In the previous article in this series, we discussed the need to gain a broader understanding of the organization as you grow through you career. Working across functional areas to improve business flows is a way to make that happen while positively impacting business performance. We discussed business process terms, how to pick a work flow to redesign and the basic questions that business process improvement seeks to answer.

In this article, we will review the components to capture during the mapping phase, and questions to answer during the redesign phase. To reiterate the scope of these columns, we are not reviewing it in the detail we use for our massive reengineering engagements.

Instead, we are covering the topics at a high level to introduce you to the concepts and give you the confidence to try it on a smaller scale.

Taking it just one more level down from our previous column, there are several elements to capture when mapping and redesigning workflows:

1. The process goal and owner
2. Inputs – what is coming into the process
3. Organization – what is the structure of the process
4. Processes – what group of activities to consider in and out of scope, and what those activities are
5. People – the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the process
6. Products – what’s being processed (products, customers, patients)
7. Outputs – what’s coming out of the system
8. Outcomes – the impact of the outputs
9. Feedback – continuous information on how you are doing

Quick pointers include organizing around outputs, not tasks, functions or products. Design processes for simultaneous processing and link steps in real time. Capture all critical information once and at the source. Consider including the customer in the process improvement effort.