Documenting Processes

There are a few tools that help with Documenting Processes:

Process Map: This document focuses on individual steps for one specific process and aims to make it more efficient.

Value Stream Process Map: This document looks at the entirety of the process, identifying waste and optimizing the flow of value to the customer. This is a process map with specific times for each step, pain points attached to those steps, and data on each process step.

SIPOC: Often referred to as a type of process map it maps out the high-level process steps and considers the Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers, providing a complete visualization of the process and the variables needed for the process to work.

When creating a process map, work with a group so you can get multiple viewpoints.​

• Document the detailed steps:

• Talk to the people who do the work​

• Write these on self-stick notes or a flipchart​

• Make sure to include the steps that occur when things go wrong​

• Arrange the steps in sequence​

• Be consistent in the direction of flow—​time should always flow from top to ​bottom, or from left to right​

• Use appropriate process map symbols​

• Check for missing steps or decision points​

---

Describing a process can lead​ to three different versions:

What we think it is (PERCEPTION)

What it is (DOCUMENTATION)

What it should be (DESIRED)

---

Process Map Guidelines

1. Document the detailed steps​

2. Talk to the people who do the work​

3. Write these on self-stick notes or a flipchart​

4. Make sure to include the steps that occur when things go wrong​

5. Arrange the steps in sequence​

6. Be consistent in the direction of flow—​ time should always flow from top to ​bottom, or from left to right​

7. Use appropriate process map symbols​

8. Check for missing steps or decision points​

9. FOLLOW THE THING!

Standard Process Mapping Shapes

---

SIPOC

Supplier: Person/Organization that provides input to a Process

Input: Resource that is added to a Process by a Supplier

Process: Series of steeps where an Input converts to an Output

Output: Resource that is the result of a Process

Customer: Person/Organization that receives products or services.

SIPOC is a high-level view of a process