What IS a Process Map?

JaneB said:

For example, in many if not most processes in service-based firms, it would be absolutely meaningless (and often quite ludicrous) to attempt to put in the 'time involved per step' - whereas I see that it is seen as often critically important in a manufacturing field.

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Surely, you jest!!??

Hondo812 said:

I would strongly disagree with your assessment. I worked with a firm that had a Customer Service department that kept track of the number of calls answered per hour, the average call time, the average wait time, etc. They obviously thought that managing those times was important. I have seen here in the last 2-3 weeks a repair center manager asking specific questions about mapping his process, mention of office processes time study data, and references to this article https://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/air/ai200611.html and how tackling the white collar sector is a task vital to the survival of business.

I have worked at other firms that have addressed some of the soft issues like purchase orders. We mapped the original process, identified area of waste and streamlined the process to yield a cut of approximately 50% in delivery time. The firm that I am with at the moment tracks time for ECO's. Date initiated to date approved. The process is mapped and routinely evaluated to see if there are areas for improvement.

I don't find the notion of looking at service industry processes ludicrous at all.

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Unfortunately, reducing the time taken to answer a customer call / getting more calls per hour can very often decrease customer satisfaction - the customer may be held longer before he or she gets through, the "solution" offered may not be the best since there is pressure to get on to the next call etc. It is often not a single process that should be "measured", but the overall cycle time and level of satisfaction from the need to call to final resolution.

Peter Fraser said:

Unfortunately, reducing the time taken to answer a customer call / getting more calls per hour can very often decrease customer satisfaction - the customer may be held longer before he or she gets through, the "solution" offered may not be the best since there is pressure to get on to the next call etc. It is often not a single process that should be "measured", but the overall cycle time and level of satisfaction from the need to call to final resolution.

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Hondo 812 didn't imply that they were trying to reduce call time. They appear quite pro-active and astute in their process performance measurement choices.

I would hope that they are reviewing their Customer Satisfaction Performance while planning and setting their "optimal timing - average call time, average wait time, etc" objectives, which would meet targets for both effectiveness and efficiency.

Patricia Ravanello

Patricia Ravanello said:

Hondo 812 didn't imply that they were trying to reduce call time. They appear quite pro-active and astute in their process performance measurement choices.

I would hope that they are reviewing their Customer Satisfaction Performance while planning and setting their "optimal timing - average call time, average wait time, etc" objectives, which would meet targets for both effectiveness and efficiency.

Patricia Ravanello

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Maybe I assumed that "managing" the times meant setting some sort of limit or controls, rather than doing what was necessary to close out the reason for the call. Which is a major fault with (eg) call centres.

I do warn others not to "assume", though! The meaning of words, again...

Hondo812 said:

I would strongly disagree with your assessment. I worked with a firm that had a Customer Service department that kept track of the number of calls answered per hour, the average call time, the average wait time, etc. They obviously thought that managing those times was important. I have seen here in the last 2-3 weeks a repair center manager asking specific questions about mapping his process, mention of office processes time study data, and references to this article https://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/air/ai200611.html and how tackling the white collar sector is a task vital to the survival of business.

I have worked at other firms that have addressed some of the soft issues like purchase orders. We mapped the original process, identified area of waste and streamlined the process to yield a cut of approximately 50% in delivery time. The firm that I am with at the moment tracks time for ECO's. Date initiated to date approved. The process is mapped and routinely evaluated to see if there are areas for improvement.

I don't find the notion of looking at service industry processes ludicrous at all.

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Yes, I think that I didn't word it carefully enough, & definitely shouldn't have said 'if not most' - too sweeping a generalisation, based on the examples I was thinking of at the time. Call centres? Yes, absolute prime example of when measuring time taken is considered important and a valid measurement - presuming that the issue is actually effectively handled.

But there are others when it isn't - and would be quite wrong. For example, an organisation providing one to one support to callers with a mental illness - the absolute last thing they want to do is get them off the line as quickly as possible! In some cases, the call may last a minute or two, in others it may be an hour or more...

In some government department processes, they have no control over the time, which is dictated by the amount and complexity of the consultation process and responses. Here again, time is not an effective metric for effectiveness (except to indicate how long some things can become).

Peter makes a good point about the assumptions. I want the focus to be on the effective outcome - and in some cases in some service fields (she says, wording it more carefully!), time measurement is not an effective metric.

To me it is synonomous with flowchart, process diagram. It shows the sequencial sequence of activities over time using graphical symbols. It has a beginning & end. Usually one process depicted but not always. The word map to me, connotates getting from A to B following a route or routes. My impression of process mapping is that the symbology is rather open - anything goes, whereas flowcharting or Lean current & future state maps have more standardized symbols.

A Process Map comprises a stream of activities that transform a well defined input, or set of inputs, into a pre-defined set of outputs. I use Process Mapping as an Improvement tool, as it is an excellent means of identifying weak or absent stages in a process.

Jo

JoCam said:

A Process Map comprises a stream of activities that transform a well defined input, or set of inputs, into a pre-defined set of outputs.

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Jo, thanks for this. But I'm a little confused by what you've said, as it sounds to me like a description of an actual process ('a stream of activities that transform...') rather than a process map.

I do agree with you that process mapping is a useful tool, but my interest was in what people mean by a 'process map'. And I notice from the various votes that the thing/document/diagram/whatever can be either of a single process or of multiple processes. Which is rather what I thought, and no wonder some people find the term confusing.

JaneB said:

Jo, thanks for this. But I'm a little confused by what you've said, as it sounds to me like a description of an actual process ('a stream of activities that transform...') rather than a process map.

I do agree with you that process mapping is a useful tool, but my interest was in what people mean by a 'process map'. And I notice from the various votes that the thing/document/diagram/whatever can be either of a single process or of multiple processes. Which is rather what I thought, and no wonder some people find the term confusing.

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In the same way, there is often danger of confusion between "the management system" and "a description of the management system". A manual, or a set of process maps (whatever they are...!) etc in electronic format, is never "the management system" - it is no more than someone's best attempt to describe it. The system is what you do and what you need to be able to do it.

JaneB said:

Jo, thanks for this. But I'm a little confused by what you've said, as it sounds to me like a description of an actual process ('a stream of activities that transform...') rather than a process map.

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Process Mapping as an Improvement technique consists of a group of carefully selected employees establishing all the stages of a particular process, usually by writing, affixing post-it notes, photographs or flowchart symbols onto a wallchart. This highlights any gaps or weaknesses and raises discussions on how to improve the process. The output of such a session is corrective and preventive actions, and usually amendment of the associated procedure.

Jane, I agree with you that the term is a little confusing, and this is just my understanding of it. I consider it to be simply a detailed illustration of a process, leading people from the inputs to the outputs, just as a road map would lead you from A to B.

Jo