What IS a Process Map?

[curryassassin]

A some have stated, the process map could be very complicated or it could be very simple. It depends on the intended use of the map and the process or processes you are mapping. Many times the quality system as a whole is mapped, when attempting to show how ISO9000 requirements are addressed. This can produce a very complicated map. Or mapping can illustrate the main activities and tasks of one critical process.

Process mapping can help improve efficiency, effectiveness, identify customer / supplier relationships, identify how to measure whether the process is performing as required, who owns the process etc. Or simply to illustrate what a thousand words in SOPs actually mean.

I like the definition of 'visual or diagrammatical representation' of the process or processes. I am aware of the following types of mapping and flow charting, each with their own benefits and drawbacks:

• Process Flowcharts
• Cross Functional or Swimlane
• Integration Definition for Function Modelling
• Relationship Diagrams or Input / Output Diagrams

[JaneB]

In Reply to Parent Post by Peter Fraser

have you ever been in a meeting and discovered after a couple of hours that someone is talking about something different from what you thought, because they are using a term that you thought "everyone knows what that means" but they use it differently?

Too often

Only yesterday, I saw that a draft procedure I"d sent a client had had the following sentence added to it (which I most certainly didn't write!)

"This procedural process is to be adhered to... "
Or was it a 'processional procedure' that he called it? Groan.

Or then there's the case of 'translation' where you look up a word in a dictionary and then use it, thinking it has the meaning you looked up, only to find it's quite different. I did this with the word 'embarrasoza' (may have spelled wrongly) in talking to some Spanish speakers in a professional situation, and wondered why they looked at me funny. I was trying to say I was embarassed about something; apparently I communicated to them that I was pregnant.

In Reply to Parent Post by Peter Fraser

As is often the case, there is no "right" answer. Deming talked of "operational definitions" - what terms mean in a particular context. The important thing is that the meaning is understood by everyone, and that isn't the case here.

Yes, just so. The phrase 'process map' isn't defined anywhere (which doesn't stop people hotly defending or writing as if it were), and then to add to the confusion, it also has synonyms, as Umang points out. Meanings DO at times depend & yes, I know is something that the dyed-in-the-wool engineering types don't like! As long as we avoid the Cheshire Cat approach.

So I thought it was worth breaking this question out and polling it - early results and comments already show some interesting results. I look forward to more.

In Reply to Parent Post by Peter Fraser

What is also important is why these various types of "map" are produced - I have seen enough (bad) examples to suggest that many of them confuse rather than clarify, and often they are produced because the author thinks that they have to draw one rather than because their target audience will gain benefit.

Yes, me too, and very good point. If they're not useful and meaningful, I wouldn't bother. And I've seen some truly hideous examples which no doubt took the creator a long time to do... and essentially communicated zilch (except perhaps 'boy, have I spent a long time in VIsio copying in the clauses from the relevant Standard!) Hence perhaps Jim's aversion, which I thoroughly understand. (Great definition, Jim!)

[qualityos]

I think Jim's definition a very good one as well... some process maps have absolutely zilch for value. However some can be very useful... Like all good discussion, the answer to when a process map is useful and when it is not is that it Depends.

The only time I use process maps is when I have never seen the process before and I need to understand a very high level flow (Six Sigma Consultant). I am not talking about a Viso produced process flow, I am talking about a "on the back of a napkin" high level flow. Enough to tell me which step happen after which step and a basic idea of what happens in each step.

The second instance where I will use a process flow will be when I have to understand the physics and geometry of how a particular machine/transaction works. (i.e. the clamp gets indexed, the collet closes, the tool engages, and the part is released). Obviously this level of detail is needed well within the DMAIC process, which shows that process flows are not as critical as many believe.

What I find a lot of the time is that the documented process flow (in Visio) does not represent how the process actually runs. That is really sad.

[gfreely]

"have you ever been in a meeting and discovered after a couple of hours that someone is talking about something different from what you thought, because they are using a term that you thought "everyone knows what that means" but they use it differently?"

Just a sidebar humourous example:

When I took over as Calibration Manager for a manufacturing company (having come from a Metrology lab background), I was explaining to my bosses in a meeting about the system I had created and got up-and-running....aaaaaaand I used the word "recall". I thought they were going to melt like wax candles. Anyone working in or around calibration KNOWS what it means, but having been new to a manufacturing environment, I didn't KNOW what it meant in the MANUFACTURING world...oops!

[Ashok GS]

Typically, Process Map is a schematic representation of the linkage between process and process elements.

It depends on the organization, to the extent it wants to use the mapping. It can be done at an organization level or at a unit level. List of activities can be mapped to complete a process. List of processes can be mapped to complete the system of working in an organization.

Mapping becomes very effective in the way the improvements are done. For example in our organization we have used the mapping to describe the flow of activities for specific processes. We have identified a Initiator, Reviewer, Responsible person through blocks and colors for the importance of the activity. Similarly the way of mapping can be optimized with respect to the business needs.

A snapshot of such a process mapping is attached for your reference.

Good luck !

[raju8177]

In Reply to Parent Post by curryassassin

A some have stated, the process map could be very complicated or it could be very simple. It depends on the intended use of the map and the process or processes you are mapping. Many times the quality system as a whole is mapped, when attempting to show how ISO9000 requirements are addressed. This can produce a very complicated map. Or mapping can illustrate the main activities and tasks of one critical process.

Process mapping can help improve efficiency, effectiveness, identify customer / supplier relationships, identify how to measure whether the process is performing as required, who owns the process etc. Or simply to illustrate what a thousand words in SOPs actually mean.

I like the definition of 'visual or diagrammatical representation' of the process or processes. I am aware of the following types of mapping and flow charting, each with their own benefits and drawbacks:

• Process Flowcharts
• Cross Functional or Swimlane
• Integration Definition for Function Modelling
• Relationship Diagrams or Input / Output Diagrams

Process maping is time line Process flow charts. Where in doing the Time studies are much easier where we can find out the Valve Added & NVA time.

[Hondo812]

Since the word "map" is used it is understood to be graphical in nature. No one confuses written directions to a destination with a map to the same location. I honestly can't see why anyone would suggest that a "process map" would amount to a procedure or other text only document.

[Jim Wynne]

In Reply to Parent Post by Hondo812

Since the word "map" is used it is understood to be graphical in nature. No one confuses written directions to a destination with a map to the same location. I honestly can't see why anyone would suggest that a "process map" would amount to a procedure or other text only document.

I agree that "map" (as a noun) suggests a graphical representation, but it's possible to have written descriptions of process interactions that are not maps, per se, but are more effective than maps.