BPMN Without Tears: How We Got Our Modeling Under Control

I lead small team of process modellers. We are in three locations, all using Sparx Enterprise Architect and BPMN. My job? Keep the modelling standards alive, and stop new people from inventing their own crazy BPMN flavor. Trust me, they try.

In the beginning, I was doing everything the hard way.

I trained everyone on EA and “our way” of BPMN. Then evenings… oh, evenings were fun. I clicked through packages, opened diagrams, left comments. Some people loved gateways like it was chocolate, others forgot end events like they don’t exist, and some… mixed notations like spaghetti. I could feel the model drifting away, but I had zero idea what was actually in there.

Then I found Model Expert. I was searching for QA tools for EA, and boom — there it was. On Sparx website, it says “model validation add-in for quality and consistency.” Boring, but okay. On eaTeamWorks, I saw Package Dashboard, meta-model views, and some tools “free for life” if you install the suite. Free? Low risk. I tried.

Model Expert to the rescue

Step one: see what people actually did

I ran the Package Dashboard for each modeller’s main package. Suddenly, I had a one-page view: number of elements, connectors, diagrams, top-5 complex diagrams, duplicates, empty diagrams, and even a word cloud of element names. And the best part? It shows who did what. I could see who was working hard and who… maybe not so much.

Meta-model view was fun too. It makes a class-diagram-style picture of the “shape” of the model. Line thickness shows number of connectors, so weird stuff jumps out immediately. Suddenly, I could see what people actually made, not just what I hoped they made.

Did it fix everything? Ha! No. I still had to go in and fix wrong connectors and rogue elements. But weekly team calls changed. Instead of me waving screenshots like crazy person, I could say:

• “Here is the spread of BPMN elements you used this week.”
• “These empty diagrams and orphans? We clean.”
• “This diagram has crazy number of connectors. Why?!”

People actually listened because it came from clear visuals, not just me yelling at the screen.

Step two: turn “our way” into Reference Model

After weeks, I noticed I repeat same comments like broken record. We had agreed subset of BPMN 2.0, but it was only in slides and in my brain. So I checked Reference Model feature in Model Expert.

Help says Reference Model is “best practice for your organisation.” It even shows how to make Core BPMN Reference Model — small set of elements and connectors like real teams use. Bingo.

I took the example from Model Expert and modified it:

• Keep core things we always use: pools, lanes, start/end events, tasks, subprocesses, gateways, message flows.
• Remove weird stuff juniors love to misuse.
• Add our naming rules and tagged values so Model Expert can check them.

Then I linked live BPMN packages and turned on validation. Now Model Expert compares real content with Reference Model and even shows result in colour diagram. Very satisfying.

New starters time

Two new modellers joined. Before Model Expert, I gave intro, then watched their every click for weeks. Dangerous in distributed team. Now? Simple:

1. Give basic EA training.
2. Connect sandbox package to Reference Model.
3. Show them how to run Model Expert check.

They press “check” and instantly see wrong connector, missing tag, or weird element mix. Rules come from our Reference Model, not just BPMN spec. Magic!

We also sometimes check multiple packages. Gives comparison — who is close to Reference Model, who is not. Small thing, but great motivator. Nobody wants the reddest bar.

Where we are now

Model Expert did not replace my brain and it does not make BPMN for me. But it gives shared view of quality:

• Dashboards and snapshots show what is really inside.
• Reference Model shows how we want BPMN to be used.
• Validation helps everyone, especially new people, stay in the lines.

I still train, I still review important diagrams. But I no longer count connectors like obsessed robot. Tool does that. I can focus on whether processes make sense.

For distributed BPMN team, this is big step forward. And I get evenings back for Netflix.