TheKeytoGoodProcessMapping

ByBenS.Graham,Jr. Chairman TheBenGrahamCorporation Copyright 2006, The Ben Graham Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Therearethreeessentialsthatmustbehandledwelltoassuregoodprocessmapping. 1. Theoperatingpeoplewhoseworkisbeingmappedmustsupplyinformationfor themapandmustunderstandandsupportthereasonsforthemapping. 2. Themapitselfmustbeorganizedinawaythatenableseveryoneinvolvedto clearlyunderstandtheprocess. 3. Theinformationthatisassembledinthemapmustbevalid. SupportofOperatingPeople Theoperatingpeopleworkdirectlywiththeprocessandareindirectcontactwiththe factsoftheprocess.Inordertomapaprocessweneedtolearnaboutitfromthesepeople. Weneedtheircooperationandwewontgetitiftheyaresuspiciousofthereasonsforthe project. Byfar,themostimportantsourceofinformationaboutanyprocessisthepeople wholivewithitdaybyday.Theyknowhowitissupposedtoworkandthey knowhowtomakeitworkandkeepitworking.Theyhaveseenthingsgo wrongandbeenapartofmakingthemright.Theyhavelivedwithits frustrations,knowwhattowatchoutforandhavelearnedhowtogetpastthem. Iftheknowledgeofthesepeopleisusedtoestablishthemapofthecurrent process,thereisagoodchancethatitwillberealistic. However,ifthesepeopleareconvincedthatthereasonthemapisbeing preparedistoeliminatetheiremploymentitislikelythattheywillbe uncooperative.Evenifthetruereasonsfortheprojectaretotallydevoidofany chanceofdownsizing,thishastobemadecleartooperatingpeopleortheywill bequiteapttoassumethethreatandreactaccordingly.Aclearstatementof intent,fromsomeonewhoseauthorityspanstheprocess,isneeded;something likeItisourintenttodevelopthebestprocesspossible,weneedyourhelp andweguaranteethattherewillbenolossofemploymentasaresultofthis effort. Thereisalsoanotherapproachtobuildingmapsthatignoresoperatingpeople altogether.Wedonotrecommendthisapproach.Itappearstobebasedonthe
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phenomenonthat:thelessyouknowaboutsomething,thesimpleritseems.The personbuildingthemapassumesthattheoperatingpeopleareperforming simpletasksthatcanbelogicallydeducedwithouttheirhelp.Thislimitsthe mappingefforttoasystematicallyorganizeddisplayofgeneralities.Thesemaps permitmanagersandconsultantstofeelthattheyareactuallyanalyzinga processwhentheyare,infact,thinkingaboutitinvague,generalterms.Then theythinkupanewprocess(withouthavingtappedintorealty)andimposeit onoperatingpeople(whoareintouchwithreality). Inconclusion,thepeoplewhoactuallydotheworkneedtocooperateinthe activityofmappingtheirprocessesbysupplyingtheinformationabouttheir workwithwhichthemapisbuilt. OrganizingtheFactsinanEffectiveMap Itisonethingtoobtainthecooperationofoperatingpeople.Itisquiteanotherto successfullylearnfromthemthefactsabouttheirworkthatareneededtobuildan effectiveprocessmap.Thepersonbuildingthemapneedstopushthefactgatheringfrom generalitiestospecificsbybreakingdowntheprocessintoitselements,theitemsthatare processedandthestepsthoseitemsgothrough. Asdiscussedearlier,withouttheinvolvementofoperatingpeopleourprocess informationislimitedtogeneralizations.Butwhenoperatingpeopleare involved,theinformationgatheredmayalsobelimitedtogeneralizations.To pushourfactgatheringintospecificsweneedtofocusnotontheprocessasa wholebutratherontheindividualitemsthatareprocessed. Wedontsimplyaddressthereceivingprocess.Rather,wefocusonthePalletof Goodsthathasbeendelivered,theBarCodeswhicharrivewiththegoods,the variousScreensoftheGoodsinProcessInventoryDataBasethatareupdated firstbythebythereceivingclerkandlaterbyaninspectorandaproduction controlclerk,theInspectionTicketthatisattachedtothepalletofgoods,etc.In ahospitalprocesswefocusonthePatient,eachcopyofthemultipart AdmissionsForm,ThePatientServicesForm,thescreensofthePatientData Base,etc.InaprocurementprocessthefocusstartswithaRequisition,thena ProcurementDataBase,thecustomersOrderSystem,ourAccountsPayable Voucher,thecustomersStatement,etc. Firstwebreakaprocessdownintoitsitems.Thenwefocusoneachofthese itemsstepbystep.Ourmapwilldisplaythenameofeachitemfollowedby symbolswhichindicateeachtimethatitemismoved,delayed,handled,altered,
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andinspected.Theseitemlineswillalsobelinkedtoshowwhenitemsare attached,separatedoraffectoneanother.Alsotheitemlineswillbranchwhen therearealternativesintheprocessandsometimestheywillrejoin.Witha detailedmaplikethiswecometounderstandhowtheprocessworks.This,in turn,enablesustoseeopportunitiesforsimplifyingandimproving. Therearepeoplewhodontwanttogetintoallthisdetail.Sometimesthey ridiculethisdetailasunnecessary.(Hopefullymuchofitwillprovetobe unnecessary,butitwontgoawaybybeingignored.)Processmapsdont becomedetailedbecauseofthemappingtechnique.Theybecomedetailed becausetheprocessisdetailed.Theyrecordrealityandputusinapositionto effectivelyunderstandandimprovethatreality. Inconclusion,togetagoodprocessmapyouwanttodisplaytherealityofhow theprocessworksbybreakingitdownintoitsitemsandsteps. MakingsurethattheDataintheMapisValid Youcangatherdetaileddatafromcooperatingemployeesandstillwindupwithamap thatisshotfulloferrors.Toassurethatthedataisactuallyvalid,weneedtogatherour datafromthepersonwhodoesthatwork,attheworkplace,onestepatatime,while observingitbeingdone. Therearetwoimportanttypesofauthorityineveryorganization,social authorityandfactualauthority.TheCEOisthetopauthorityofthe organizationssocialstructureandthatstructureandauthorityarevitalifan organizationisgoingtofunction.However,whenitcomestofactualauthority, thepersonwiththebestknowledgeandunderstandingofthespecificfactsbeing dealtwithisthetopauthority.Therefore,whenwegatherdatawestriveto collectitalwaysfromthetop(factual)authorityoftheorganizationandwetreat thatpersonwiththerespectdeservedbyatopauthority.Indoingso,weshow respectforthepersonandthefactsandimproveourchancesofcapturingreality onourmaps. (Whenthereareanumberofpeopledoingthesamework,gatheryourdatafrom themostskilled,theonetheothersturntowhentheyhavequestions.Youwill thenbegatheringyourdatafromthetopauthorityintheorganization.) Ifyouactuallyfollowtheworkthroughtheprocess,gatheringdataoneachstep oftheprocesswhileobservingitattheworkplace,youwilleliminatemostofthe causesoffaultydata.Youarriveattheworkplaceandareintroducedtothe
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employee(usuallybythesupervisor).Thenyouasktheemployeefora demonstration.Itisusuallyeasierforapersontoshowyoutheirworkthanto explainit.Wewillinvariablygetboth,explanationanddemonstration,withthe emphasisonthelater. Astheemployeedoestheworkitbecomesobviouswhensubsidiaryitemscome intoplay,itemsthatmighteasilyhavebeenleftoutofanexplanation.These itemsareusuallytherebecausetheyarenecessarypartsoftheprocessasitis nowbeingperformed.Easilyoverlooked,theirroleisalsomissedastheprocess isbeingreworkedand,whenthenewprocessisinstalled,anothersubsidiary itemwillneedtobecreatedtofillthisneed. Comparethistypeofdatagatheringwithtalkingtoagroupofemployees simultaneouslyinaconferenceroom.Youmissallofthevisualinformationof theworkplaceitself.Youdontalwayshearaboutastepfromapersonwho actuallyperformsit.Unnecessaryconfusioncreepsinconcerningsequenceof steps,confusionthatwouldbeavoidedifthestepsweretakenoneatatimein separateinterviews.And,thereisaveryhighprobabilitythatimportantdetails willbeomitted. Bycarefullyfollowingtheprocessthroughtheworkplacesstepbystepwetieup lessemployeetimeandgetabetter,moreaccuratemapquicker.Thecostin employeetimeisobvious.Ifyoupulltogetheragroupofallofthepeoplewho workinaprocessallofthemaretiedupforthediscussionoftheentireprocess, notjusttheirownpart.Theonlywaythatthegroupmeetingcouldpossiblybe lesstimeconsumingfortheindividualswouldbeifthedatagatheringwasdone superficially.Asforactuallycompletingthemapsooner,thevisualinformation availableattheworkplaceprovidesalevelofclaritythatproduces understandingfarfasterthanpeopletalking.Thisclarityandunderstanding morethancompensateforthetimerequiredtogetfromworkplacetowork place. Inconclusion,togetvaliddata,gatheritasclosetotherealityasyoucan.

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Summary 1. Thepeopledoingtheworkarethebestsourceofrealisticdataforbuilding aprocessmap. 2. Togetcooperationfromthepeopledoingtheworkitiscriticalthatthey notbeconcernedaboutdownsizingresultingfromtheprocesschanges. 3. Thepeopledoingtheworkarethetopfactualauthoritiesonthatwork andthereforedeservetobetreatedwiththerespectdueatopauthority. 4. Generalitiesaretheenemyofgoodprocessmaps.Pushforspecificsin youdatagathering.Togetspecifics,breaktheprocessdownintoitsitems andsteps. 5. Gatherdataattheworkplacewithbothexplanationanddemonstration. 6. Displayeachitemasaseparatelineonyourmapwithitsownsteps. 7. Displayeffectsbetweenitemsonyourmapwhereoneitemsupplies informationthatisusedtodosomethingtoanotheritem(i.e.transcribing informationfromoneitemtoanother,usingoneitemtocheckinformation onanother,etc. 8. Displayalternativeswheretheworkisprocesseddifferentlyunder differentcircumstances. 9. Displayassemblyanddisassemblybybringingitemlinestogetherandby separatingthem. 10. Therealtestofaprocessmapisnotthatitmakessensetopeoplewho haveneverdonetheworkbutratherthatitmakessenseandisvouched forbythosewhodothework.

The Key to Good Process Mapping

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