The power of the sticky note... A simple approach to process mapping.

Over the years I’ve heard a number of 'experts' sell the virtues of process mapping but then proceed to bamboozle their colleagues or clients with so much jargon they feel they must first become Lean Six Sigma accredited before they should think of applying it in their daily work.

As with any other quality improvement initiative, it is the conversation between workers and joint-problem solving that is at the heart of a successful process mapping exercise. Here are four key points to get people started that can form the basis of workshops.

1.   Workshop 1 - Map the process

I’ve found you can’t underestimate the power of sticky notes on a blank wall. Get key people together in a room from across the organisation, pick one core process and start plugging away with post it notes on butchers paper, first outlining individual ‘activities’ (noun-verb to describe something you do) and key ‘deliverables’ (something produced). If an activity requires the completion of documentation, then just write (document) on the note.

Don’t get bogged down in detail, the important thing at this stage is to list all activities and deliverables and then sequence them by drawing connecting lines on the paper. Once you feel you have these core elements of the process, transfer the information to Microsoft Visio or an equivalent software application. You can then go back to individual workshop participants to finesse the detail and add the relevant ‘actors’ who participates in the process (internal/external). These will help form the ‘swim lanes’ later on in the final process map.

Once on the computer, the process can be manipulated using different graphical representations, I find Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is relatively easy format, can be studied for free online and is recognised as a format by Microsoft Visio.

Once the process has been finessed, I usually send it to a print company to be blown up to a large poster size (ie. 1.5m x 6m) which can then be put up on the wall and used as the basis for subsequent workshops. Seeing the process map evolve helps to keep people engaged.

2.   Workshop 2 - Interrogate the process

Now it’s time to interrogate the process, I find the ‘5 why’s’ method is incredibly insightful in this regard. Ask why something is the way it is and when the response comes, ask why that is the case and then so on until you've asked why 5 times. You will probably find that the most common response is either ‘I don’t know’ or ‘it has always been done that way’.

Another useful method of interrogation is:  D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E.

Delay – identify where the activity handoffs are and the cumulative effective of delays, ie. waiting for something or someone to be ready to complete the next stage of the process.

Over-production – identify areas where too much is being done before the next stage is ready, creating bottle necks or the need for storage that is costly and not productive.

Waste – ask the question, what are we reworking/fixing and on the other hand, are we checking things or entering data only because we don’t trust the previous checks/data?

Non-value add processing – identify what doesn’t add value to the process in the eyes of consumers.

Transportation – why are we moving the product and can it be avoided? For service-based businesses, are people moving too much to deliver the service (ie. Nurses walking around wards).

Inventory – why do we have so much stock on hand, aren’t we producing things quickly. How much is the storage costing us?

Motion – both on products and people, the less things move the less change for damage to products, or people through injuries.

Employees – identify if individual employees are empowered to make improvements to the process then and there.

3.   Workshop 3 – Identify areas for process improvement 

Now that the process is much better understood you could run a workshop that is purely focused on process improvement. The 7 R’s are handy for this.

Rethink - is there a different way to get the required output/deliverables?

Reconfigure - can we eliminate all together or consolidate them with others?

Re-sequence - can activities be done concurrently, rather than consecutively?

Relocate  - can activities be moved to related activities?

Reduce - can the frequency of the activity be reduced? (ie batching).

Reassign  - can staff be cross-trained for contingency planning?

Retool - can we automate or improve skills to reduce errors waste or damage?

4. Workshop 4 - Embedding the process change

Now that everyone has a taste for process improvement, it is useful to establish a few key process performance metrics and ensure the process is being managed and monitored properly. In order to keep focus and motivation high, identify only one or two processes at a time for innovation and make sure to build the improvement team around the person who identified the problem as - proximity trumps seniority.

Keep focused on the steps in a process that are required to deliver actual value to the consumer/customer but also to remove waste in the system to achieve flow.

When people look for dramatic improvements in organisational performance they usually go to 1) people/structure before 2) systems and then 3) processes but if you take the opposite approach you will find that you could save money and actively engage your workforce in the process - pardon the pun.

Chad Stewart