Process Mapping - is it Valuable?
Process Mapping - Is is REALLY that Valuable?
“If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing” - W. Edwards Deming
Do you agree?
Process Mapping may amateur and unimportant - a bunch of post-it notes, butchers paper and discussions…but it can be incredibly powerful!
Having a team together to discuss “how they are doing their work” (their process) is an amazing investment for any organisation
You would be surprised at how often people do not have the same understanding of how steps are done - especially when crossing over between different roles and contributors!
Often there are more nuances, complexity and small sequential steps than you think. Many processes are done differently each time, not measured, slide out of order, need workarounds, are hard to quantify progress and require rework.
There is so often a lack of visibility, ownership, agreed sequence and measurement of what “healthy” looks like
There’s no way to quantitively tell if things are off track, unhealthy, stuck or bottlenecked….because it’s all too conceptual and built on a shared understanding that isn’t documented (and may not actually be “shared” in real life)
Process mapping with a team means an agreed sequence, ownership, measurement and standard can be concretely shared by all. It gives opportunity to then find improvements and identify where errors and waste creep in.
If you don’t know HOW your people deliver the work you can be left wide open to:
Key Dependency Risk
Yes the work gets done, but it can only be done based on the knowledge locked in your people’s heads. So if a key person leaves, or is on leave, there is a huge risk to the business losing huge productivity and waste.
Lost Opportunity for Improvement
As there is no “standard base” to build on, there is no way to build, test and implement improvements. If it is done differently each time, there is no accountability or way to communicate and deploy best practice
Expensive and inefficient
Team members can sink a lot of time re-working the wheel ever time, and this is very expensive. Slowing down to define and map out the process means a standardised approach can be taken where possible, enabling a more efficient delivery of your core business
Inconsistent Delivery
The quality, sequence and experience for your client will not be repeatable, up to standard or consistent. It can become a game of luck as to whether all goes smoothly and to your standards
I would argue that process mapping is the best place to start if you’re looking to improve and streamline your operations. Once you are clear, it becomes the roadmap to build out the system kit (SOPs) to systematise your business.
Done well, it can also be an epic team building experience for your operations team!
If you don’t know how to get started, get in touch for a chat today
