Business Process Mapping 101 (Step By Step Guide)

About this video

• Video Title: Business Process Mapping 101 (Step By Step Guide)
• Channel: Toni Debelic | OpsKings
• Speakers: Toni Debelic
• Duration: 00:13:16

Overview

This video provides a comprehensive guide to business process mapping, explaining what process maps are, why they are essential for running a company, and how to create them. It covers different types of process maps (prototype and documentation maps), common challenges faced during creation, and recommended tools. The ultimate goal is to help viewers build a "company brain" that visually represents all business processes.

Key takeaways

• What is a Process Map: A visual representation (flowchart) of how a specific process is executed within an organization, detailing inputs, outputs, stakeholders, decisions, and order of operations.
• Why Use Process Maps: They simplify knowledge transfer about processes, making them easier for teams to understand and learn from compared to written documentation. Visuals enhance clarity and collaboration.
• Getting Started: The biggest challenge is knowing where to start. The advice is to begin with a process that is currently causing the most issues, use simple tools like pen and paper or a whiteboard, and focus on sequential steps rather than perfection.
• Types of Process Maps:
  • Prototype Maps: Used for discovery, understanding the current process, iterating, and identifying improvements. They can be messy and include potential future states.
  • Documentation Maps (Final Maps): Concise, accurate snapshots of the "as-is" state of a process, serving as a clear blueprint for execution without extra notes or "what-ifs."
• Tools for Mapping: Lucidchart and Miro are recommended as leading online tools. The key features to look for are shareability across teams and robust security/access permissions. Lucidchart is suggested for larger businesses due to its enterprise capabilities.
• The "Company Brain": The end result of comprehensive process mapping, which includes an organizational chart and a data infrastructure mapping all entities and their correlations within the business, with separate maps for each subprocess.
• Common Mistakes:
  1. Paralysis by Analysis: Getting stuck on finding the perfect tool or detailed description before starting.
  2. Not Sharing: Building maps but not sharing them with the team, thus losing out on collaborative benefits and feedback.
  3. Lack of Iteration: Creating a map and stopping, instead of updating it as the company grows and processes evolve.