“Process” and “workflow” are not the same thing. Using them interchangeably is like calling a wrench a hammer—it’s sloppy, confusing, and it costs you money.
When your team can’t name a problem, they can’t fix it. This is your dictionary. Here are 100+ process and workflow terms, A-Z, so your team can finally speak the same language.
A
- 5 Whys: An RCA technique where you repeatedly ask “Why?” to get to the root of an issue.
- Activity: Similar to a task, but often used to describe a collection of tasks.
- Ad-hoc Workflow: A flexible, non-linear workflow where the user (or “knowledge worker”) decides the next steps as they go.
- API (Application Programming Interface): A “messenger” that allows different software systems to talk to each other and exchange data.
- As-Is Process: The current state of a process, “warts and all.”
- Audit Trail: A detailed, time-stamped log of all actions and changes made within a process instance, crucial for compliance.
B
- Benchmarking: Comparing your process’s performance against industry bests or internal peers.
- Bottleneck: A point of congestion in a process where work piles up, limiting the capacity of the entire system.
- BPI (Business Process Improvement): A more incremental, systematic approach to enhancing existing processes.
- BPM (Business Process Management): The holistic discipline of discovering, modeling, analyzing, measuring, and improving business processes.
- BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation): The global standard notation for modeling business processes in a flowchart-like diagram.
- BPMS (Business Process Management Software): A comprehensive software suite to model, automate, execute, and monitor processes.
- BPR (Business Process Re-engineering): A radical, “clean slate” redesign of a core business process to achieve dramatic improvements.
- Business Process: A process that is specifically focused on achieving a business goal, like “Onboard New Employee.”
C
- Case Management: A type of adaptive, ad-hoc workflow for managing complex “cases” (like an insurance claim or patient record) where the process is emergent, not pre-defined.
- Change Champion: An influential employee who advocates for and supports a new process or change.
- Choreography: A decentralized automation pattern where systems react to each other’s events, rather than being controlled by a central “conductor.”
- CI (Continuous Improvement): The ongoing, long-term effort to improve processes, products, and services.
- CoPQ (Cost of Poor Quality): The total cost incurred from failing to do the process right the first time (e.g., rework, returns).
- Cycle Time: The total time from the start of a process to its end, including both work time and wait time.
D
- Data Flow Diagram (DFD): A diagram that shows how data moves through a system, but not the process logic itself.
- DMAIC: The five-phase Six Sigma framework: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control.
- DPA (Digital Process Automation): A modern approach to automation, often low-code, focused on improving user and customer experience.
E
- Effectiveness: A measure of how well a process produces the desired outcome or result.
- Efficiency: A measure of how well a process uses its resources (Time, Cost, People). (Output / Input).
- End-User: The person who interacts with or uses the process/system.
- Event: A trigger that starts, redirects, or ends a process (e.g., “Customer Submits Form”).
- Exception: An unexpected event or error that disrupts the normal flow of a process.
- Exception Handling: The pre-defined workflow path for what to do when an error or exception occurs.
F
- Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa): A visualization tool for brainstorming and grouping the potential causes of a problem.
- Flowchart: A simple, common type of diagram showing the sequence of steps and decisions in a process.
- Form (Digital Form): An electronic interface for users to input data into a process.
- FTR (First Time Right): A metric that measures the percentage of process instances completed correctly without any rework.
G
- Gap Analysis: The study of the difference between your current (“As-Is”) process and your desired (“To-Be”) process.
- Gateway: A decision point in a workflow that routes the process down different paths based on rules or data.
H
- Hand-off: The point where responsibility for a task or process is transferred from one person or system to another.
- Human-centric Workflow: A workflow designed primarily around tasks that require human judgment, collaboration, and approval.
- Hyperautomation: An end-to-end approach that combines multiple tools (RPA, AI, BPM, etc.) to automate as much as possible.
I
- iBPMS (Intelligent BPMS): The next generation of BPMS, integrating AI, process mining, and other smart technologies.
- Instance (Process Instance): A single, unique execution of a process from start to finish (e.g., this specific purchase request).
- Integration: The act of connecting different systems (often via APIs) so they work together in a process.
J
- Job: A distinct unit of work or a specific service task within a business process that is typically executed by a designated participant or automated system.
- Joint Application Design (JAD): A structured methodology used for process development where various stakeholders (users, developers, etc.) collaborate in sessions to define requirements for new systems or process improvements.
- Journey Mapping: The process of visualizing a customer’s or user’s experience with a process or service from start to finish to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
K
- Kaizen: A Japanese philosophy (part of CI) focused on small, continuous, positive changes.
- KPI (Key Performance Indicator): A high-level metric that tracks the success of a business objective (e.g., “Customer Satisfaction”).
L
- Lead Time: The time from when a request is made (e.g., customer places order) to when it is delivered.
- Lean: A methodology focused on maximizing customer value by eliminating waste (Muda) from processes.
- Low-Code/No-Code Platform: Software that allows non-technical users to build applications and automate workflows using visual interfaces.
M
- Milestone: A significant checkpoint or event in a process that signifies progress, but usually doesn’t involve work itself.
N
- Notification: An automated alert (email, push, SMS) sent to a user as part of a workflow.
O
- Orchestration: Coordinating multiple independent systems or services to work together in a single, end-to-end process.
P
- Parallel Workflow: A workflow where two or more tasks can be performed at the same time.
- Pareto Chart: A bar chart that helps identify the “vital few” problems (80/20 rule) by showing the most frequent causes.
- Participant (Actor): A general term for a person or system that performs a task within a workflow.
- PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act): The iterative, four-stage cycle for continuous improvement.
- PMM (Process Maturity Model): A model (like CMMI) that assesses an organization’s capability in process management on a scale.
- Poka-Yoke: A Japanese term for “mistake-proofing” — designing a process so that errors are impossible to make.
- Policy: A high-level rule or guideline that governs why a process exists and the constraints it must follow.
- Pool: A container in BPMN that represents a major participant in a process (e.g., “Customer,” “Company”).
- Procedure: A detailed, step-by-step instruction manual for how to perform a specific task or process.
- Process: A set of repeatable activities that transform one or more inputs into a specific output.
- Process Adherence (Compliance): A measure of how often the process is actually followed as designed.
- Process Analyst: The specialist who models, analyzes, and helps design processes.
- Process Architecture: The formal structure of all processes within an organization and their relationships.
- Process Governance: The framework of roles, rules, and standards for how an organization will manage and control its processes.
- Process Hierarchy: A top-down decomposition of processes, from high-level value chains to detailed sub-processes and tasks.
- Process Manager: The person responsible for the day-to-day operation and monitoring of a process.
- Process Map: A high-level visual representation of the steps, inputs, and outputs of a process.
- Process Metric: A metric that specifically measures the performance of a process (e.g., “Cycle Time”).
- Process Mining: A technology that uses event logs from IT systems to automatically discover, visualize, and analyze actual process flows.
- Process Model: A visual or textual representation of a process.
- Process Owner: The single individual with ultimate responsibility for the performance, management, and improvement of a process.
- Process Simulation: Using a process model to test “what-if” scenarios (e.g., “What if we add another person?”) before implementation.
Q
- Quality Assurance (QA): Activities ensuring that processes are designed and executed to meet predefined quality standards and customer expectations.
- Quality Management (QM): The overall process of achieving quality objectives, including planning, control, and improvement of processes to prevent errors.
R
- RACI Matrix: A chart that defines roles and responsibilities: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
- RCA (Root Cause Analysis): A problem-solving technique to identify the true underlying cause of a problem, not just its symptoms.
- RPA (Robotic Process Automation): Software “bots” that mimic human actions to perform repetitive, rules-based tasks on a computer.
- Rule (Business Rule): A specific, testable directive (e.g., “If purchase > $500, require manager approval”) that guides process logic.
- Rule-Driven Workflow: A dynamic workflow where the path and tasks are determined by a sophisticated business rules engine.
S
- Sequential Workflow: A basic, linear flow where tasks are performed one after another.
- SIPOC: A high-level mapping tool: Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers.
- Six Sigma: A data-driven methodology that aims to eliminate defects and variability in processes (to 3.4 defects per million).
- SLA (Service Level Agreement): A formal commitment defining the expected level of service (e.g., “All support tickets will be resolved in < 24 hours”).
- SME (Subject Matter Expert): An individual with deep knowledge of a specific process or its tasks.
- SOP (Standard Operating Procedure): A formalized, written procedure that ensures a process is performed consistently and correctly.
- Stakeholder: Anyone who is affected by a process or its outcome (e.g., customers, employees, managers).
- State: The current status of a process instance (e.g., “Pending Approval,” “In Progress,” “Completed”).
- State Machine Workflow: A workflow model based on “states” (e.g., Draft, Submitted, Approved) and the “transitions” between them.
- Steering Committee: A group of senior leaders who provide high-level governance and resource allocation for process initiatives.
- Sub-process: A smaller, self-contained process that exists within a larger parent process.
- Swimlane: A horizontal or vertical lane in a process diagram used to visually separate tasks by role, department, or system.
- System-centric (Integration) Workflow: A workflow (like orchestration) that runs mostly “in the background” to connect different IT systems.
T
- Takt Time: The “heartbeat” of a process; the pace you must produce at to meet customer demand (Total Time / Customer Demand).
- Task: A single, discrete unit of work within a workflow.
- Throughput: The number of items a process can produce or complete in a given unit of time (e.g., “50 applications processed per day”).
- To-Be Process: The future, improved state of a process you are designing.
- Trigger: The specific event or condition that initiates a process or task.
U
- UML (Unified Modeling Language): A standard notation for software modeling, with “Activity Diagrams” often used for workflows.
V
- Value Chain: A high-level model of the core activities a business performs to create value.
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM): A Lean technique for visualizing the flow of materials and information required to bring a product to a customer.
W
- Waste (Muda): Any activity in a process that consumes resources but adds no value for the customer.
- WIP (Work-in-Progress): The number of process instances that have started but are not yet completed.
- Workflow: The specific sequence of tasks (often automated) used to execute a process.
- Workflow Automation: Using software to manage, execute, and automate the tasks within a workflow.
- Workflow Engine: The “heart” of a BPMS; the component that executes workflow logic, assigns tasks, and routes data.
X
- XML Process Definition Language (XPDL): An XML-based standard file format used for storing and exchanging workflow and business process definitions between different software tools and workflow management systems.
Y
- Yield: The amount of acceptable or usable output produced relative to the total input, indicating process efficiency and effectiveness.
Z
- Zero-Based Budgeting: A method of budgeting that requires all process-related expenses to be justified from a “zero base” for each new period, promoting efficiency.
- Z-score: A statistical measure used in quality control to indicate how far a specific data point or process output deviates from the average (mean) performance.
So, you’re 100+ terms smarter. Fantastic.
But knowing the word “bottleneck” won’t fix the actual bottleneck. A glossary is just a map. The real test is using this shared language to find the real problem and having the guts to solve it.
Don’t just learn the words. Go change the work.