This is an old revision of the document!


Modeling a Process

Modeling a process enables a clear and consistent definition of processes. It also helps to eliminate redundancies and identify inefficiencies. Since the processes are stored and updated under one umbrella, Stages provides a central hub for the entire organization to use and review the modeled processes.

Below you can find the description on how to model a process within Stages. Before you begin modeling, understanding the process content and modeling guidelines is crucial to building good processes.

For our demonstration, we are modeling the ‘Requirements Management’ workflow in the ‘Software Engineering’ workspace.

Workflow

Select the workspace where you want to model your process and click or tap on Process. You will see the following element types under Process: Workflows and Activities, Work Products, Roles, Phases and Milestones and Guidance. To begin modeling, click or tap on Workflow and Activities.

To add a new workflow, you can either click on ‘Add Workflow’ or the + symbol.

Note: Make sure you have selected the ‘Modeling’ perspective, to see all modeling options available for the current element.

Activity/Decision

Next, click or tap on the workflow you created. Once you are in the workflow, you can create a new activity /decision by either clicking or tapping ‘Add Activity’ / ‘Add Decision’ or the + symbol in the visualization widget.

The first option allows you to create a list of one or more activities.

The + symbol allows you to create one or more activities which are already associated with each other.

For our example, we are creating three activities within the ‘Requirements Management’ workflow using the second option. As you can see in the flow diagram, all three activities are created at one go and are already linked to each other in the order they were created.

Tip: Instead of clicking on ADD ONE MORE, you can hit on the ‘Tab’ key on your keyboard to do the same.

Activity/Decision as Predecessor or Successor

To create a predecessor or successor for a specific activity, navigate to this activity by clicking on it in the visualization. The selected activity is highlighted orange.

Now you see all available modeling options for the specific activity/decision. Click on Add Predecessor or Successor in the Sequence widget to associate an activity /decision.

In our example, we created an additional activity called 'Perform Hazard Analysis'. We now associate this activity as a successor by using the described option.

Associating Elements

In addition to the Sequence widget, there are also widgets for work products, roles, phases, guidance.

To associate elements, click or tap on the three dots in the respective widget to see the available options for associations.

Option 1: Use 'Browse' to associate several elements or elements from a different workspace

Click on the option you want to use and select the Browse button. Browse to the elements you want to associate and select them by activating the respective checkboxes. It is possible to select elements from different hierarchy levels.

If the element you want to associate, is located in a different workspace, enter the workspace navigation by clicking on the workspace name at the top of the pop-up dialogue and browse to the needed workspace.

For each element you can also add a comment to the association.

Option 2: Start typing to associate a single, already existing element.

If you want to associate a single, already existing element start typing in parts of the name and Stages will give you suggestions for available elements.

Options 3: Add an association and a new element at the same time

If the element you want to associate does not exist yet, you can create and associate it at the same time. To do that, type in the desired name for the element and click or tap on Create “Desired Name of the Element”.

Editing/Deleting Elements

Once you have added the process element of your choice, you can edit comment or delete the selected option (e.g. output called functional specification in our example) by clicking on the three dots.

Description and Attributes

Use the pencil icon to make changes to the description or to update the flow start/end point (attribute) of your activity /decision

Sorting

The steps to sort workflow and activity /decision is the same. For workflow, you will navigate to Workflow and Activities by clicking on it. Then choose ‘Sort’ by selecting the three dots as shown for our workspace ‘Software Engineering’.

You can sort based on A-Z or custom sort by dragging a specific workflow by clicking on it and moving it up or down.

If you wish to sort activities /decisions within a workflow, click on the specific workflow and click on three dots to select ‘Sort’ option and use above steps to sort activities and decisions within a workflow.

Moving

The steps to move workflow and activity /decision is the same. For workflow, you will navigate to Workflow and Activities by clicking on it. Then choose ‘Move’ by selecting the three dots as shown for our workspace ‘Software Engineering’.

Select the workflow you wish to move, click on ‘Move’. Navigate to the workspace or workflow, where you wish to move the selected workflows and click on ‘Paste’.

If you wish to sort activities /decisions within a workflow, click on the specific workflow and click on three dots to select ‘Move’ option and use above steps to move activities and decisions from the given workflow to workflow of your choice.