Components of BPMN
In addition to flow elements like events, gateways, and activities, other components are essential to creating a complete BPMN. These components include swimlanes, pools, and lanes. Swimlanes are used to organize different activities within a process diagram and comprise two other elements: pools and lanes. A pool represents a participant in a process, while a lane is a sub-partition within a pool.
In this example, the BPMN includes a pool that represents the participant, ABC Company. Within the pool, there are multiple lanes, each consisting of a different participant in the company. In total, there are three participants in ABC Company: the employee, the manager, and the HR department.
The Leave Application Process Example
To initiate the process, an employee in the company needs to request leave. The start event symbol is drawn on the Employee lane in the diagram to indicate the start of the process. A solid arrow is linked from the start event symbol to a task symbol, indicating the process flow direction and showing that the employee must fill out a leave application form. The completed form is then submitted to the manager for approval.
Once the application is submitted, the manager becomes responsible for the process. The Submit Leave Application For Approval task is linked to another task, Evaluate Leave Application, on the Manager lane. The manager evaluates the application to decide whether to approve or decline the leave request. Since there are two possible outcomes, a gateway symbol is drawn on the diagram to diverge the process into two directions. If the application is declined, the manager will inform the employee and the application process will terminate. The Inform Employee The Request Is Declined task is linked to an end event symbol. However, if the application is approved, the manager will inform the employee and the process will continue on the HR lane where the application needs to be managed.
Finally, what is left in the process is for the employee to take the leave. The end event symbol is connected to the last task Take the Leave to indicate the whole process completes.
