The purpose of the functional flow diagram

- Have you ever been in a situation when something that looks easy is hard than you expected? We use assumptions, things that we believe to be true, to fill in our gaps of knowledge, only then realizing what we don't know once we have to do it ourselves. Functional flow diagrams are one of the most overlooked of the modeling diagrams, because people make assumptions on how information and activities flow across and externally to and from our organizations. When you create a context diagram, you've established where your organization fits at the highest level. Now we can begin to explore each of the interactions the organization has. You look at each individual external entity and the functions within your organization that action or support these interactions. The functional flow diagram is a simple model showing each functional area or stakeholder internal to your organization, and how they interact in the logical overall flow of work. Starting with the external entity initiating the activity, your functional flow diagram will then capture the sequenced activities in completing a transaction. These diagrams are very effective in showing new users and executives the conceptual detail of how, internally, information, data and activities pass between the different functional areas of your organization. At no time does the functional flow diagram mention anything about how the activities are performed, merely that a function takes place. Remember, this is the second highest level of process modeling and should focus on a single interaction between the external entity and your organization. A great place to start determining the functional areas within your organization is to look at the organizational chart and which functional departments report into the most senior of management. While the accounts receivable and accounts payable areas of an organization are important functions, they normally report into the finance area. Functional flow diagrams are interested in the interactions between these main functional areas. The functional flow diagram can be used to target specific audiences when analyzing the detail within each functional area. It is a necessary tool as it ensures that you have covered all the touch points within your organization prior to documenting your cross functional flow diagram, which is the next level down. This level of processing is the perfect level for you to validate who your stakeholders are. When creating your functional flow diagram, you have the opportunity to ensure that stakeholders within your organization are questioned, and you can ascertain whether they are involved or not. The functional flow diagram analysis is a good initiation test in understanding who performs and owns the functional activities, what triggers the activity, and the time taken for these activities to be completed. Creating a functional flow diagram is as much for yourself than it is a desired deliverable for a project. Often it's a step you need to take to ensure coverage before moving into the next level of detail. If you don't get the basic functions mapped, then you'll be headed down the wrong path, and we know that assumptions will cause a lot of pain if you don't turn them into facts through your analysis.