Process Mapping: Ten Tips for Success
Process Mapping: Ten Tips for Success
Process clarity is one of the three key foci in effective organizational design, along with people and technology. Yet with the haphazard process management common in many businesses, it is little wonder that employees struggle to do a good job. How an invoice is processed, customer complaint handled or engineering drawing approved in many organizations depends more on who does it and what day of the week it was done on rather than on sound business reasoning. Where process and role clarity is lacking, personal idiosyncrasies and political maneuvering take over.
Moreover, research indicates that less than 20 percent of product defects and service problems are due to non-random factors, such as malicious employees, machine breakdown and poor raw materials. The other 80 percent or more of problems is due to systemic deficiencies with processes. So, although mapping your business processes is relatively simple to do and involves no costly capital expenditure, it pays huge dividends in business efficiency and employee commitment. If you are thinking about mapping your processes, here are ten key pointers to keep in mind.
1. Involve employees who actually do the work in the mapping
Employees who do the actual work are in the best position to know the detailed steps in each process. They are also most familiar with the common roadblocks and bottlenecks and the key contacts in the organization to get things done. Involve your employees up front by inviting them to join process-mapping teams. Keep managers and supervisors out of the process-mapping sessions, as they have a tendency to dominate the sessions with their own “expertise”.
2. Identify process start and end activities
For each process, clearly identify the start and end. If the team neglects this important step at the start of each mapping session, in the team’s enthusiasm, extra activities will quickly creep into the picture until the process becomes unmanageable. Think of one activity that triggers the process, such as an invoice appearing in an in tray. This is the start. Then think of the last activity performed. It may be, for example, posting an item to the General Ledger.
3. Identify process objective and inputs and outputs
This is where work starts to take on new meaning for employees. The team leader should ask employees why each process is performed and what are the expected results of each process. Not only does this help to focus attention on removing non-value add activities, but it also gives employees a sense of purpose in their working life.
Asking the teams to identify the inputs to the process and the expected outputs will serve to clarify what the process needs before it can begin and what customers of the next process will get before they can begin. For example, agreeing that widget assembly cannot begin until the joining screws are supplied will eliminate a lot of idle work in progress.
4. Identify Customer and Supplier requirements
Next, each team needs to work out who the suppliers and customers of the process are. This step is critical as it identifies who the team needs to work with collaboratively to maximize business results. If a process does not have a customer, then eliminate it as it has no useful purpose. Every employee working in a process should serve either an internal customer or an external customer or both. Each team should then ask of their customers what it is they want from the process, in terms of quality, turn around time, and so on. For example, the internal customers of the purchasing team may require orders to be fulfilled within two days unless placed on backorder.
Conversely, the team needs to clarify what it is they need of their suppliers, both internal and external, to perform their process effectively and efficiently. A purchasing team may require other departments, for example, to fill in all fields of the Purchase Order prior to submission.
5. Identify a Process Owner for each process
For each process, specify one Process Owner. Identifying one person who is responsible for the process end to end is critical to ensuring process efficiency. Where processes flow through departments, as all major processes do, the Process Owner will need to have sufficient authority and credibility to make decisions spanning these departments. There is no more effective way that I know to dismantle quickly and effectively the silo walls that get built separating departments.
6. Manage the level of detail
The magic of process maps lay in their seemingly simple visual presentation of complex ideas. One picture can tell a thousand words. Each process map should take up no more than one page, with its definition taking up just one other. If a map takes up more than one page, identify sub-processes within each process and show each sub-process on a separate page. Use clear referencing to link each sub-process with its associated macro process. I have seen process maps that flow on page after page after page. These do little more than confuse employees.
Do not try to document everything that goes on in your organization. Decide on the priority processes and concentrate on these. Processes from which you can gain quick wins are those that interface with external customers and suppliers and those that are currently providing you with your biggest headaches.
7. Use standardized mapping conventions
What you want is for anyone in the organization to be able to pick up a process map and understand instantly what it is they are seeing. Standardize on mapping conventions and formatting of the maps. Mapping symbols, flow direction, page layout, fonts, titling and so on, should be the same from one map to another. Keep the number of flow chart symbols to a minimum. You should need no more than six to keep the maps easy to read.
8. Get agreement on the process
The most beautifully documented process will mean naught if there is little commitment from the major actors to follow them. Crunch time will come in those tough times of impending deadlines and snappy stakeholders. I find what works well is getting formal sign-off from the process-mapping team leader, the Process Owner and the managers of the interfacing processes (both supplier and customer). This may seem overkill and you may get some resistance, however, getting formal agreement now will save you much heartache later when people start to come up with excuses as to why the seemingly agreed process does not apply in this or that case.
9. Document the process
The most important thing that team leaders can do after the team agrees on the process definition and steps is to write it down. What works well is brainstorming all the process activities first, writing each process step on a Post-it note and then having a team member place the Post-it notes in order on flipchart paper. The next hour or so is then devoted to arguing about the activities and order of steps. Post-it notes can easily be moved around during this debating process. Only when there is full agreement are the lines and arrows drawn in to signify the process flows. Get the process formally drawn up and make sure that they are made easily accessible to all who need them. Fix them to operator machines, post them on the corporate intranet or place them in a loose-leaf binder on each officer’s desk. Put them where people do their work and make sure that they are accurate, concise and easily understandable.
10. Convey management commitment and train your teams
Although mapping business processes will not cost you much in capital expenditure, it does require concerted effort. Get the management team to show visible support and commitment to the project. Activities here include holding regular project progress meetings and rewarding the most productive teams. Teams will loose faith and energy quickly if management support is seen as piecemeal or being given grudgingly. Team leaders will need to be able to organize effectively and manage their time, along with possessing the necessary interpersonal and analytical thinking skills. Each team will also need a mix of abilities; people who can think creatively, bond the team and follow through on tasks, to name just a few. Where these skills are lacking, they will need to be learned. Do not skimp on training the teams and their team leaders. This is a very wise commitment, as such teams have proved to be a fertile ground for developing the next line of leaders.
Use as a basis for further improvement
The primary objective of mapping business processes is to form a common understanding from which process improvements can be achieved. If this is the first time that your organization is setting out to map its processes, be ready to receive a bonus. The initial act of defining processes brings new clarity of roles, objectives and activities. For every team that I have worked with, this new shared understanding has uncovered many areas for improvement during the initial mapping process.
Once your teams have completed mapping their key processes, turn them into continuous improvement teams. Not only do the documented maps serve as the agreed baseline for ongoing process improvement, they also make for excellent induction and training resources. Now sit back and watch your business soar.
2008 © Leslie Allan. All rights reserved.
Process Mapping Ten Tips for Success - To learn more about this author, visit Leslie Allan's Website.
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I see many organizations, both large and small, continue to communicate fragments of important policies and processes to employees through one-time emails and the like. This could include a new purchase authorization policy or a new data entry procedure. Expecting employees to forage through past emails and other transitory type documents only leads to wasted time and exasperation.
Process clarity is one of the three key foci in effective organizational design, along with people and technology. Yet with the haphazard process management common in many businesses, it is little wonder that employees struggle to do a good job. How an invoice is processed, customer complaint handled or engineering drawing approved in many organizations depends more on who does it and what day of the week it was done on rather than on sound business reasoning. Where process and role clarity is lacking, personal idiosyncrasies and political maneuvering take over.
Moreover, research indicates that less than 20 percent of product defects and service problems are due to non-random factors, such as malicious employees, machine breakdown and poor raw materials. The other 80 percent or more of problems is due to systemic deficiencies with processes. So, although mapping your business processes is relatively simple to do and involves no costly capital expenditure, it pays huge dividends in business efficiency and employee commitment. If you are thinking about mapping your processes, here are ten key pointers to keep in mind.
1. Involve employees who actually do the work in the mapping
Employees who do the actual work are in the best position to know the detailed steps in each process. They are also most familiar with the common roadblocks and bottlenecks and the key contacts in the organization to get things done. Involve your employees up front by inviting them to join process-mapping teams. Keep managers and supervisors out of the process-mapping sessions, as they have a tendency to dominate the sessions with their own “expertise”.
2. Identify process start and end activities
For each process, clearly identify the start and end. If the team neglects this important step at the start of each mapping session, in the team’s enthusiasm, extra activities will quickly creep into the picture until the process becomes unmanageable. Think of one activity that triggers the process, such as an invoice appearing in an in tray. This is the start. Then think of the last activity performed. It may be, for example, posting an item to the General Ledger.
3. Identify process objective and inputs and outputs
This is where work starts to take on new meaning for employees. The team leader should ask employees why each process is performed and what are the expected results of each process. Not only does this help to focus attention on removing non-value add activities, but it also gives employees a sense of purpose in their working life.
Asking the teams to identify the inputs to the process and the expected outputs will serve to clarify what the process needs before it can begin and what customers of the next process will get before they can begin. For example, agreeing that widget assembly cannot begin until the joining screws are supplied will eliminate a lot of idle work in progress.
4. Identify Customer and Supplier requirements
Next, each team needs to work out who the suppliers and customers of the process are. This step is critical as it identifies who the team needs to work with collaboratively to maximize business results. If a process does not have a customer, then eliminate it as it has no useful purpose. Every employee working in a process should serve either an internal customer or an external customer or both. Each team should then ask of their customers what it is they want from the process, in terms of quality, turn around time, and so on. For example, the internal customers of the purchasing team may require orders to be fulfilled within two days unless placed on backorder.
Conversely, the team needs to clarify what it is they need of their suppliers, both internal and external, to perform their process effectively and efficiently. A purchasing team may require other departments, for example, to fill in all fields of the Purchase Order prior to submission.
5. Identify a Process Owner for each process
For each process, specify one Process Owner. Identifying one person who is responsible for the process end to end is critical to ensuring process efficiency. Where processes flow through departments, as all major processes do, the Process Owner will need to have sufficient authority and credibility to make decisions spanning these departments. There is no more effective way that I know to dismantle quickly and effectively the silo walls that get built separating departments.
6. Manage the level of detail
The magic of process maps lay in their seemingly simple visual presentation of complex ideas. One picture can tell a thousand words. Each process map should take up no more than one page, with its definition taking up just one other. If a map takes up more than one page, identify sub-processes within each process and show each sub-process on a separate page. Use clear referencing to link each sub-process with its associated macro process. I have seen process maps that flow on page after page after page. These do little more than confuse employees.
Do not try to document everything that goes on in your organization. Decide on the priority processes and concentrate on these. Processes from which you can gain quick wins are those that interface with external customers and suppliers and those that are currently providing you with your biggest headaches.
7. Use standardized mapping conventions
What you want is for anyone in the organization to be able to pick up a process map and understand instantly what it is they are seeing. Standardize on mapping conventions and formatting of the maps. Mapping symbols, flow direction, page layout, fonts, titling and so on, should be the same from one map to another. Keep the number of flow chart symbols to a minimum. You should need no more than six to keep the maps easy to read.
8. Get agreement on the process
The most beautifully documented process will mean naught if there is little commitment from the major actors to follow them. Crunch time will come in those tough times of impending deadlines and snappy stakeholders. I find what works well is getting formal sign-off from the process-mapping team leader, the Process Owner and the managers of the interfacing processes (both supplier and customer). This may seem overkill and you may get some resistance, however, getting formal agreement now will save you much heartache later when people start to come up with excuses as to why the seemingly agreed process does not apply in this or that case.
9. Document the process
The most important thing that team leaders can do after the team agrees on the process definition and steps is to write it down. What works well is brainstorming all the process activities first, writing each process step on a Post-it note and then having a team member place the Post-it notes in order on flipchart paper. The next hour or so is then devoted to arguing about the activities and order of steps. Post-it notes can easily be moved around during this debating process. Only when there is full agreement are the lines and arrows drawn in to signify the process flows. Get the process formally drawn up and make sure that they are made easily accessible to all who need them. Fix them to operator machines, post them on the corporate intranet or place them in a loose-leaf binder on each officer’s desk. Put them where people do their work and make sure that they are accurate, concise and easily understandable.
10. Convey management commitment and train your teams
Although mapping business processes will not cost you much in capital expenditure, it does require concerted effort. Get the management team to show visible support and commitment to the project. Activities here include holding regular project progress meetings and rewarding the most productive teams. Teams will loose faith and energy quickly if management support is seen as piecemeal or being given grudgingly. Team leaders will need to be able to organize effectively and manage their time, along with possessing the necessary interpersonal and analytical thinking skills. Each team will also need a mix of abilities; people who can think creatively, bond the team and follow through on tasks, to name just a few. Where these skills are lacking, they will need to be learned. Do not skimp on training the teams and their team leaders. This is a very wise commitment, as such teams have proved to be a fertile ground for developing the next line of leaders.
Use as a basis for further improvement
The primary objective of mapping business processes is to form a common understanding from which process improvements can be achieved. If this is the first time that your organization is setting out to map its processes, be ready to receive a bonus. The initial act of defining processes brings new clarity of roles, objectives and activities. For every team that I have worked with, this new shared understanding has uncovered many areas for improvement during the initial mapping process.
Once your teams have completed mapping their key processes, turn them into continuous improvement teams. Not only do the documented maps serve as the agreed baseline for ongoing process improvement, they also make for excellent induction and training resources. Now sit back and watch your business soar.
2008 © Leslie Allan. All rights reserved.
Process Mapping Ten Tips for Success - To learn more about this author, visit Leslie Allan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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