13 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Mapping Their Value Streams

13 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Mapping Their Value Streams

Value stream mapping is not working!

You’ve invested time and resources into developing a VSM only to find out that your efforts are not up to expectations.

Your team is frustrated.

Your processes are still inefficient.

And your customers and stakeholders are not seeing the value they aimed for.

Value stream mapping is a leadership activity that can transform your operations performance when done right.

Current Value Stream Map of a Repair Services (Source: Karen Martin's VSM book)

Here’re 13 mistakes I see everyone commits when mapping their value streams:

  1. Neglecting the customer's perspective and needs.
  2. Mistaking processes for value streams.
  3. Treating VSM as a waste-hunting exercise.
  4. Failing to define clear value stream boundaries.
  5. Getting lost in the details and missing the big picture.
  6. Not involving the right people in the mapping process.
  7. Focusing solely on the current state without envisioning the future state.
  8. Lacking clear metrics and performance indicators.
  9. Overlooking the importance of data collection and validation.
  10. Failing to align value streams with the organization's strategic goals.
  11. Neglecting to develop an action plan for implementing improvements.
  12. Failing to communicate the purpose and benefits of VSM to the team.
  13. Not regularly reviewing and updating the value stream maps.

Avoid these pitfalls to make your value stream mapping efforts truly worthwhile and drive lasting improvements in your organization.


???How often do you encounter these mistakes? Let me know in the comments.


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Smart Models just launched, and every single like, comment, and share??helps. Thanks for reading!

Mohammad Elshahat


Ossama Ismail

#24'000# Followers │ In-house Business Consultant & Quality Instructor Greater Cairo Foundries (GCF)co. │Quality , Environment , OHS , Food safety , Lean Manufacturing : Instructor

2 周

Many thanks for sharing ????? ????? ? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ? ???? ?????.???? ????

回复
Guido De Gols

I partner with ambitious startups and growing SMEs to bring their fulfilment engine in line with their growth, create scalable systems and processes that fulfil the orders and drive profitability.

6 个月

Do it with the beginners mind

Bill Waddell

Manufacturing Business Transformation

6 个月

Please elaborate on #2 Value Streams / Processes.

Ovidiu Contras

Improving the #tangledenvironment, Author

6 个月

Mohammad Elshahat, good list, and I would add: lack of ownership, failing to sort out the office politics and to get commitment upfront , especially in the #tangledenvironment where the product hides in information systems and multiple stakeholders contribute to the transformation of the product.

Olufemi Asa PMP LSSBB CSCP ABCP

Agile Business Leader || Mentor to 24 Associate's and 2 CEOs || Building high-performing teams || Helping businesses identify and fix gaps to unlock 3X profits and sustainability.

6 个月

An additional mistake we make is Insufficient data collection. Inaccurate or incomplete data collection can lead to incorrect assumptions and ill-advised improvements. Recognizing these errors allows us to navigate through the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process with greater efficiency, leading to the optimization of our value.

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