Using Flowcharts for Process Compliance

A wide variety of factors is instrumental in molding and shaping human behavior; these include breeding, environment, socialization, moral values, and innate personality. Human behavior has evolved over millennia to the extent certain norms associated with behavior now comprise standard expectations in modern civilized societies. Individual predilections apart, human behavior is also governed by personal motivation. This aspect represents an intangible in shaping human behavior; however, such motivations remain subject to observation, dissection, and analyses. Similar to human behavior, modern business processes must conform to certain standards, expectations, and benchmarks. The utility of process compliance enables the modern organization to uphold organizational policies and procedures with a view to preserve the integrity of the organization. Such compliance also empowers brands and businesses to arrest actions and motivations that may disrupt laws and regulations. Flowcharts have established a notable presence in creating and enforcing the standards associated with process compliance. These diagrams have emerged as standard tools of communication that enable an organization to broadcast the norms of established processes, systems, and procedures.

The achievement of process compliance is an evolutionary voyage that must be pursued at all times. Most enterprises – business, commercial, technical, scientific, technological, exploratory, or startups – do not stand still. The moving parts that animate such enterprises gain momentum at different stages of the voyage; hence, flowcharts that outline process compliance mechanisms must expand and evolve in time. For instance, an e-commerce enterprise may outline an initial map of process compliance that applies to various parts of the business at inception. However, factors such as privacy risks and security concerns may prompt an expansion of compliance mechanisms, thereby contributing to the development of sophisticated compliance procedures and mechanisms. Corporate captains and business managers must consider the centrality of such evolution at all times. In line with this, the flowchart mechanisms must evolve in a bid to deal with emerging contingencies that affect the business.

Extraneous factors and outside influences play a significant role in shaping the contours of process compliance mechanisms. Brands and businesses that remain serious about such mechanisms must incorporate external factors – such as local and state legislations, regulatory diktats, and industry standards – in their flowchart diagrams. Therefore, such diagrams must incorporate the previously mentioned factors in a central location of the flowchart. The creators of these diagrams must collaborate with business managers to ensure that process compliance proceeds in lockstep with said locations. In essence, each stage of the flowchart must justify itself in the light of local and state legislations, regulatory diktats, and industry standards – thereby driving conformity in every operational aspect of the organization. For instance, a commercial banking organization may fashion process compliance flowcharts that clearly spotlight permitted activities, prohibited practices, and certain exclusions. The image that emerges instructs every member of the organization to drive activities that conform to the above. Regulation is ingrained in the operation of modern industries; therefore, its primacy must mark the creation and evolution of said flowcharts. In addition, these flowcharts must be flexibly designed to accommodate any changes in regulatory or legislative stances that may emerge in the future.

Flowchart diagrams can serve as expansive visual and instructional mechanisms. The administrators of emergency public services can deploy flowcharts as part of modern process compliance systems. These diagrams can emerge in the form of information-rich platforms that visually depict the various components that animate fire services, for instance. The design of this flowchart may describe a detached hemisphere whose circumference describes various components of a fire service team. Each component links directly to the center that describes the nature of the emergency service. In addition, flowchart designers may add sub-stages that ring each unit of the circumference in an attempt to add detail and heft to the diagram. A close perusal of this flowchart negates the orthodox concept of linear flow inside a flowchart. However, the described configuration admirably suits the purpose of outlining the scope of performance of an emergency public service. This illustration underlines the necessity of using a variety of flowchart mechanisms to enforce process compliance.

Informal sketches often carry the seeds of an idea that may flower into a new process, system, or mechanism. The human brain is capable of abstract conception; such sketches may serve as an aid to these theoretical exercises. Ergo, flowchart designers can create the outlines of a mechanism that drives process compliance through an initial sketch. The general shape of such a system may represent a primitive biological creature, as opposed to the steady progression of linearity ordained by the classic flowchart diagram. Society, quality, rules, management, regulations, agency, policy, process, business, operations, reviews, etc. may comprise the various satellites that connect directly to the central plank marked ‘compliance’. The emerging image is a fine illustration of the various factors that impact the design of a process compliance mechanism. The diagram also serves as a nucleus of the idea that compliance is a multi-faceted phenomenon that may attain enormous levels of complexity. In addition to the above, designers may elect to append additional stages designed to drive the vision of a complete process compliance mechanism. Further, designers and creators may invite a variety of inputs in a bid to refine said mechanism in the interests of the sponsor organization.

Consultation workshops are an essential part of the journey toward full process compliance. These exercises help to congregate a variety of stakeholders that can brainstorm in a bid to etch the contours, scope, and expanse of a compliance process. The deliberations of such a workshop may emerge in the form of a flowchart that spotlights the various inputs that will power full compliance. The stakeholders may allot a different value to each stage of this flowchart in an attempt to generate a weighted compliance system. Risk management, security, business imperatives, regulatory reporting, internal control mechanisms, fraud prevention (and reporting) systems may comprise the various stages. In addition, each stage may be allotted an owner that bears complete responsibility for its operation inside process compliance mechanisms. Therefore, the sponsor organization must invite process experts and external consultants to join the efforts at outlining said flowchart. The evolution and subsequent development of this diagram should allow businesses to achieve significant momentum in the domain of compliance. Further, businesses may submit said flowcharts to regulators and industry experts for inputs, suggestions, and comments. This illustration clearly locates the centrality of creating process compliance mechanisms to achieve high levels of organizational performance.

The foregoing paragraphs seek to explore the criticality of achieving process compliance for modern organizations. Each member must appreciate the core value of compliance and the many defenses afforded by such compliance. Hence, business operators must depend on flowchart diagrams to create extensive compliance mechanisms and communicate these to internal and external stakeholders. The documentation created by regular compliance procedures enables organizations to create steady records that may be reviewed by interested parties and members of the public. We note each flowchart serves as a master guide to the operation of compliance mechanisms, thereby creating a critical line of defense against irregular, fraudulent activities that may otherwise mar the very existence of an organization. In time, such flowcharts must remain subject to overhauls, in response to changes in business landscapes and regulatory stances.

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