Cooperating organizations in a workflow

John Greer

Seems like a simple question, but I can find a good way to represent it. Say 2, 3 or more organizations cooperate on a single activity ("develop requirements" for example). How do you represent that graphically in a workflow? Can you, or do you have to just choose the responsible one then put the detail in the activity description?

Andrew Pfeiffer

There are two ways to show the collaboration.

 

1.  Utilize the Resources tab of the Activity Usage and add the add'l Organization objects to it..  You should think of it as a RACI, with the swimlane who is ultimately accountable for the activity being the visible swimlane.  You can then use the Layout feature to display the add'l resources on the activity itself.  (Right click Activity -> Format -> Layout.  Select 'Organization Resource.' And make sure under the View menu item, View Properties is checked.)

 

2. Add each organization as a swimlane, use Junctions to diverge and converge the workflow and Alias the activity.  Aliases, when used properly, are used to describe this very situation - multiple resources executing an activity simultaneously.

 

Attached is a .pdf that shows simple examples.

 

Hope that helps.  Let me know if you need more clarification.