A sample business process document is most useful for a process that crosses roles and carries a control, so this one is a customer complaint: from a complaint being logged to the case being closed with a root cause recorded. Two roles, five tasks, two hand-offs, three controls. It is a page, and each task points at its own procedure. The process documentation template on this site sizes a process document from those counts and prints the reading time and the number of hand-offs, free and without an account.
Boundary and roles
Trigger: a complaint is logged, by any channel. End state: the customer has a written answer and the root cause is recorded. Roles: front line, who receives and logs; manager, who decides and closes. Out of scope: refunds above the front line's limit, which run under the refunds process.
The tasks and the hand-offs
Task 1, front line logs the complaint. Task 2, front line acknowledges it to the customer. Hand-off: the logged case is assigned to the manager. Task 3, manager investigates and decides. Task 4, manager writes the response. Hand-off: the response is sent by the front line. Task 5, front line closes the case with the root cause. Two hand-offs, marked as the points where the process most often stalls.
Controls and records
Control 1: acknowledgement within a stated time, checked at task 2. Control 2: the decision reviewed by the manager, at task 3. Control 3: the root cause recorded before closure, at task 5. Records: the complaint log entry, the sent response, the root cause note. This is the section a regulator or a customer reads.
The pointers
Each task names its procedure: logging a complaint, acknowledging, investigating, responding, closing. The process document does not repeat their steps, so a change to the response template revises one procedure and not the process. RunbookDesk Pro keeps the process and its five procedures linked, each with its own version history.
Questions people ask about sample business process document
Why is this a page and not a manual?
Because the steps live in the procedures. A process document that lists steps is out of date the first time a form changes.
Can I use this sample?
The shape, yes. The tasks and controls come from a walkthrough of your own complaint handling.
Is the template free?
Yes: the process documentation template sizes the document and counts the hand-offs without an account.