You already know the basic structure of process work. But do you fully understand the three layers you'll uncover in every process project, and how they're all related? This deck is about the three essential layers of process work: technological, business process, and value chain. We will define these three levels and discuss the relationship between them, diving deeper than ever to equip you with the tools you need to deliver great results every time.

1. The Three Essential Process Layers
Meetup (9/6)
Highlights and Q&A

2. Agenda
I. The Three Essential Process Layers
■ The Three Layer Model
■ 1 - The Physical Layer: The Workflow (Enabling Technology):
■ 2 - The Process Layer: The Business Process
■ 3 - The Value Layer: The Value Chain
■ Process Improvement and the Three Layers
■ Summary
II. Q&A
■ How do you explain value chain based process improvement to project
sponsors interested in changing workflow solutions?
■ Does this model apply to all industries and different business types?
■ Do you have to go through every layer for every type of project?

3. The Three Essential Process Layers
Meetup Highlights
Understanding the conceptual layers of any
process to support process improvement work

4. The Three Layer Model
● Workflow is the only layer that is
physical and can be observed -
therefore all analysis of these layers
begins at that level.
● These layers enable one another:
workflow enables a business process,
which in turn enables a value chain.
Every process contains these three layers: workflow, business process, and
value chain. Understanding these layers is critical for well-structured process
analysis/improvement.

5. Workflow (Enabling Technology):
The Physical Layer
The “workflow” is the observable combination of people and technology,
performing tasks in order to create a good or service (e.g. using a hammer and
nails to attach two boards).
This is the only layer that actually “exists” in the sense that it can be
observed. All must start at this layer, because it represents the actual
manifestation of whatever the producer had planned for a particular process.

6. A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that
transform a specific set of input(s) into a specific set of output(s) for a particular
customer(s) (e.g. “we attach two boards to create a piece of a wooden boat for the
boat builders”). This is often visualized as a flowchart or a sequence of activities.
Business Process:
The Process Layer

7. ● Workflow (Layer 1) is what enables a Business Process (Layer 2) to exist in the
real world.
● A workflow system is what companies use to organize how they will execute
a business process.
● Any good workflow will be informed by a well-thought-out business process.
Business Process:
The Process Layer

8. Value is what customers pay for, and the value chain describes the minimum
changes required to a base input to create a final output that is marketable to
consumers (e.g. what we are doing to create value for a potential customer).
Anything within a process or workflow system that is not part of the value chain
is considered a type of “business waste”.
Value Chain:
The Value Layer

9. A business process is what companies use to specify how they will execute a
value chain.
For example:
- value chain: if we can turn two pieces of wood into a single piece, it will create
a necessary part for wooden boats which we can sell (value) to boat builders.
- business process: to somehow attach (process) these two pieces to make a
single item.
Any good business process will be informed by a well-thought-out value chain.
It’s important to remember that, without a value chain, there is nothing being
produced that the consumer will pay for. A process like this won’t be funded for
very long!
Value Chain:
The Value Layer

10. Process Improvement and the Three Layers
Any sustainable, effective process improvement initiative must proceed
through the three layers in the same order to ensure success (see below).
Many projects try to skip stages or take alternate paths (marked in the diagram
below with red ‘X’s) - this ultimately results with less successful or accurate
outcomes.

11. Process Improvement and the Three Layers
In following this framework, working through the previous slide’s diagram in
order, a typical process improvement cycle would follow these steps:
1) Understand the as-is (current) workflow by observation
2) Understand the intended as-is business process by capturing and
visualizing the as-is workflow in a structured way
3) Understand the value chain by understanding the value being produced
in the as-is business process
4) Design the to-be (optimized) business process as informed by the
value chain in order to remove waste, increase benefits, and reduce cost
5) Design the workflow configuration to enable the to-be process
6) Structure a project to address the gaps in capabilities between the
as-is and to-be workflows
7) Execute the project and enjoy the benefits!!

12. Summary
• All processes have three layers that define them: the workflow,
business process, and value chain layers
• Understanding each layer and how they fit together is important to
understanding what business process work is and requires
• The layers have a directional relationship, in that workflow is enabled by
business process, which is enabled by a value chain. The workflow layer is
the only layer which can be observed in the physical world
• Process improvement work must flow through the layers in a
particular way in order to have consistently high quality, successful
outcomes

13. Q&A
Answering questions from the Meetup

14. How do you explain the need for value chain-based
process improvement to project sponsors interested
primarily in change at the workflow level?
If you are explaining things correctly at the value chain level, you will be
more able to do so with quantifiable benefits and costs.
● Often, people are interested in changing the workflow (since this is the
most visible part of the process) without understanding the business
process or value chain layers. If you let projects proceed this way, there is
a high probability that the project or workflow change can be completed,
but will result in no additional value creation, and ultimately a loss for the
sponsor.
● When discussing value chain-based projects or process improvement, it is
not as much an act of “explaining” as much as presenting projected
increases and decreases in terms of costs or benefits, as it pertains to the
customer.
● Hopefully, when presented with well-defined numbers, even executive
sponsors will see the expected return of whatever workflow solution they
originally requested versus your recommendations and act accordingly.

15. Does this model apply to all industries and
different business types?
Yes!
Whether the firm is producing widgets on a factory line or offering intangible
services, this model addresses the fundamental construction of all processes.
The job of a good process engineer is to relate these concepts to any
business context in order to identify the value drivers that a process is
intended to create.
The reason for this is that value is simply what customers pay for. Every
for-profit business in any industry or category is built and sustained from a
value chain; otherwise, the client wouldn’t pay for the product and the
company wouldn’t exist!

16. Do you have to go through every layer for every
type of project?
Yes! and no…
Every project or process change will have to go through the different layers in
the order described; however, not necessarily all at the same time or as part of
the same initiative.
An example of this is found in some process-mature organizations, where the
business processes are well kept, and one would not have to start at the
workflow layer to work towards the value chain.
Ultimately, other corporate functions should be aware of processes
(operations) and value propositions (marketing) in a tightly run firm. If other
piece are already well known or available you may not need to go through
every step of the framework from the beginning for every single initiative
separately - although the order of the steps remains the same.

17. THANK YOU FOR COMING!
• Thank you so much for coming to our meetup – we hope to see you again
in future sessions and please don’t hesitate to post additional questions on
the group discussion board.
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