Process maps are useless!

...that is what a managing director once told me.

She claimed that mapping processes were an expensive exercise that required people to leave the operation and spend "too many" hours in a meeting room developing a set of diagrams that they quickly forgot.

If that were the case, she would have been correct.

Nevertheless, process maps are highly effective tools because they facilitate a shared understanding of a process's operational intricacies. They provide clarity on the individuals involved, the decision-making process, and the essential requirements for achieving success.

Like with any other tool, you must use it in a practical way to create value for your business. Fortunately, process maps have many practical uses:

• You can use them for staff training and onboarding.
• They should be the basis of your “bottom-up” approach to identifying and assessing risks.
• They should help you improve your process by identifying inefficiencies, redundancies, and bottlenecks.
• Process maps ensure operational consistency by documenting the best practices for performing specific tasks.
• Process maps can help organizations ensure compliance with industry regulations by clearly outlining the steps involved in compliance-related processes.
• They provide auditors with a clear picture of internal controls and workflows.
• Process maps serve as documentation tools that capture critical organizational knowledge that can be used as input for breakthrough business intelligence exercises.
• Organizations can use them to map out customer journeys and interactions, identifying pain points and areas for process improvement in customer service.
• When new systems or technologies are being implemented, process maps can help ensure that all requirements are met and that the new systems integrate smoothly with existing processes.
• They serve as blueprints for transformational endeavors. If you don't understand the layout of the pipelines, you wouldn't want to begin renovating your house.

To maximize the value added to the business, it is important that process maps accurately depict the current state of the business rather than focusing on potential improvements or ideal operations. They must depict the harsh reality to maintain objectivity, transparency, and fairness.

It matters how you map processes.

Flowcharting is not an effective technique for mapping business processes because it was designed to map linear systems with only two possible outcomes for every decision made, whereas businesses have processes that could run simultaneously, be executed on demand, and be triggered under complex business rules.

Process maps should be clear and succinct so that everyone can understand them. Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0) provides the foundation to map complex business processes and develop clear, interactive, and transparent process documentation. Combined with a data warehousing strategy, process mapping can create a wealth of information useful for the business. Though there are other options available, a well-choreographed combination of Microsoft Visio Pro and Excel can produce an inexpensive mapping modeling solution that satisfies these requirements.

When initiating your process mapping activity, it's important to remember the following best practices:

• Elite teams shouldn't have exclusive access to process mapping tools and training. By making process maps accessible to everyone in the organization, you guarantee their widespread use and integration into daily operations.
• As you contemplate purchasing a specialized tool for your process mapping requirements, make sure you have a mechanism to distribute process maps to all relevant people in the company via an access-controlled platform. In its most basic form, you can accomplish this using PDF files for Visio-generated graphics and standardized Excel files for structured process data.
• Utilize change management tools and internal communications to promote and encourage the widespread implementation of process maps throughout the organization. Leading from the top is essential.
• Develop the skillset within your organization to keep the documentation evergreen. Many financial organizations have rushed to map out their processes to meet regulatory demands and hire consultants to do the mapping, but rarely do they revise the documents, making them irrelevant. We should refresh our process maps at least once a year.

Overall, process maps are a foundational tool in business process management, serving as a blueprint for performance improvement, risk management, and communication within an organization.

Let me hear your thoughts.

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Copyright 2024 Daniel Espejel

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