TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1. Business Process Mapping
- 2. How Business Process Mapping Can Benefit Your Organisation
- 3. Does Every Organisation Need to Map Their Processes?
- 4.How Does Business Process Mapping Help Achieve Business Goals?
- 5. Flow Chart Vs Process Maps
- 6. Process Mapping Symbols
- 7. How to Elevate Your Process Mapping Standards
- 8. Avoid These Common Mistakes While Mapping Processes
- 9. What Do BPM Professionals Say About Business Process Mapping? Findings from a BPM Survey
- 10. Real-Life Case Studies of Process Mapping Driving Organisational Goals
- 11.Simplify Process Mapping Using BPM Software
- 12. Streamline Your Process Mapping Efforts
- 13. FAQs
Every business runs on numerous processes, from recruiting new employees and filing paperwork to delivering products or services. However, many of these processes are undocumented, leading to poor team coordination and communication. Any adjustments to these processes are passed along by word of mouth and cannot be measured.
A common saying in business processes holds true: ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ This statement shows the critical need for businesses to identify and map their processes and follow a systematic way of managing and improving them continuously using Business Process Mapping tools.
In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the world of Business Process Mapping, exploring its benefits, best practices, and how you can get the maximum business value.
What is Business Process Mapping?
Business process mapping visually represents your organisation’s internal or external operations. This presentation states how a process should function from start to finish using process mapping symbols (covered below in this blog). A process map consists of:
- Tasks
- Applications
- Documents
- Roles and Responsibilities
Defining the above things through mapping aims to unite all the employees and stakeholders to fulfil the common organisational goal.
Additionally, business process mapping also answers the following questions about how work gets done within an organisation:
What happens? It identifies the individual steps and activities involved in a particular process.
Who is responsible? It assigns roles and responsibilities to individuals or teams involved in each process step.
When does it happen? It shows the timing of activities, highlighting dependencies and bottlenecks.
How is it done? It describes the methods, tools, and resources used at each process stage.
How Business Process Mapping Can Benefit Your Organisation
Let’s discover what benefits process mapping can bring to maximise your business potential.
Clarity of the End-to-End Process
Business process mapping captures an end-to-end process to give clarity to all employees and stakeholders regarding how the process will function, who the process owners are, which task depends on whom, and what problems may arise while performing the task or procedures.
Watch this quick video to learn about Do’s and Don’ts of Mapping an End-to-End Process.
Systematic Control Over How the Process Functions
By mapping out processes, businesses gain precise control over each step and can identify where improvements are needed. This can help process owners and managers take relevant steps to achieve the goal of the process.
Standardised Documentation Across Organisations
Process mapping helps in setting standard documentation of procedures and best practices. When everyone follows a predefined set of guidelines, it minimises variations in how tasks are performed, which helps predict the process outcomes.
Elimination of Non-Value-Adding Tasks
Through the visual representation of processes, companies can identify and eliminate non-value-adding tasks or bottlenecks that slow down operations, leading to cost savings and increased productivity.
Better Compliance with Industry Standards
Process mapping helps ensure compliance by documenting the steps required for adherence to the organisation’s internal and external regulations and standards and providing a clear path for audits and inspections.
Does Every Organisation Need to Map Their Processes?
Yes, the adoption of business process mapping is necessary for every organisation. But why is it so critical? Let’s explore.
In the past, during the industrial age, operations were visible on the factory floor, providing transparency on how the production work was happening. However, in today’s tech-driven era, most of the businesses like yours operate behind the scenes. To regain that transparency and understand how activities are performed now in our businesses, we need business process mapping.
Moreover, business process mapping facilitates the transformation of organisations from being reliant on individuals to being reliant on processes. What does this mean? A process-dependent organisation doesn’t solely rely on individuals’ presence to function optimally.
Let’s take an example to understand this. In case a key employee in an organisation resigns or is on leave, a process-dependent organisation, equipped with documented processes and operational knowledge, can seamlessly continue operations without hindrance.
Further, process mapping lays the foundation for your process automation, digital transformation and system implementation initiatives by accurately capturing the current state and identifying opportunities for improvement.
These reasons underscore the need to map and maintain business processes in every organisation regularly. By embracing process mapping, organisations will gain transparency and can become resilient, adaptable, and capable of sustaining operations even in challenging circumstances. It’s a fundamental step towards organisational efficiency and longevity.
How Does Business Process Mapping Help Achieve Business Goals?
Every business operates to achieve a desired goal. Business process mapping is an indispensable choice that empowers organisations to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and achieve desired business goals. Here’s how it helps:
- It lays out your processes visually, making them crystal clear for everyone involved to ensure that the tasks are performed efficiently. This can improve the outcomes aligned with your business objectives.
- Each task is clearly defined while mapping processes, which eliminates the guesswork and ensures that the teams stay focused on what matters first. Employees can drive progress towards their goals by following a roadmap that outlines their tasks and timelines.
- Business Process Mapping assigns responsibilities, ensuring that every aspect of the process has someone dedicated to its success. This clarity fosters accountability and empowers employees to excel in their roles.
- The attached documents with each process provide detailed instructions for every task, promoting consistency and reducing errors. By following clear guidelines, teams can execute tasks precisely, saving time and resources.
- Business Process Mapping enables continuous improvement by allowing you to monitor results and identify areas for enhancement. By regularly reviewing processes and making data-driven adjustments, you can optimise operations and propel your organisation towards its goals.
Access this Process Mapping Success Checklist to get the desired output from your process mapping efforts.
FlowChart Vs Process Maps
Are flowcharts and process maps the same?” This is a common question for many organisations. While they might seem similar at first glance, they serve different purposes:
Flowchart:
Think of a flowchart as a basic, two-dimensional representation of tasks linked together with lines and boxes. It provides a linear view of activities, listing tasks and their connections in a straightforward manner.
A flowchart looks like this:
Process Maps:
Now, process maps take things a step further. They’re like the enriched version of flowcharts, adding more information to the mix. In addition to tasks, process maps incorporate roles responsible for executing these tasks, documents or systems used in the process, and various decisions made along the way. This additional layer of information transforms the flowchart into a comprehensive, three-dimensional view of business activities.
The above difference explains that choosing process maps to document all your business activities is the best decision. Process Maps provide a deeper understanding of how activities are performed within an organisation. They offer invaluable insights that go beyond what a traditional flowchart can provide.
A process map looks like this:
Process Mapping Symbols
Here, we look at Process mapping symbols as defined by Business Process Mapping Notation (BPMN), a worldwide language used for business process mapping to show the end-to-end activities that are done within the process.The Core Process Mapping symbols as per BPMN can be divided into four categories:
BPMN SYMBOLS
1. Flow Objects
| Symbols | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Events | Shows how the process starts, what happens during the process, and also how the process comes to an end. |
 | Tasks/Activities | Shows the activities functioning within the process maps. |
 | Gateways | Show any decisions or pathways that are coming out of a specific task. |
2. Connecting Objects
| Symbols | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Sequence Flows | Connect different elements like tasks, gateways, elements, etc. in the process. |
 | Message Flows | Shows any communication between the main pool and the external pool. |
 | Association | Shows the inputs and outputs from a specific task. |
3.Artefacts
| Symbols | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Data Object | Shows the documents and systems used or to be used to function a task. |
 | Tax Annotation | Provides any extra information that you want to add to the process map that you can’t add as a part of that specific task. |
4.Swim Lanes
| Symbols | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Pool | In a process map, you have a main pool which shows your entity, which is your business or organisation. |
 | Lanes | Within the main pool, we have lanes which are the rows responsible for executing the task in the process map. |
To understand more deeply about these symbols, watch this quick video: The Core Symbols for Business Process Mapping
How to Elevate Your Process Mapping Standards
Though there are established guidelines for creating business processes. But if you want to elevate your business process standards you need to consider a few things specifically. Here are techniques you can use to elevate your process mapping standards:
Capture Roles: Begin by clearly defining the roles involved in each process. Identify key stakeholders, decision-makers, and contributors. Assign responsibilities and establish accountability to ensure everyone understands their role in the process.
Define Tasks: Break down each process into specific tasks and subtasks. Make sure that each process must contain no more than 5-15 tasks and the task name should be precise and concise.
Integrate Technology: Leverage technology to streamline process mapping and execution. Use specialised software or tools, like PRIME BPM, designed for process mapping to visualise workflows, analyse and improve tasks, and collaborate effectively across teams.
Include Documents: Incorporate relevant documents, forms, templates, and guidelines within the process map. Provide easy access to necessary documentation at each step to ensure compliance and consistency.
Consider Issues: Anticipate potential bottlenecks, challenges, and risks within the process by involving people who are going to perform the defined tasks. Identify areas prone to inefficiencies or errors and devise strategies to mitigate them. Proactively addressing issues enhances the resilience and effectiveness of the process.
Promote Continuous Improvement: Foster a culture of continuous improvement within the organisation. Encourage feedback from stakeholders and regularly review and refine processes based on performance metrics and evolving business needs.
Focus on Value Tasks: Prioritise tasks that directly contribute to delivering value to customers or achieving organisational objectives. Eliminate or optimise non-value-added activities to streamline processes and maximise efficiency.
Measure Performance: Establish metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate process performance. Monitor key metrics such as cycle time, throughput, error rates, and customer satisfaction. Use data-driven insights to identify areas for improvement and track progress over time.
Calculate Time and Cost: Assess the time and resources required to execute each process accurately. Calculate the cost associated with each step, including labour, materials, and overhead.
Define RACI: Implement the RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix to clarify roles and responsibilities within the process. Clearly define who is responsible for each task, who is ultimately accountable for the process’s success, who needs to be consulted, and who should be kept informed.
Watch this quick video to learn the Key Elements to Ensure a Standard and Consistent Process Mapping Approach.
3 Key Elements to Ensure
Standard and Consistent Process Mapping Approach
Avoid These Common Mistakes While Process MappingAvoid These Common Mistakes While Mapping Processes
There are many mistakes that organisations can make while mapping business processes. Here we will highlight 5 common process mapping mistakes that can derail your efforts.
1. Engaging with the wrong stakeholders during process interviews can lead to incomplete or inaccurate information. Ensure you identify and involve key individuals who possess firsthand knowledge of the processes being mapped.
2. Gathering input from multiple stakeholders might seem comprehensive, but it can result in conflicting perspectives and convoluted maps. Focus on obtaining input from relevant stakeholders directly involved in the process to maintain clarity and coherence.
3. Overly complex process maps with numerous tasks can overwhelm users and obscure critical steps. Keep maps concise and focused on essential activities to facilitate understanding and implementation.
4. Utilising inaccurate process mapping standards can lead to inconsistencies and misinterpretations. Adhere to recognised standards and guidelines to ensure consistency and compatibility across your mapping efforts.
5. Documenting steps occurring outside your organisation’s boundaries overlooks crucial dependencies and interactions. Consider the entire process ecosystem, including external partners and stakeholders, to create comprehensive and insightful maps.
What Do BPM Professionals Say About Business Process Mapping? Findings from a BPM Survey
Discover insights from the Global BPM Trends survey conducted by PRIME BPM, where over 4,500 business professionals shared their perspectives on business process mapping.
Top Goals of Business Process Mapping
According to the survey, the following goals represent the foremost objectives that BPM professionals strive to achieve through process mapping:
- Continuous Improvement: For 3,132 (63%) BPM professionals, continuous improvement is the primary goal of process mapping. By identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies, organisations pave the way for incremental enhancements. These improvements lead to cost reduction and increased efficiency, ensuring competitiveness in dynamic markets.
- Facilitating System Implementation: Preparation for system implementation is crucial for 2,094 (42%) BPM professionals. Process mapping helps manage the complexity of integrating new technologies by documenting workflows and anticipating impacts on operations. This ensures a smoother transition, minimising disruptions, and aligning new systems with existing processes.
- Enhancing Knowledge Management: 2,096 (42%) professionals highlight effective knowledge management as a key objective. Process mapping helps preserve and organise institutional knowledge, ensuring it’s readily accessible to all employees. This shift towards process-dependent operations fosters greater consistency and agility in decision-making, crucial in the age of information overload.
Process automation, Organisational restructuring, Operational transparency and establishing a new business unit were some other key goals identified by BPM professionals.
Challenges of Business Process Mapping
It is true that Business Process Mapping is vital for operational efficiency, yet organisations encounter significant challenges in accurately charting their processes. Insights from the survey also highlight the key hurdles BPM professionals usually face while process mapping:
- Absence of Clear Rules and Standards: 1916 (38%) of respondents cite the lack of clear guidelines as the primary obstacle. Without defined standards, inconsistencies and inaccuracies plague process documentation, undermining the entire BPM endeavour.
- Inadequate Time Allocation: 1716 (35%) BPM Professionals identify insufficient time allocation for process mapping teams as a major challenge. Rushed efforts lead to incomplete or erroneous mapping, diminishing BPM effectiveness.
- Skills Gap: Skills gap is the third most common issue, with 1672 (34%) respondents expressing concerns about team proficiency. Investing in training and upskilling is crucial to address inefficient mapping.
Organisations also struggle with factors like the absence of dedicated mapping teams, professional tools, and inadequate team size.
These insights underscore the critical role of establishing clear rules and standards, dedicating resources, and investing in skills development to address the challenges faced during BPM. Overcoming these hurdles is essential for laying a strong foundation for BPM initiatives.
Real-Life Case Studies of Process Mapping Driving Organisational Goals
Case Study 1: Philippines’ Leading Insurance Firm Transformed Operations
Challenges
- Manual, inefficient, and undocumented processes.
- Siloed efforts across different business units.
- Lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities.
- Absence of a centralised process repository.
- Insufficient process management framework before automation.
Approach:
The company recognised the need for a robust process management framework before automating processes. PRIME BPM was chosen for its cloud-based, plug-and-play software. 120 critical processes were identified and documented end-to-end with attributes, KPIs, and procedures.
Impact:
- Estimated annual savings of USD 7.5 million.
- Enhanced clarity in roles and responsibilities.
- Reduction in the number of tools and licenses.
- Approximately 30% reduction in manpower.
- Standardised processes and sharing of best practices across subsidiaries.
Read the complete case study – Moving Towards Future-Ready Insurance Operations
Case Study 2: Enhanced Citizen Services in Canadian County
Challenges:
- Paper-based and labour-intensive processes.
- Delay in citizen services due to inefficiencies.
- Lack of data or analytics for strategic decision-making.
- Absence of a centralised repository and single source of truth.
Solution:
The county adopted PRIME BPM to streamline citizen services and improve efficiencies. It became the first municipality in North America to implement lean efforts through PRIME BPM software.
Impact:
- Completion of 24 business process improvement projects.
- 280 hours of staff time saved annually in the Create Journal Voucher process, valued at approximately $21,800.
- $850,000 of operational savings reallocated from 2023 budget.
- Recognition at the 49th Annual CAMA Conference for driving continuous improvement with PRIME.
Read the complete case study – Unlocking the Power of Process Insights for Transforming Municipal Services
Simplify Process Mapping Using BPM Software
Mapping out workflows and procedures can often feel like a daunting task. Traditional methods, like using pen and paper or basic digital tools, can be slow and prone to errors. As we all know this is an era of digital transformation and to keep up with the pace organisations like yours are always on the hunt for smarter solutions to simplify the process mapping journey.
Fortunately, there’s specialised Business Process Management (BPM) software designed to make process mapping a breeze. However, when you’re picking out BPM software for your organisation, you need to keep the following features in mind to ensure it fits your needs seamlessly:
User-Friendly Interface: The user-friendly features like drag and drop, pre-built process libraries, etc. allow you to rapidly map the process without any hustle.
BPMN 2.0 Compatibility: Make sure the software you choose supports BPMN 2.0, a standard notation for modelling business processes. This ensures your diagrams are clear, consistent and easy to read.
Customisable Attributes: The software should let you define important details for each process, such as text descriptions, documents, KPIs, inputs, outputs, roles, RACI, and deadlines, ensuring detailed process maps.
Standard Operating Procedures Support: Ensure the software can document your standard operating procedures, maintaining consistency and compliance across your organisation.
Compliance Alerts Configuration: This feature lets you set up alerts for any deviations from established processes or regulatory requirements, reducing risks and ensuring adherence to standards.
Automated Analytics: Process Analytics is important to understand issues in the as-is process and map to-be processes. Look for software that provides automated analytics to quickly generate insights on process time, cost, and value analysis, helping you identify and eliminate non-value-adding tasks efficiently.
Process Prioritisation: When mapping business processes, it is crucial to identify priority processes that need urgent attention for phase 1 and leave other processes to phase 2 and 3. A tool that will allow you to identify the priority tasks in a single click, will prove valuable by enabling you to focus on the most critical areas that need improvement first.
Simulation: The ability to simulate to-be processes lets you test different scenarios before implementing the process changes. With this you can clearly understand the potential outcomes and make more informed decisions.
Real-Time Tracking: Real-time monitoring capabilities let you keep an eye on your processes as they happen. This helps you pinpoint any bottlenecks, track performance, and make data-driven improvements.
Streamline Your Process Mapping Efforts
Choosing PRIME BPM software to build and optimise business processes is a strategic decision that offers numerous benefits. PRIME BPM is one of the leading business process mapping tools for process management due to its robust features and user-friendly interface. One key advantage is its ability to facilitate collaboration among cross-functional teams, allowing organisations to break down silos and work cohesively towards process improvement.
PRIME BPM’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface simplifies the process mapping process, making it accessible to both process experts and business professionals, without the need for prior mapping knowledge. Furthermore, its analytical and simulation features allow organisations to not only map their processes but also simulate changes to see the potential impact before implementation which minimises risks and maximises efficiency gains.
If you’re ready to take your business process mapping efforts to the next level, explore PRIME BPM through a 15-day free trial. Try it for yourself and discover how PRIME BPM can help your organisation unlock its full potential.
FAQs
Business process mapping can enhance customer satisfaction by identifying bottlenecks, improving efficiency, and ensuring smoother interactions.
Key elements of business process mapping include defining processes, documenting steps, identifying stakeholders, and analysing data.
The best tool for process mapping depends on individual needs, but PRIME BPM offers comprehensive features and ease of use.
PRIME BPM is an end-to-end Business Process Management software that helps you map, analyse and improve your business processes. PRIME BPM Modeller includes an intuitive drag-and-drop functionality to simplify the process mapping process, making it accessible to both process experts and business professionals. You have the ability to capture process attributes, including Roles, Documents, RACI, etc. It includes a one-click process prioritisation to help you identify priority processes for mapping and improvement. Get a complete overview of PRIME’s process mapping tool here>> https://www.primebpm.com/business-process-mapping-modeling-software
Yes, PRIME BPM provides online support , with BPM experts ready to address your questions and concerns.