Guide to Process Mapping

Where to start… where to end…

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 Key Process Mapping
Concepts
Why map a process?
How do you begin to
map a process?
What do you use
process maps for?

This document looks at five key

process mapping concepts.
Which ones you might use
depends on why you are
mapping.
This guide does not cover each of the process mapping techniques in detail or
what software you might use. For more information get in touch or check out
Our services page. There are also more general resources available online.
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 Why map a process?

• To document a
process
• To assimilate
knowledge
• To help
understand a
process
• To help improve
a process
• To identify the
‘hidden factory’
in a process
• To find and
focus on
problem areas
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 The initial brain dump – just what process are we talking about?

• Where does the

process actually
start?
• What do we see
the end point to
be?
• What does it • You start with an idea of the
depend on? process and flesh it out…
• Who is involved? • and further flesh out the
fleshing out…
• What’s the mega
scope of which • and look at what’s important
this process is just and what’s achievable…
a part?
• then define the scope
• Just what do we boundary…
want to be in
scope? • with the bigger context now
clearly in mind. UCD Agile
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 Starting mapping at a high level – the SIPOC

Process mapping starts with a high

level understanding – the SIPOC
• Enables developing a common
understanding of the process at a
high level.
• Identifies process beneficiaries
(‘customers’) and their requirements.
• Identifies suppliers, process owners, Suppliers Inputs Process Outputs Customers
dependencies and other
stakeholders. • Customers’ requirements determine the
• Helps process analysis through: outputs.
• Identifying gaps in requirements and
the process outputs or inputs • Outputs determine the process which must
responsible. produce them.
• Identifying data collection needs.
• Validating goal alignment and metric • The process places requirements on the inputs
alignment from customer to supplier. and the suppliers which provide them.

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 Process mapping detail – the liner flow chart

• Build the detailed sub-process map

which underlies the process in the
SIPOC
• The three ‘actuals’ process
mapping
• Go the to actual place and talk to the
people Linear flow charts
• Observe the actual process or service • Document the task or process
• Gather the actual facts
• The actions, decision points and
• Use this to map the flow of the delays
process from trigger to (one or • Support the analysis of (relatively)
more) outcomes. simple processes
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 Process mapping - process deployment map

• For long or complex processes which

involve multiple functions rather than
flowing in one area.
• Information flow mapping (where the
process is invisible)
• Identifying functional responsibilities • You might start with a linear flow
(each function in its own ‘swimlane’). chart before spotting its complexity.
• Highlighting process handover points • You might recognise the complexity of
between swimlanes (potential the process from the SIPOC.
failure/complexity points). • You might begin deployment mapping
because you know the issues are with
• Helping highlight waste. multiple functions in the one process.
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 Process mapping – detailed (IPO) process map

This is the most specific process map.

• Identifies not just process flow but
input and output variables in the
process
• Effective in investigating variation
or identifying risks in the process
• Generally only needed in focused • Identify the outputs ‘y’ of a
areas of the process where given step
variation is high. • Brainstorm the inputs ‘x’ which
• Identifying intermediate outputs is can cause variations in ‘y’
often useful in isolating causes of • Classify the inputs
variation
• Identify the critical inputs
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 Process mapping – the value stream

• Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is the

identification of all activities that create
and/or do not create value in the
process, from the supplier of the
product or service to the customer
• It follows a ‘product’ or ‘service’ from
beginning to end and maps every
process in the material and information
flow.
• VSM looks at
• Information flow • As with the IPO process map, value
• Process flow stream mapping is primarily an analysis
• Timelines tool rather than simply recording a
• The key perspective is time process.
• Process time - the time taken to do the
work • The VSM begins with the ‘as is’ of the
• Lead time - the time from start to finish process and so is a detailed record of the
process.
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Process Mapping: Tools and
Techniques
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

What is process mapping?

• process mapping is the task of defining what exactly a business does,

who is responsible, and what is the standard by which the success of
a business process can be judged.

• http://www.appian.com/about-bpm/process-mapping-versus-process-modeling/
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Why is process mapping important?

• Onboarding new employees. Having a set of documented processes

for new employees to follow can shorten training time, put less strain
on other staff members, and help to ensure consistency and
continuity of output.

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Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Why is process mapping important?

• Communicating processes to others. At times it is necessary to be

able to show a process to others. The visual structure of a business
process map makes it easier to understand the process without
having to read (and try to comprehend) a long, narrative description.

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Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Why is process mapping important?

• Process improvement and re-engineering. Once a process is

documented and understood, it can be analyzed to improve
efficiency.

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Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Steps Involved in Business Process Mapping

• Identify the process you want to document
• Gather information from process participants via interviews or
observations
• Identify the start and end points of your process
• Break the process into distinct tasks and decision points

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Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Basic Components of Business Process Mapping

• Process. The overall workflow from a starting point to its successful
completion.
• Tasks or Activities. Something performed by a person or a system.
• Flows. This is indicated on the process map by connecting lines and arrows.
• Events. These are triggers that cause a process to begin, end, or may
redirect a process to a different path.
• Gateways. Decisions that can change the path of the process depending on
conditions or events.
• Participants. Specifically naming the people or systems that perform the
tasks or activities.
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Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Primary Objective of Process Mapping: Visually display what happens in a process.

Simple Process Flowchart

Top Down Flow Chart

Swim Lane Flow Chart
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Graphic symbols represent the nature and the flow of the steps in a
process: Beginning or Input or
end
output

Direction of Flow File or

Decision store

Document Manual
Activity or report Input
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Enterprise Process Map for making a deposit using graphic symbols:
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Top Down mapping generally does not use graphic symbols and is
defined by starting and stopping points, milestones and the how to of
the process.

• Procedure:
• 1st: Define your starting and stopping points.
• 2nd: Define the milestones (the what’s)
• 3rd: Complete your drill down (the how’s)
 Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Example of a Top Down Process Map:

www.odgroup.com/resources.asp
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Top Down Mapping does not:

• Show who does what when.

• Does not show activity processing time.
• Does not answer what if’s.
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Example of Swim Lane Process Map- Enterprise Gating Process
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

A swim lane process map sometimes called a cross-functional

diagram, is a process flowchart that provides more information on who
does what than a top down. It can also be expanded to show times—
when tasks are done and how long they take.
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

In a Swim Lane processes are grouped by placing them in lanes.

1. Lanes can be either horizontal or vertical, depending on the process
flow diagram.
2. Each lane is allocated to an actor or group of actors.
3. Process steps which are performed by one an actor or group are
drawn in that person's lane.
4. Arrows provide directions for hand off from lane to lane.
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Example of Swim Lane Map, Dr. John Grout, Campbell School of Business
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

Swim lane maps take more time to develop.

• Help identify time traps—which processes take the longest—as well
as capacity constraints, or which resources get bogged down because
of work.
• Ideally, after identifying the current process, teams should try to map
out a better process, based on the information provided in the
diagram.
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques

• A simple process flowchart is probably the most versatile of the

commonly used flowchart types and can be applied to virtually
anything.
• A simple process flowchart shows inputs, activities, decisions and
outputs of a process, partial process, or even a single process step.
These are shown in a successive manner without denoting all the
different functions within the concerned process.
Process Mapping: Tools and Techniques
Example of a Simple Process Flowchart: Cashing a Check
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