Pick one process, set where it starts and ends, and write its steps as they actually happen and who does each one. Draw it as a diagram with a lane for each department, then mark the waiting, duplication and errors, and design the improved way.
Step by step
- 1
Choose the process and its boundaries
For example, from receiving a customer order to collecting payment. Fix the start and end points so the map does not sprawl.
- 2
Gather the people who do it
A short workshop with the employees who actually carry out each step, not with managers alone.
- 3
Draw the current state
A diagram with horizontal lanes, one for each department or role, showing the steps, decision points, documents and systems. You can use standard BPMN notation or simple shapes.
- 4
Mark the waste
Waiting between departments, extra approvals, entering the same data twice, and dependence on one person.
- 5
Design the target state
A new map with fewer steps and a clear owner for each step, then turn it into written procedures.
- 6
Compare before and after
The time from start to finish and the number of errors, so you know the improvement really happened.
Trying to map every process in the company at once takes months without a single improvement. Start with the process that most affects the customer or cash.
- how to create a process map
- workflow mapping for a small business