Process maps serve several key purposes, and this post is an overview of the types of maps that might be used depending on the circumstances:
1) Understanding the sequence of a given process or activity;
2) Communication - a visual representation of the process to stakeholders and interested parties;
3) Analysis - understand re-work loops, hand offs waste elements and other features inherent but not necessarily visible or 'felt' by those engaged in the process
It follows logically that different processes or different process/ business problems might need a different map to allow you to analyse a process or work with stakeholders on understanding the process to a level where they become part of the analysis.
A brief discussion of the types of maps we might use:
1) The process map
This is the most frequently used type of map, it shows the logical sequence of steps in a given process and follow some simple rules:
As you can see, there are 4 main elements:
START AND END LOZENGE SHAPES indicate where a process starts and ends. many processes in the business world have more than one start or end point
PROCESS BOX (what are we doing at this point?) usually a verb/noun combination - "pick up cup"
Decision boxes (diamond shapes) these indicate where the person operating the process makes a decision (e.g. is it hot?) outputs are usually yes/ no, but be sensible
Process arrows shows where thew process goes from one box to the next. Decision boxes typically have one input and two output flows, one for yes and one for no. other process boxes typically only have one input and one output
2) Cross-functional (swim lane) process map
Swim lane process maps contain the same elements as a standard process map, but have additional 'swim-lanes' that serve to show who does the work. Each time a process crosses a swim lane boundary, the work is handed over to another team. Handovers in processes are often a source of error, misunderstanding and delays. So the value of making these handovers visible is clear, the more handovers in a given process, the higher the risk of getting it wrong.
3) Value Stream Map (VSM)
A value stream map, also known as a material and information flow map, is mapping technique that seeks to understand how materials and information flow through and around a process. this is a map that is more often used in manufacturing than the service industry due to the presence of physical inventory, different machinery used to make a given product and the different cycle times.
This type of map looks at the steps used to create a 'thing' and then helps to analyse cycle times, waiting times, inventory at each step and overall lead time. It overlays any information that flows around the system in order to make the product(s). typically used for reducing inventory and lead times, it is used to understand a single flow of value, usually for a single product. This map is abstracted from the previous maps as it shows a process as a linear flow.
4) Lean Consumption Map
this is like a hybrid of a value stream map and a cross functional (swim lane) map. Used primarily to show how much customer work is required to complete a given service for that customer. it seeks so help the user analyse value added and non-value added time in a service that typically requires input(s) from the customer.
Crucially here we are looking at waste activities in both the service provider and the waste activities the customer is forced to perform during the provision of a service. It looks at waste from the perspective of a customer. Another abstract map in that it doesn't track all the decisions, but rather looks at value-adding/ value-creating time vs waste. in the example above, the green elements in a box show a value-adding element of the service and the empty white boxes represent the waste. the size of each box represents the time for each measured activity.
5) Demand Flow
This map is like lifting the lid on a service provider showing how different customer requirements touch different teams or processes and allows for analysis of the complexities inherent within that service. another absract map, but very powerful for understanding where in a team or business the work comes from and goes to
In this example, the payments team wanted to know how payments work came in and for what reasons payments were failing to be completed.
6) Information Elements
This type of map is really useful for information-heavy processes where we might be capturing information from a customer multiple times, or re-keying information from one system to another. Another abstract map but a very useful method if you want to understand the information captured, used, re-keyed and processed in a given process
In this example the account opening process of a commercial bank was analysed for what information was gathered from the new client and how it was used. the beauty of this type of map is that it is very scalable, e.g. you might want to map address as a single information element, or you might want, house number, street name etc. depending on the problem you wan to solve.
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