You’re trying to improve your process design skills. How do you know where to start?

1 Identify your goals

Before you dive into the details of process design, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. What are the problems you want to solve, the opportunities you want to seize, or the outcomes you want to improve? How will you measure your success and track your progress? Having specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals will help you focus your efforts and evaluate your results.

2 Learn the basics

Process design is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the nature and complexity of your process, you may need to use different tools, methods, and frameworks. Some of the most common ones are process mapping, flowcharts, swimlane diagrams, SIPOC diagrams, value stream mapping, and lean and agile principles. You don't have to master them all, but you should familiarize yourself with the basics and learn how to apply them to your context.

3 Analyze your current state

Once you have your goals and tools ready, you need to understand your current state. This means collecting and analyzing data and information about your existing process, such as inputs, outputs, steps, roles, resources, costs, time, quality, and customer feedback. You can use surveys, interviews, observations, documents, or metrics to gather this information. The goal is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of your current process and find the root causes of any issues or gaps.

4 Design your future state

After you have analyzed your current state, you can start designing your future state. This means envisioning and planning how you want your process to look like, function, and perform in the future. You can use brainstorming, prototyping, testing, or simulation to generate and evaluate ideas for improvement. You should also consider the impact of your changes on the stakeholders, resources, risks, and constraints involved in your process.

5 Implement and monitor your changes

Once you have your future state design ready, you need to implement and monitor your changes. This means executing your plan, communicating your expectations, training your team, and adjusting your resources. You also need to collect and analyze data and feedback to measure the results and performance of your new process. You should compare them with your goals and baseline data to see if you have achieved the desired outcomes or if you need to make further changes.

6 Seek feedback and evaluation

Process design is not a one-time event. It is a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. You should always seek feedback and evaluation from your customers, team members, managers, or peers to assess your process design skills and identify areas for development. You can also use self-assessment tools, online courses, books, podcasts, or mentors to enhance your knowledge and practice. The more you learn and apply, the more you will improve your process design skills.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?