As your business grows, so does your need for systems to facilitate the development, production, and distribution of your products. Establishing these systems can feel daunting at first. Luckily, there are tools to help you effectively set up processes throughout your company. One of those tools is a visual representation called a process map.
Learn more about what process maps are, how they can benefit your business, and how you can build one for your own company with a free template.
What is process mapping?
Process mapping is a visual organization strategy involving a flowchart that outlines the steps of a process. Ecommerce merchants can use process mapping to distill complicated business processes into simple outlines team members can share and understand. For example, you could create a process map to show the exact steps your sales team needs to follow when pursuing a qualified lead.
A process flowchart might feature a variety of process map symbols—like ovals, rectangles, and diamonds—to represent different tasks and actions connected by lines and arrows to visualize chronological movement. Process maps include key elements such as decision points, starting points, and endpoints.
Benefits of process mapping for small businesses
Here are some benefits of creating effective process maps for your business.
Streamlined internal communications
An effective process map can manage your team’s expectations about tasks they’re expected to perform. It can also serve as a clear step-by-step guide for how to perform those tasks. When you use process mapping, you ensure various departments are on the same page about who is responsible for which tasks and how to transfer tasks from one team to the next.
For example, a process map could help streamline the inter-team communication that occurs when a sales department introduces a buyer to a customer support department after a sale.
Improved order fulfillment logistics
A clear process map can help your order fulfillment process flow smoothly, increasing your company’s efficiency when receiving, picking, packing, shipping, and delivering your product. When you outline steps in a process mapping model, you might identify bottlenecks in your order fulfillment process, which you can then work to eliminate.
Better quality control
Process mapping can help you avoid potential process failures in your business. Let’s say you design a process map for producing a t-shirt. By mapping the concrete steps, you can standardize production to ensure every one of your t-shirts meets your desired level of quality. Process maps can help streamline processes across departments including sales, operations, marketing, and customer service to ensure your business maintains high levels of quality control, even as your company grows and you aren’t able to handle every aspect of a process yourself.
5 types of process maps
Here are five types of process maps with varying styles and scopes.
1. Basic flowchart
A basic flowchart is a workflow diagram that includes only the key elements of a particular process. Basic flowcharts use a simple, linear structure to make it easy to follow a step-by-step guide for a process. Basic flowcharts are useful tools for establishing simple communication systems or creating onboarding guides for new hires.
2. Value stream maps
A value stream map is a type of process map designed to evaluate each step involved in creating a product or service. Value stream maps focus on the materials, labor, and resources required to bring a product or service to the market, from initial brainstorming through marketing, sales, outbound logistics, and customer service. This model breaks down the cost of each step and evaluates how much value each step adds.
3. High-level process maps
High-level process maps, sometimes called SIPOC (supplier, input, process, output, or customer) maps, represent big-picture processes. They offer limited details about each step and thereby simplify complicated processes. These types of maps are useful for high-level leadership discussions and sharing plans with third-party stakeholders who don’t need to know every detail of a particular process. For example, a marketing department could create a high-level process map to communicate an overall vision for a marketing campaign to company leadership.
4. Detailed process maps
This more detailed process map outlines not only an entire process but all of the subprocesses involved. Unlike a high-level process map, which offers a macro-level perspective on a process, a detailed process map can provide a nuanced perspective on a complex process.
5. Swimlane maps
A swimlane map is a process mapping technique that uses multiple lanes to show who is responsible for which tasks within a team or company. For example, you could assign one lane to your product development team for their work on creating a new product and assign another lane to your marketing department for their execution of an advertising campaign. You can then use lines to indicate which steps require a person or team to transfer deliverables from one person or department to another.
How to create a process map
- Select a process to map
- Meet with your team
- List the steps of your process
- Organize the steps in a template
- Share with your team
- Adjust your process map as necessary
Here are some basic steps to follow when creating your own process map.
1. Select a process to map
Consider which processes in your organization have the most impact on your company at large. For example, establishing a safe gateway for processing payments might have a larger impact on your ecommerce business than developing a system for creating TikTok marketing content.
Once you’ve chosen which process to improve through business process mapping, decide where the process begins and ends. Now that you know where you’re starting and what you’re working toward, you can start defining the steps along the way.
2. Meet with your team
Meet with the team members and departments who interact with the process you’re mapping. Discuss how the process currently works, taking particular note of when responsibility is handed off from one person or department to another. Record any blockers that occur throughout the process.
3. List the steps of your process
After meeting with your team, define each individual process step. For example, if you’ve developed a procedure for responding to customer complaints, the steps might include inputting customer information into customer relationship management (CRM) software, reviewing internal resources to find a solution, and communicating a friendly response.
4. Organize the steps in a template
Create your process map by using process mapping tools like process mapping software or a process map template. You can use our free template to quickly organize your process steps into a map, using distinct symbols to represent map points like the start of the process, a decision point, and data input or output.
5. Share with your team
Once you’ve created your visual process map, share it with the key stakeholders who interact with the process or need to sign off on it. For example, you might share your customer complaint process map with customer service agents and managers who will oversee the execution of each step.
6. Adjust your process map as necessary
In order to create the most efficient system, gather as much feedback from your team as possible and make any changes necessary to optimize each step of your process. This might take trial and error and continuously updating your process map in order to achieve the best results.
Process mapping FAQ
What are the key elements of a process map?
The key elements of a process map include starting points, individual steps, decision points, and endpoints. On a process map, these key elements are visually represented with process mapping symbols like ovals, squares, and diamonds.
What is an example of process mapping?
An example of process mapping would be creating a clear visual flowchart for what a marketing team should do after receiving a lead from a marketing campaign. In this example, you might include steps like inputting the prospective customer’s information into a customer relationship management software and passing the lead along to the sales team.
What is the purpose of process mapping?
The purpose of process mapping is to help individuals, teams, and companies improve the efficiency of their processes and maintain a high level of quality control throughout processes ranging from fulfilling a customer order to creating content for social media channels.
