Learning the meaning of business processes is absolutely necessary for improving these processes, and to significantly improve business performance in any way - in every business. Process Mapping is required for this learning curve, and in every business where this task is performed, the time invested will make obvious that few if any individuals working within the business actually understand the complete scope of the functioning of the organisation as it is being managed.
When our business first engaged with clients to introduce Quality Management systems (ISO9001) it was common to advise clients to 'say what you do' - 'do what you say'. This theory was fine so long as those defining (saying) what was to be done actually knew what should happen, but they seldom did, and the consequence was a management system that was seldom operated in the manner defined by the procedural documents. Our approach from the outset was to 'map' the processes prior to documenting them - a simple task you might think. We began this project by looking for as many individual views of each operational process as we could discover, and creating the process map through a series of individual meetings with these people. We found one 'absolute of process mapping', and this is that the farther you go from the individuals who personally do the work, the less anyone actually understands about how the organization works. We consider this method of mapping to be a key activity because it establishes what actually happens. From here it is possible to determine if that is what needs to happen, and can it be improved.
Process mapping since we first started to employ it has developed into what some might think of as a specialist activity, with articles, books software and courses being offered for what is essentially an information gathering exercise. Like so many management related tasks, it is more a social as opposed to a technical activity. Convincing people that you have an interest in their point of view regarding what is done and not attempting to catch them out is the way to success, and here we were obviously successful. This is not to say that the tools on offer today will not work, merely that in the absence of a culture of co-operation between the parties success will be more difficult.
Having created a process map that is a consensus of the points of view of every interested party, the opportunities for making improvements to the process or processes should be apparent, however, the way this is done is important. The views of all involved in the original information gathering should again be gleaned to ensure that the revised process can actually be operated in the manner intended, and not become another documented process imposed by management who have failed to understand the basics of the business.
The most valuable advice to business managers, here as everywhere else - be very cautious what you delegate to your employees, they may do it!
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