Number 117 – Use Process Maps

Use process maps for the extended value stream to assist in conducting projects.

Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic

Value stream mapping is a great tool to uncover potential improvement opportunities.  I would like to expand the scope of our focus to process maps.  Process mapping, in general, opens the eyes of people involved in the processes that create value for our clients.  There are many versions of process maps that we can use to uncover opportunities. 

When I provide process mapping training, I know that the team is going to identify possible projects before the end of the class.  We always do.  I encourage the team to work together to apply what we have covered and map a process within their own organization.  This consistently leads to a list of improvement opportunities, at which point I ask, “Do you think we should work on one of these?”

My resistance to leaving the thinking at just value stream maps is based on the sophistication of the tool itself.  The exercise of mapping a process is valuable whether it is done at the level of detail associated with value stream mapping, or if it is a simple top-down map.  I encourage teams to map to the level of detail required to solve the problem.  Value stream maps, and the details they demand, are great tools for solving complex problems of production flow.  A swim-lane or functional deployment map might be all you need to identify a relationship that is broken and causing the problem you are addressing. 

Don’t Forget the Process Maps 

The purists among us might be a bit distracted by my perspective.  It is born from more than twenty years of experience across many different industries.  There are many types of process maps to explore.  Makigami maps are often foreign to industrial organizations, but of significant importance to hospitals and other transactional and administrative operations where processes are invisible.  There are many mapping options from which to choose.  Which one will most effectively assist in solving your problem?

Questions For Your Consideration

Where do you see power or force present in your organization?

Where are improved relational processes needed to overcome some barrier to better organizational performance?

How does encouragement enable progress?

How do you respond to requests for help in removing barriers?

I hope you find this inaugural idea both familiar and thoughtful.  I hope you find a new way to overcome an old problem.

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