Process Mapping Best Practices
Takeaways:
Would you ask a person for financial advice if the person has trouble paying bills? You shouldn't because that person has no financial literacy. People who perform the work knows it better than those who oversee or think they know the process. Make sure you're talking to the right people to capture the "as is" state quickly and effectively. The "as is" state is exactly what it sounds like; the way it is done today.
Set boundaries by identifying where the process starts and ends, or you'll end up mapping everything that's thrown at you. Tasks performed outside the start and end points are out of scope and should not be entertained because it will make the process map irrelevant for what you need to achieve. The folks you talk to might think you're not capturing the entire process or the importance of the work they do. That is not the point. The point is to capture the tasks performed for a function that is contained in a boundary for analysis.
Capture variations for tasks that are problematic. Variations should be captured once the "Happy Path" is identified. Folks can see the process and point at the problematic area for expansion.