailed views you enter.

Linking to relevant documents

As you capture a process you will want to add additional information to it. For example, document templates, systems or descriptions of the process steps.

All of these are easy to add in Skore. Every step in a process can have a text attachment or a link to another document or system.

To create a text attachment simply move your mouse over the step in the process and click on the paperclip icon.

Click Add New Text and enter the text you need. You may use markdown to format the text if required.

To link to a document or system use the URL link on the attachment window.

These are the basic steps to any process capture in Skore. We hope you have found it useful. If you have any further questions you can contact us at [email protected] . Follow us on our social media below for further hints and tips on how to get the best out of the Skore Digital Discovery Platform.