Process mapping

The aim of procedure mapping is to structure all activities for in-depth analysis, thus guaranteeing the excellence of products and/or services offered to customers. This global representation of a company’s main activities is based on value chains, and serves as a guide for an organization’s strategic orientation.

Process mapping, a pillar of corporate management

What is process mapping, and how can it serve as a pillar for the organization and contribute to the quality of your organization’s management? It’s a graphic illustration of the procedures within a company, the diagrams of these procedures. This is done to support a quality approach, in particular based on ISO 9001.

This cartography makes it easy to model the management of an organization in concrete terms. It is a crucial means of communication, whether internally, with customers or suppliers, in the event of an audit.

This schematic representation offers a complete perspective on a company’s operationality. It provides a global view of procedures and how they interact. It enables us to differentiate between implementation, support and management activities.

Cartography allows you to :

Improve employees’ understanding of operations ;
Simplify overall management of the organization ;
Easily integrate new team members;
Emphasize the purpose of the activities and everyone’s useful participation.

What is process mapping?

A process map is a graphic illustration of procedures within a company. It emphasizes the connection between the tasks that make up each process and the way they flow together. The aim is to model the process using a dedicated tool. Mapping then highlights the interactions between the company’s various procedures, enabling continuous improvement of workflows and the methodologies used for enhanced performance.

Mapping focuses on business, operational (e.g. production) and support processes. It provides complete visibility of how an organization or department within a company operates.

In addition, the creation of this schematic representation demonstrates the quality of process structuring within an organization.

Procedure maps are created using a standardized modeling language, the Unified Modeling Language (UML). This is an international standard in the field. Each shape (circle, rectangle, box, rhombus, arrow or ellipse) represents a category of action, a key stage, an input/output or an individual concerned.

Procedure cards are an essential means of communicating and assimilating your operational methods. These tools are aimed at a varied audience, both internal and external. They come in several categories:

Production or operational processes: they illustrate the design of the good or service;
Support processes: they allocate the material, human and financial resources required for operations;
Management or governance processes: these decision-making mechanisms establish strategic and structural orientations.

Here are some models of process representations:

Business processes ;
Detailed process ;
Document diagram ;
General process ;
Value chain ;
Operational sequence diagram ;
Cross-functional processes.

Process mapping and ISO 9001:2015

Process mapping meets many of the prerequisites of ISO 9001, without being mandatory.

This quality standard recommends a process-based structure. Procedure mapping provides the basis for this structuring, notably by defining the entity’s macro-processes.

ISO 9001 also stipulates that a company must be customer-centric. Activity mapping facilitates and highlights this aspect. It also focuses on activities that directly benefit the customer, and on the added value generated by each operation.

The 2015 version of ISO 9001 has introduced new requirements:

Clearly define the management process that underlines the management system and clarifies business policy;
Describe procedures in detail , so that everyone involved can position themselves and understand their specific contribution.

Why map processes?

Process mapping ensures global understanding within the entity or among project stakeholders, by establishing a common language and a unified repository.

It prevents redundancies, and identifies who is responsible for each action and when. It enhances organizational performance thanks to a streamlined method and models that everyone can understand.

Finally, a schematic representation of the processes provides a perspective for assessing the mechanisms in place to detect and revise potential obstacles.

There are many reasons for mapping procedures.

It promotes :

Simplifying organizational mechanisms ;
Improved coordination of activities constituting a specific process;
A better understanding of the mechanisms ;
Smoother execution of activities, for greater project efficiency;
Refinement of existing processes through retrospective analysis;
Easier communication between players in a shared process;
More consistent project planning, with improved risk anticipation.

How to implement process mapping in 6 steps?

Identification of macro-processes

The identification of your company’s fundamental macro-processes must precede the creation of individual processes and the listing of all activities. Note that these are procedures that cover global and often cross-functional functions.

Here are the different types of macro-processes:

Production macro-process: encompasses the entire value creation process for customers;
Decision-making macro-process: this is a process of analysis and decision-making, supported by all the data in the associated procedures;
Macro-process support: ensures optimum performance of all organizational processes by providing the required resources.

We recommend a top-down approach, from management to operations, or from global to specific.

List of activities to be mapped

Each macro-process is made up of various production, decision-making or support procedures, and therefore of a multitude of activities. The challenge lies in assigning each activity to its respective process.

At this stage, completeness is crucial to ensure the completeness of the process. Imagine yourself in the shoes of a new employee discovering the company, who needs to understand and easily apply a procedure.

By way of illustration, an HR process such as recruitment might include the following activities:

Assessment of team recruitment needs ;
Designing a job ad;
Approval of the advertisement by the relevant managers ;
Analysis of previous applications in a database ;
Publication of a job advert,
Collection and centralization of applications,
Analysis and selection of applications,
Telephone and video interviews ;
Organizing face-to-face interviews ;
Rejection of applications and notification of applicants ;
Preparation of the administrative documents required for hiring (employment contract, insurance, declarations to the relevant institutions and medical examination);
Preparing to welcome and integrate new employees.

The length of this list can vary according to a company’s needs.

Precision level definition

Defining the appropriate level of precision is crucial. Vital information must be accessible and intelligible to all, and directly applicable.

Conversely, too much information can render the process unusable, overwhelming the reader.

Logical arrangement of procedures

It’s time to classify each activity within a procedure. Here’s what it means:

Identifying the starting point of the process and the initial activity ;
Chronological classification of activities ;
Definition of links and sequence between activities (for example, activity A precedes activity B);
Definition of conditions for activity progression (for example, activity B can only be started once activity A has been completed),
Identification of the final process activity.

Process description and modeling

Process mapping transcends a simple diagram. It represents not only activities, their interconnections and sequences, but also :

The speakers;
The results;
Events ;
Key milestones ;
Company standards, if applicable.

In this case, it’s a good idea to design the procedures graphically. The use of BPM software is particularly well suited to the development of explicit processes, incorporating all the particularities of your business sector, with the greatest of ease.

Process testing and validation

The people responsible for mapping procedures within your organization are not necessarily those who consult and implement them on a daily basis.

That’s why it’s essential that your operational teams – and your partners and customers, if necessary – approve the process map. This will check that all essential data is present, that there are no redundancies, and much more.

Mapping to boost productivity

Process mapping is a strategic approach, accessible to companies of all sizes. It offers multiple advantages: structuring, improved management of procedures, time savings, budget savings.

To help you integrate a new partner as soon as possible, it’s very useful to have a case study at your disposal. For example, it can illustrate the process of welcoming and integrating a new employee using a BPM solution, to prepare him or her properly and automate best practices.