This is the only accurate method to document the as-is state of the organization. Training materials, manuals, and even what management says is usually outdated or flat wrong. From there, the next step is to develop a lexicon for the organization. This is the terminology that people use to describe activities and work product. You have to know who is going to do what and at what level of efficiency and quality because if they aren't meeting those needs your business could fail right out of the gate.
Especially when starting something new, it has to move quickly and effectively to be successful. When doing so we had to map out every single thing from editors to journalists and content creators along with managing trips and photoshoots to make sure everyone is doing their job to the highest level possible.
The way I chose to map my processes was to decide on which is the most important and what would fail if we didn't get it exactly right from the start. For us it was marketing, of course. If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Or if a magazine launches and no one knows about it, does it even exist? It is a logical continuation of deliberate investment into the improvement of business processes.
The demand for business process mapping is slowly and steadily picking up. The business owners and leaders have understood the value of optimized business processes as an essential part of their overall success.
According to a recent study by AIIM, most businesses see business process mapping as a systematic approach to improving their processes. However, less than half of the business owners really know all they need to about business process mapping.
While they show a positive attitude toward adopting business process mapping for their businesses, most of them cite stuck-in-process as the biggest reason for failing to implement business process mapping. Increasing awareness about business automation however increases the scope of adoption of business process mapping among the business and technology leaders. In the field of marketing, business process maps are called journey maps. My specialty is mapping out the standard growth or marketing funnel.
It looks like this:. Our live chat and eBook are at the forefront of the mix. We use these to get more information on who they are and what pain points they are having. Once we get their contact information, we enter them into a journey decided upon by the sales person or the lead form they filled out.
For example, if they are fulfilling orders in-house, we'll send them information on how to transition to outsourcing and the benefits associated, free consultations, signs to outsource, etc. If they are using another fulfillment center, we'll sell them on what ShipMonk specifically does better. If they are just getting started we'll give them information on how to get started themselves and when to consider outsourcing.
It costs five to seven times more to gain a new customer than to retain a current customer so this is very important. We send milestone emails and rewards each time a customer reaches a certain number of packages shipped and we check it every few months to make sure everything is going as they've hoped. We proactively try to stay ahead of issues before they boil out of control. This is all done through marketing automation and timed in a behavioral journey. If they aren't interested, we remove them from the journey immediately and move on.
Our goal is to help our customers sell and ship more packages. If they sell more we ship more. The problem is most people are extremely busy and don't think to write a review unless they are unhappy. We use journeys to remind customers of the review and what it would mean to our business.
Which process should you start with? The answer is: Which process needs the most attention? Company or initiative strategies comes into play, but that may only tell you the general direction to go. In that case, or in the case of initiatives containing multiple processes, it's a good idea to refine your search.
Often by examining the interactions on the ends, the suppliers and consumers, it's obvious which process to begin to model. Process Capability and Process Performance calculations give us common language to measure processes against each other - even if they are wildly different. Once we have a way to quantitatively measure processes, we can then choose to model the worst-performing process in order to begin to see how we might improve it, which would then improve the whole.
So, the first step is understanding our current level of performance. To this end, we need to know what our current processes are and how to measure their performance. For example, in an insurance company, the claims process is absolutely critical, and could be a good starting point for process mapping. In a manufacturing company, planning and scheduling is essential, and could be an excellent starting point. Pick something that is important, so that the time spent on documenting and evaluating the process is viewed as beneficial.
Some key questions to ask include:. The team can begin with just a stack of sticky notes on a white board, and once the process is determined, document it for future reference in a software program that the company is already using. Through the exercise of working with the team on business process mapping, many process improvement ideas will surface.
Now is the perfect time to get started! Not all business mapping projects need special software to create the maps. Depending on your long-term needs and the size of your business, however, you may consider purchasing some. It is important to know what features are critical to your organization.
The following are popular features offered in stand-alone business mapping applications, and within BPM software suites. Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change.
The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. What is Business Process Documentation? Benefits of Business Process Documentation.
Some of the benefits of having business process documentation include: Business process optimisation — identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies by documenting the exact business processes. Reduce mistakes. Ensure compliance — makes it easier to remember to follow policies and regulations.
Outsource easier business processing outsourcing — when working with contractors, process documents help them quickly adapt to your way of working, even if they are remote. How to Create Business Process Documentation.
Try to involve everybody who is part of the business process and follow these steps: Step 1: Define Business Process Scope Decide which business process you are going to document and determine its purpose and scope. Step 2: Organise the Business Process Steps Gather all information on the business process steps from start to finish and identify what business event, triggers the business process.
Step 3: Describe Who is involved in the Business Process Decide each business worker who will be responsible for the process tasks. Define their roles.
Step 5: Review and Test the Business Process Gather everyone involved and review the business process. Business Process Documentation Template. The following are useful sections to consider in a business process documentation template: Purpose. Entry Criteria. Workflow Diagram. Activity Descriptions. Business Rules. Exit Criteria. Describe each of the activities of the process in narrative form.
Use headers as appropriate. Be sure to use consistent terminology in describing each step or activity. Business process analysis tools continue to grow in importance as business managers, process architects and process analysts seek to better understand, streamline and automate their business processes and communicate their needs to IT professionals. Analyst s : Mike Blechar. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc.
For example, BPMN diagrams can be used to provide stakeholders with a broad overview of a process. They can also be used to create highly detailed diagrams that provide practical guidance to the stakeholders responsible for performing tasks. It achieves this using a standardized system of elements and symbols.
The four common elements of business process diagrams are:. Value stream mapping is used to illustrate the steps in a business process. The primary goal of this methodology is to identify the places where a process can be improved by removing waste. There are several different types of waste that stakeholders seek to identify. These include:. Gantt charts are generally used less than the other business process modeling tools we discussed above.
Part of the reason is that Gantt Charts were developed over years ago and more sophisticated business process modeling tools have since emerged. Gantt charts are simplistic diagrams that provide a visualization of the time associated with specific tasks.
For instance, Gantt charts show the start and end times of a process and how long each took to complete. Thus, Gantt charts are ideal for time-sensitive processes. They show stakeholders when particular tasks should begin and end, and whether processes are being completed on schedule. Gantt charts are not, however, well suited for complex business processes. ProcessMaker offers an industry leading low-code business process management software that gives organizations access to powerful business process modeling tools.
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