Mapping current process

Mapping Your Current Process: Key Steps and Tools

In any organisation looking to improve operational efficiency, the first critical step is mapping out the current process. This practice, often referred to as process mapping or value stream mapping, involves breaking down the existing workflow to understand how things are currently done. By thoroughly examining the present operations, organisations can identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement, laying a strong foundation for continuous enhancement. This blog provides an easy-to-understand guide on how to map your current process, why it’s important, and the tools available to help.

Why Map Your Current Process?

Mapping your current process allows you to gain a clear picture of how tasks are executed within your organisation. It helps to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and redundancies that may not be immediately obvious. Moreover, it allows teams to see how their work fits into the broader organisational workflow, fostering better understanding and collaboration across departments.

Before jumping into improvements, it’s crucial to know where you stand. You can’t fix a process without fully understanding how it operates. Mapping allows you to visualise the workflow, ensuring that any changes made are well-informed and targeted at the actual pain points.

Key Steps to Mapping Your Current Process

1. Define the Process Scope

Start by determining which process you want to map. Narrow down the scope of the process to avoid trying to tackle too much at once. Define the starting point, the endpoint, and the key activities involved. For example, if you’re mapping the customer service process, start from the point where a customer submits a request and end with the resolution provided.

2. Understand Customer Needs

At the heart of any process improvement effort is the customer. Understanding their needs and expectations should be the core of your process mapping. Ask yourself: what do customers expect from this process? What is their desired outcome? This step ensures that the entire process is focused on delivering customer value.

3. Step-by-Step Breakdown

Once you’ve defined the scope, break down the process into individual steps. This involves examining every action taken from the start to the finish of the process. For instance, in a manufacturing process, these steps might include receiving raw materials, production, quality control, and shipping.

4. Identify Waste

In Lean methodology, waste refers to any activity that doesn’t add value to the end product or service. When mapping your process, pay close attention to steps that consume time, resources, or effort without contributing to customer satisfaction. Common types of waste include delays, rework, overproduction, and unnecessary movement of materials or people.

5. Gather Input from Stakeholders

Involve team members who work directly with the process in question. These individuals will have valuable insights into the day-to-day operations, helping you understand the nuances of the process. They may also highlight areas of improvement that management may overlook.

6. Document and Analyse the Process

After mapping out the steps and collecting input, document the entire process clearly. This documentation serves as a blueprint for improvement. It will help you analyse how the process is working, identify bottlenecks, and determine whether each step adds value.

Components of a Comprehensive Process Description

A thorough process description should include the following components:

• Sequence of Activities: List the steps in the order they occur, ensuring you capture every stage of the process.
• Tools and Resources: Identify the tools, systems, and resources used at each stage of the process. These can be anything from physical equipment to software systems.
• Process Owner: Define who is responsible for the process. This person or team should oversee the process and ensure that improvements are implemented.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Identify metrics that will be used to measure the process’s success. KPIs can include factors like time taken to complete tasks, error rates, or customer satisfaction levels.
• Stakeholder Roles: Clearly outline who is involved in the process and their respective roles.
• Information Sources: Indicate what sources of information are used throughout the process, such as databases, reports, or other records.
• Document Management: Specify which documents are used, when they are created, and how they should be archived.
• Inter-Process Relationships: Understand how the current process interacts with other workflows within the organisation. For example, the sales process may need to work closely with the inventory and shipping processes.

Tools for Process Mapping and Visualisation

Once you have gathered all the necessary information, you can choose a tool to help you visualise the process. Below are some commonly used models for mapping and visualising processes:

1. Value Stream Map (VSM)

A value stream map offers a comprehensive view of the entire value chain, helping to distinguish between value-adding and non-value-adding activities. It’s a powerful tool in Lean methodology that highlights inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

2. Swim Lane Diagram

Swim lane diagrams visually organise process steps into lanes, representing different departments or individuals responsible for each task. This model is especially helpful for illustrating cross-functional processes where multiple teams are involved.

3. Spaghetti Diagram

A spaghetti diagram is used to track the movement of people or materials within a process. This model helps identify inefficiencies in physical layouts by showing how much unnecessary motion occurs during the process.

4. Flowchart Diagram

A flowchart diagram uses symbols to represent steps and decisions in a process. It is one of the simplest and most widely used tools for process mapping. A flowchart provides a step-by-step visual guide of how the process unfolds, which can help identify bottlenecks or unnecessary steps.

5. Makigami Diagram

The Makigami diagram is used in Lean methodology to map out administrative processes. It provides a high-level overview, focusing on non-production processes such as paperwork, approvals, or customer service interactions.

Benefits of Mapping Current Processes

1. Clarity and Transparency

Process mapping brings transparency to workflows by documenting every step in a clear and structured manner. This transparency ensures that all team members understand how the process works and can collaborate more effectively.

2. Improved Efficiency

Once you’ve mapped out the process, inefficiencies become more visible. This clarity allows you to identify and eliminate unnecessary steps, reduce waste, and streamline operations, ultimately boosting productivity.

3. Enhanced Communication

With a documented process in place, communication within the team improves. When everyone understands their role in the process and how their tasks impact the bigger picture, it fosters better coordination and teamwork.

4. Better Decision-Making

Process mapping provides valuable insights into how workflows function. With this information at hand, decision-makers can make more informed choices about where to focus improvement efforts, which changes to implement, and how to allocate resources.

5. Continuous Improvement

Mapping the current process isn’t a one-time activity. It sets the stage for continuous improvement by providing a baseline against which future changes can be measured. As processes evolve, regular mapping ensures that improvements are sustained and any new inefficiencies are identified early on.

Conclusion

Mapping your current processes is a crucial first step in any process improvement initiative. It provides a detailed understanding of how workflows operate, where inefficiencies lie, and what steps can be taken to streamline operations. By employing tools such as value stream mapping, flowcharts, or spaghetti diagrams, you can visualise the process and gain insights into where improvements can be made.

Incorporating feedback from stakeholders and focusing on customer needs ensures that the mapping exercise leads to meaningful improvements. By following a structured approach, organisations can enhance productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and drive continuous improvement. Whether you’re embarking on a Lean initiative or just looking to fine-tune your operations, mapping your current process is the key to unlocking greater efficiency and success.