The Power of the Process

I am currently working with a manufacturer/retailer that has embarked on a major change initiative. A key enabler of this change is the implementation of new technologies to gain efficiencies and provide access to enhanced information about their products and their customers. Pretty typical you might say and you would be correct. You would also be correct to say that many of these major change initiatives require more time and resources than was initially anticipated and sadly, often fail to achieve the desired results. I have come to believe that this particular organization will ultimately succeed, due in part to the unfailing support of their leader and their willingness to take the time to map their business processes.

I recently heard the following quote that I believes captures the Power of the Process…“If you haven’t mapped it, you don’t understand it”. There is something magical about visually depicting a business process. Some might say, why do we need these pretty pictures that we’ll never look at again? I say, it’s not about the picture at all but about the process-centered conversations that can drive organizational alignment and understanding.

Organizations that engage in process thinking, especially during major change initiatives, can realize the following benefits:

• Allow team members to visualize how work will get done in the future and overcome their fear of the unknown.

• Provide opportunities to improve a process by eliminating and/or automating steps. In other words, question everything.

• Assign roles and responsibilities for every step in the process so that work can reside where it can be performed most efficiently. The “swim lane” format for process mapping is a great tool for assigning roles to process steps.

• Identify steps in the process that will be enabled by new technologies to ensure procedures are created to define how best to utilize these technologies. One way to differentiate a process from a procedure is the following… the process defines the “what” by identifying the steps needed to execute a process. The procedure defines the “how” by describing how those steps will be completed.

• Link processes together through triggers (the event that starts a process) and outcomes (the end result of a process) so that hand-offs can be clearly established.

Most importantly, process mapping provides an opportunity to define the future and create buy in and accountability, particularly when a process requires coordination between multiple functions and/or departments.

With any change initiative there is always uncertainty. A process map brings clarity to the future and helps “connect the dots” for those who may be unable to visualize and understand how they will get from where they are today to where they need to be.

I guess that’s why they call it a map!