MODULE THREE - ISO AND DOCUMENT STRATEGY

Documenting Processes

To fully understand how processes must be documented, it is necessary to know something about processes in general. Processes are not vertical in nature, they are horizontal. Processes span an entire organization and they generally are not limited to one functional area of the company.

Processes always consist of three elements - inputs, activity, and outputs. In order for there to be a process, there must be some input. Inputs are what's needed to get things started and can be facts, figures, an event, a decision, a report, a regulation, etc. Inputs bear the 'fingerprints' of every contributor, so when documenting process inputs, be aware of every person, every department, and every function that has been involved in its creation or delivery.

Processes involve activity. Its what you do with what you get, and documenting them focuses on the what, not the how, of the process. When documenting process activity, ensure the following are identified: