Setting the scene: Why use PM? Public sector bodies are experiencing the “more for less” challenge. Process mapping, when performed well, can help look at ways of working within your organisation and help make them more efficient, saving time, money and effort.

Learning Objectives By the end of this learning course, you should: Know what a process map is; Understand the purpose and context of process mapping; Know the key elements of process maps; Be able to read/interpret process maps; Be able to identify who should be involved in process mapping sessions; Understand your role in, and be able to contribute effectively at, process mapping sessions; and Be able to show how a process map can lead to improvements within your team.

What is Process Mapping? Process mapping is a way of looking through all processes within a business to review how they work, identify problems and weaknesses, and to develop improvements and solutions.

The Symbols Captured here is a quick guide to some of the basic symbols that are used in a process mapping session. Golden rules Only one arrow can go into & out of an action box. Where more than one arrow is required, use decisions/mergers The process map must represent all tasks involved – simply putting ‘HR process’ will not be enough as the ‘HR Process’ will involve a series of actions / decisions that must be shown in order to analysis the process correctly

How I can use it Captured below is the process map showing getting up in the morning, which breaks down the tasks involved of the morning ritual.

How I can use it (cont.) Building on from the above example, decision points can also be introduced to show how the process can change when decisions are needed.

How to apply this to your work What you should be able to do now is to think of how to apply this to your way of working. The example below shows how you could use process mapping to show how holiday requests are authorised by management.

How to apply this to your work II In reality, the process for having successfully authorised holiday may be as complex as this:

Who’s involved? It is important to get everyone involved in the current process to be represented, so the following people should be involved in the process mapping discussions: A facilitator to organise and run the sessions and capture discussions; and All of those with an involvement in the process, with at least one person per team present.

Key points – who’s involved In addition to those people being present at both the as-is and to-be sessions, all staff who are involved in the process should contribute to the discussion. While there may only be one person per team at the sessions, it is critical that whoever attends is prepared by speaking to the rest of the team and by being prepared to speak up and contribute to the group discussions.

How does it work? As-is The as-is process Initially the lead worker will need to document the current situation, this is called an ‘as-is’ process map and helps us understand how the process works in reality, highlighting actions which may not be captured in any procedure or policy documents.

How does it work? As-is The as-is process The ‘as-is’ is mapped out in a group session (workshop environment) where everyone involved in the process will give their honest assessment of what occurs within the current way of working. It is important that this stage will not look to design future ways of working just yet.

How does it work? To-be The to-be process After the analyst has documented and analysed the ‘as-is’ process, identifying any problems and issues, they will then need to map out the conceptual ‘to-be’ process. The ‘to-be’ map is a used to show how the process should work in an ideal world, with any improvements.

How does it work? To-be The to-be process The ‘to-be’ map is also mapped out in an interactive workshop, from this session, improvements and ideas are considered and an agreed way forward is signed off by the project team. After this it is time to turn the conceptual ‘to-be’ map into reality. The team should agree on the process improvements and these should be trialled before being implemented fully.

Quiz time What is this? Action Decision Swimlane

Quiz time What does the as-is process map show? Where improvements should be made to the way of working Who performs which tasks, how they pass on responsibility to different departments and any external factors (time, systems etc.) that are used in this way of working. Who isn’t doing their job well at the way of working

Quiz time What is the difference between the as-is and the to-be process map? The to-be map shows the current way of working, the as-is shows how tasks were performed previously The as-is shows what isn’t working well, while the to-be shows how tasks should be performed The as-is captures an impartial assessment of the current way of working while the to-be shows how changes could be made to this in order to make efficiencies, improvements and show responsibility for the actions taking place

How can I use in my own place? If you would like to learn more about process mapping please visit www.imrovementservice.org.uk/BA or contact: BA@improvementservice.org.uk