Business Process Capture Methods

In the previous Post, I examined some of the reasons why so many companies have not been able to find the time to invest in the business processes. This Post is focussed on what needs to happen to achieve a comprehensive set of business processes. It is surprisingly straightforward if the following guideline is followed.

Getting things done in business requires someone with authority to sponsor the change. Often this is an Executive Director who both sees the benefit of the change and will personally benefit from the change. Business processes are essential for all members of the executive, any one of them can become that sponsor. In fact, the CEO will be the most significant benefactor, and nominating themselves as sponsor for the comprehensive Business Process mapping is the gold standard.

The next step is to agree on a strategy with the Executive. All businesses have multiple activities running at any one time and they need to be put into context considering available resources. Doing everything all at once is generally not an available option and choices have to be made what to tackle first. A recommendation is to consider a combination of a quick-win process and a larger process that will provide substantial benefits in the medium term. Examples of quick-wins can be those basic employee processes that glue the organisation together; on-boarding staff, booking holidays, managing staff reviews, invoice management etc. Tackling some of these early processes will provide exposure to all employees about how processes are mapped and how to follow them. Two good examples of larger processes that provide substantial benefits are the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process or the Quality Management System (QMS). In both cases, the benefits are substantial and will smooth out many issues that can occur with these processes.

The final preparation before we can start mapping the processes, is to identify a manager who may already be the process owner, or who can become that process owner. They need to have a thorough understanding of the process from end to end and an appreciation of where the issues are before mapping starts.

In preparation for a Process Mapping Sessions, it helps to brief the team beforehand and ask them to bring any materials, forms, information about the process with them. The team need to be a representative group of all the “actors” in the processes, including internal suppliers, internal customers and all the roles in between. The session is best facilitated by an external to that process, skilled in capturing processes. The starting point is to focus on the “As-Is” process from where that process starts and where it finishes. Often the first session reveals many holes in the process and areas that need extensive clarification. A second session, typically within a week, picks up from the “As-Is” process and focusses on the “To-Be” process. The objective of the second session is to complete a comprehensive description of the process and gain agreement from the mapping team that it is implementable.

The mapping sessions are frequently run with large numbers of “Sticky Notes” on a large brown paper. It’s also possible to use an electronic tool to capture the sequence of activities live in the session. As part of the overall mapping project, it must be decided what software is going to be used to publish the final versions. The most critical feature of whichever solution is chosen, is ensuring that employees can access what they need, when they need it. The following is a list of some of the key features of the software:

·        Job role specific log on.

·        Clear consistent and simple diagrams, supplemented by notes as required.

·        Version control – only approved processes available.

·        Process dashboards and metrics.

·        Hyperlinks to other IT Systems e.g. ERP, CRM

·        Training records.

·        Sandbox to explore and model revised processes.

There are many software solutions available for the purpose, starting with simple drawing tools to those systems that capture all the data in a systematic way. Contact trevor@480Processes.co.uk for more information about available tools.

Irrespective of the software that is used to capture the processes, there are some fundamentals to what makes a good process diagram and what doesn’t. Is each activity described unambiguously and is it clear what the output looks like? As a rule of thumb, it is best to test each process before publishing it with the team of people who will run the process day-in-day-out. If they can easily and accurately follow it, then the process will run smoothly.

A final thought for those of you who have had to read long SOPs as part of your training. In my experience, SOPs are long and wordy and although they may include a flow diagram as an appendix, the linear nature of the text makes them difficult documents to follow. Consider turning them upside down! Start with a process map showing the steps and decisions in a graphical format. If the map is well drawn and clearly labelled, the process should be very clear. As required, supplement this with some additional notes to explain the process. The end result is a much shorter SOP where the training can be managed within the Business Process Mapping tool.

The final article in this series will investigate how to maintain the captured processes and ensure that the business maximises the value from that comprehensive set of business processes.