Still using the example of the leadership process within an organisation, it quickly becomes clear that this particular process is quite complex. One of the advantages of the mapping process is that it immediately brings home that very complexity.
You'll find that even your experienced operational managers will feel the same when they begin to map out their processes. While it's something they may have been doing for many years, the many layers that emerge within a process will still surprise them.
Each of the sub-processes now needs to be further broken down. Taking the sub-process outlined below, ‘Developing vision and mission statements’, and dividing it into key activities might look like this:
If you take each key activity that arises from the central process, you'll find that each activity can be further broken down into tasks and steps. For example, taking the first key activity above, ‘Consult with key stakeholders to determine expectations’, this will result in further tasks and steps like:
-
identify key stakeholder groups
-
assemble focus groups of stakeholders within each group
-
determine questions to be explored at the focus groups
-
organise logistics and conduct survey
-
assemble and analyse feedback.
Making improvements
By breaking down a process into its constituent parts, you develop a better understanding of that process and its value to the business. But more importantly, by honing in on specific elements of that process you can define where improvements can be made.
While you might not be able to improve a process per se, you can improve its constituent parts, which in turn improves the process.