Process Map
Purpose
To document the order of activities across organizational lines in the regular, chronological sequence of steps and the existing performance measurements.
Guidelines
- Determine the process to be mapped. It can be physical, involve paperwork, undertaken by computer, or a logical sequence of events.
- Decide where the process begins, e.g. the first stakeholder contact. Meet with and/or talk to the person who is the first contact point ask him/her to describe what s/he does at that point in the process. (Hint: Put each activity on separate Post-It notes.) Do not map exceptions other than those that occur quite frequently.
- Also record the following information on the Post-It for each activity to be used later:
- Touch time - the amount of time (usually in minutes) a person spends actually working on or "touching" the transaction.
- Lag time - the amount of time (usually in days) spent waiting for someone to begin work on the transaction (e.g. on a desk, in the mail, in a file, etc.).
- Volume - the number of transactions that go through this step in a year.
- Meet with and/or talk to each person in sequential order who is involved in that process.
- Beginning in the upper left-hand corner draw a box and record each step in the process. Connect the boxes with arrows to show the direction of flow.
- After completing the map, conduct a value added (VA) vs. non-value added (NVA) analysis through a series of questions:
| Could this activity be eliminated if some prior activity were done differently or correctly? | If yes, then NVA. |
| Does technology exist to eliminate this activity? | If yes, then NVA. |
| Could this activity be eliminated without impacting the form, fit, or function of the stakeholder's "product?" | If yes, then NVA. |
| Is this activity required by an end stakeholder, and will that stakeholder pay for this activity? | If yes, then VA! |
Examples of non-value added activities:
| proofreading | correcting errors |
| verifying | sorting |
| reconciling | batching |
| auditing | moving from one person/office to another |
| reporting | investigating errors |
- Use shading of each box to represent the amount to which the step adds value:
- Look for "low hanging fruit" (quick fixes/quick success items) that can be improved immediately.
Tips for Process Maps
- Do not map subprocesses, stick to the critical processes.
- Look for steps that are duplicated, are unnecessary, or do not add value for the end stakeholder.
- Identify possible ideas for improvement or redesign.
- Look for ways that technology can be used to support or improve the process.
Sample Process Map:
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