The Process Model Is Just The Start

You can have a 200IQ when you’re modelling processes, but if you do nothing other than have a visual representation, it means nothing.

Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re creating a process ecosystem.

Knowledge

Think about the process map as a communication tool. It is there to transfer knowledge and convey a message.

When that knowledge is transferred, everyone wins.

You can also use the tasks on a process map to scope out knowledge items to write. Procedures and work instructions are critical to ensuring people are on the same page (quite literally) in how work is done.

Change Impact

When you have a before and after (an as-is, a to-be, or a current-state and a future state) view of a process, it helps you understand what is impacted by that change. That can include:

• Roles that may change

• Training that needs to happen

• Systems and platforms

• Documents

  • Both the templates and the final outputs

Being on the front foot in managing the change means you can take people on the journey from process point A to process point B.

New Requirements

Understanding a process will help you answer the question: “What needs to be true to make this process a reality?”

You may determine in a process map that an SMS goes to a customer when their order is ready. That means it is a requirement that a system handling the orders have a capability to send SMS messages. That may also impact the total cost of the process.

Communicating Benefits

You can calculate what the difference in between two states of a process. By simply understanding the volume, the cycle time, and the cost of the resource, you can know the total benefit of a change to a process or subset of a process.

If you know that, you can rank the various changes to make decisions on which changes to make first. You want to make the right decisions in what will have the biggest positive impact on the business when it comes to the bottom line, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. There are always trade-offs. This, along with the impact assessment helps you navigate that with ease.

Want more actionable process insights? Check out my YouTube channel! I’ve just dropped a new episode of Process Nerd Podcast.

What do you think? How does a process map help you improve processes?

Talk soon,

Mike

👋 Hey, I’m Mike and I love creating processes that are efficient and worthwhile.

You can follow and engage with me in other platforms!