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The Next Big Step:  Turning the Process Map into a Visual Analysis Map (with notes on how to facilitate)

 

What if you could create a visual that showed your data gathering, problem solving and analytical thinking analysis all in one place?  What if you could have a map which would enable you to talk to stakeholders and executives and get their input on problems, time delays, and key quality issues?  That’s what the Visual Analysis Map can do for you and your team.

 

The tried and true “As Is” process map is the blue print for analyzing the work process.  I build the As Is map with a team and they get excited about the process because it communicates so much.  It shows:

 

  • The steps, decisions, flow, rework loops, and number of roles in the process
  • The beginning and end of the process – which demonstrates the project scope
  • The complexity of the process
  • The important IT systems in the process (each one gets its own swim lane)

We build it on a wall on a large sheet of butcher paper or a roll of construction paper using three inch square stickies for the steps and turning them on their side for the decision diamonds. Building the map together with the appropriate team begins the change process.   It enables employees

 

  • To see how their individual parts integrate into the whole process
  • To learn how their part impacts the final outcome and the end customer
  • To move from a people focus to a process focus.  This happens as team members see how all the tasks fit together into one process, and they begin to shift from thinking of a task as done by this person or this department. Often this shift reduces the tendency to blame other people or departments.
  • To generate  initial improvement ideas

 

As you might guess, the results are not the same if you build this map using an expert, such as a business analyst, interviewing all the people in the process and constructing an As Is map from their comments.

 

To enhance the change management process, the team puts the As Is process map on display in the work place. Then team members review it with other colleagues and stakeholders. “Vetting” the As Is map involves others in the process improvement effort. The team engages others by

  • Quickly explaining the workflow and asking them about the section that they are involved in.
  • Asking for another specific example of this work process, and noting key similarities or differences from the example the team mapped.
  • Seeing what improvement ideas others have, and adding them to a posted improvement log.

But what if we could take the map from the historical document that has just been created to a Visual Analysis Map?  It would allow for a whole new level of engagement, dialogue, and idea creation.  That’s what I do next with the team.  I use a number of visual symbols and tools to display the analysis process. And of course, we show each symbol on a legend on the As Is map. These symbols are:

 

  • Green dots with unhappy faces
  • Red dots with clocks
  • Orange two post-its
  • Hot pink data boxes
  • A notched time line
  • Blue post-its

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Green Dots with Unhappy Faces

 

Begin with the green dots.  (You can buy these from any good stationery store. Get the ones that are ¾ inch in diameter.) Give each person 3-5 dots.  (Use 3 dots each if you have 6 or more people and more dots per person if the team is a smaller.)   Have the team make an unhappy face on each green dot using a black marker. Then tell the team to puts their dots on the large As Is map on the step or decision where they know a problem is – either because they have experienced it themselves or they know of concrete examples of problems. They can put all 5 dots in one area or spread them around as they see fit. Begin the analysis process here because it allows employees to voice their own opinions right away; they can identify the key problems they see all the time. By putting green dots with unhappy faces on the map, employees also vent their frustrations with the process vs. each other.  This reinforces the move to a process focus vs. a people focus.

 

 

Now stand back, look at the map, and have a discussion.  Where do the dots cluster?  What problems do they represent?  Is a problem later in the map caused by something that is missing earlier in the map?  As you are having this discussion, make sure you write improvement ideas that come up on your Improvement Log.  Often the team will suggest solutions for some green dots that are very simple and can be implemented immediately.  Do so!

 

 

 

Red Dots with Clocks

Now use the red dots to indicate delays in the process. Use the same size ¾ inch red dot for the symbol.  I give people fewer dots for this exercise, usually 2, and ask them to mark places where there see the biggest delay.

 

Again, sit back and analyze what the red dots can tell you.  Are they clustered with the green dots or in different areas?  What does the delay come from?  Which are the worst delays and how do you know? What data would it be useful to collect about some of these delay points (such as range of delay times, causes of the delays, or impact from the delays)?

 

 

Orange Stickies

 

Now I move to orange stickies.  I ask employees to write down specific quality problems that they see in the process, one quality problem per orange sticky and then go put it on the map at the step or decision where it occurs.  Several orange stickies may list the same problem; sort through them and revise the wording so that each orange sticky represents a different quality problem.

 

 

Now as you step back and analyze the map, question the team to identify areas where they need to do some root cause analysis using continuous improvement tools such as check sheets, Pareto Diagrams, and Five Whys.  Once this more detailed analysis is complete, the team can post their analysis sheets and conclusions on the Visual Analysis Map.  Connect the analysis sheets with a piece of colored yarn or tape to the relevant quality problem on the orange sticky.

 

The notched time line is put on the bottom of the map. This time line configuration is a standard tool of Lean and often used on the value stream map.  It shows the time each step takes and the time in between each step. You can show a range of time if want.  By time, I mean the actual time, not the best time, not the time you can do it without interruptions. In other words, how long does the step from when it comes in to when it goes out?  For example, if you start the step Monday morning and complete one transaction in 15 minutes, then do 14 more over the next 2 days, but do not send them on to the next step until Wednesday evening, you really have 3 days. Then how long the wait between steps is? Using the same example, how long does the batch of 15 transactions sit in the in basket (be it an electronic work queue in basket, email, or paper in basket) before the next role starts to work on it.  That is the time between steps.  A notched time line is shown in the Sales Compensation Swim Lane map below.

 

 

 

Once you have finished this time line you can quickly step back and see where the time wasting steps, decisions, and time between steps exist.  These are obvious improvement areas. This step complements the red dot step of delays, but gives you a bigger picture of the time line for the whole process.

 

Already you’ve probably recognized the need to gather more data for the analysis.  The data boxes will help visualize that.  Data boxes are another standard Lean tool. A data box usually contains space for 2-4 key pieces of information relative to a particular step.  Information that is frequently used in data boxes is process time, size of batch, % complete and accurate, and inventory or in basket items in the queue, but there are many more possibilities.  The map above shows data boxes. (See my article “The Secret Weapon that Lean Provides to BPM” for more discussion of data boxes and notched time lines.   http://www.bpminstitute.org/articles/article/article/the-secret-weapons-that-lean-provides-for-bpm.html )

 

I use data boxes in two ways – to determine where to collect data and to record the data we discover.   To determine where we need to collect data, I pass out one bright pink sticky (two inch in size), and ask each team member to find a place on the map where they think it would be useful to collect some data. We discuss what types of data they might collect and how to record that in the data box. Then as a team we put hot pink data boxes on the map to indicate where and what data the team needs to collect. I think 3-6 data boxes are plenty for an As Is map. We need the data to inform our analysis, not to lead to analysis paralysis. Later when the data is collected, we record the actual data we discovered by filling in actual numbers in the data boxes on the Visual Analysis Map.

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Post-its

 

Finally, use the blue square post-its.  We use blue stickies to designate the value adding steps.  Value add is another Lean term; a value added step is a step that the customer is willing to pay for. This is an exercise the team must do together. Review each step in the process; determine which is value added, which is non value added, and which is necessary for the organization but not value added for the customer.  For each step that is a value added step, remove the original yellow sticky and replace it with a blue sticky with the same words written on it.  Often a process of 30-50 steps may only have 5 blue value added steps. The blue stickies focus our attention on the value added steps. The next challenge is obvious: how do we minimize of eliminate the non value added steps?

 

 

The team has done significant analysis and it’s all up on the map.  The map has come alive! The map is now a Visual Analysis Map.  Now when the team displays the map in the work place or in a War Room, there is lots more to talk about to colleagues and stakeholders. Team members can

  • Bring other colleagues over and ask them to add green employee frustration dots to the map. 
  • Ask employees which quality problems they think are critical.
  • Get employees involved in collecting data or in doing some of the root cause analysis. 
  • Let employees comment on how the dots and stickies cluster in certain areas.
  • Bring in Senior Management and look at the Visual Analysis Map together.  Tell them about the data you collected, your analysis, and initial improvement ideas. Listen to their questions and ideas.  

 

 

 

 

Team working on a Visual Analysis Map.

 

The Visual Analysis Map takes the process map to the next level.  It is distinctive because it

 

  • Allows others to see the thinking of the team
  • Is interactive, enabling discussion and insights within the team and with other stakeholders
  • Is one place where analytical information is summarized and  visible to all
  • Is the single place where information is integrated and can be viewed  across the whole process
  • Enhances understanding of the full process which leads to building better relationships and solutions

 

As I work with teams and create the Visual Analysis Maps, I also ask them to come up with other ideas to make their work more visual.  Sometimes they go out and take pictures in the work environment and post them at critical steps with a short caption.  I am sure you will be able to find other visual cues that you can put on your map, which are relevant to your process and its analysis. Each will improve your communication, analysis and improvements.

 

  
   
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