Understanding the Process Definition Document (Article 1 of 8)

What is this document?

A Process Definition Document (PDD) is a comprehensive artifact that delineates the steps, rules, and requirements necessary for automating a business process. It encompasses detailed process workflows, decision points, exceptions, and the requisite inputs and outputs. The PDD serves as the foundational blueprint for RPA developers, guiding the creation and implementation of the automation solution.

Intended Audience

While the primary users of the PDD are RPA developers, the document is also important for a broader range of stakeholders. Business Analysts (BAs) must ensure that the document is accessible to reviewers and approvers from the business team, architects, project managers, program/delivery managers, customer success managers, and support team members. The language should be clear and functional, avoiding excessive technical jargon, to facilitate a shared understanding of the requirements across these diverse groups.

Developers require a precise and granular understanding of requirements. It is the responsibility of the Business Analyst to ensure that the documentation is unambiguous, leaving no room for multiple interpretations of any statement. Every aspect of the requirement must be explicitly detailed, eliminating the need for assumptions or subjective interpretations by the reader.

Architects will particularly focus on key technical aspects such as process workflows, business rules, inputs and outputs, exception handling, and performance requirements. Other stakeholders, such as project managers and customer success managers, typically require a high-level overview of the process and may only engage with the introduction and process workflow sections.

An often-overlooked yet crucial stakeholder is the Support Team. These team members may refer to the PDD during critical incidents, making it imperative that the document clearly outlines procedures for re-running the process, handling exceptions, provides points of contact for the involved process & applications, and captures details of upstream/downstream processes, etc

Basic Initial Details of the Document

The PDD should begin with the following essential details:

·????? Process ID: A unique numeric or alphanumeric identifier for the process, possibly including the department/function name and the month/year of automation. This identifier becomes increasingly important as the number of automated processes grows, serving as a "roll number" for easy reference.

·????? Process Name: The name should be concise and indicative, approved by the business team, and agreed upon early in the automation efforts to prevent confusion in the future.

·????? Document History: Standard version control practices should be followed, with the BA diligently updating version details.

·????? Document Reviewers/Approvers: The document should clearly specify names and email IDs of the individuals responsible for reviewing and approving its contents.

This overview serves as an introduction to the PDD, laying the groundwork for further exploration. In the next piece, we will explore about the ‘Process Details’ section of PDD.

Disclaimer:?The insights I am sharing are based on my experience with specific Centers of Excellence (CoEs). It's important to recognize that each CoE operates in its own unique way. Therefore, certain aspects of the Process Definition Document (PDD) discussed in this series may not align perfectly with your CoE’s practices, and some may even seem unconventional. Please use this information with that context in mind!