Business Process Mapping

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The business process mapping methodology encompasses seven key sets of deliverables:

• Process decomposition, including:

  • Brief process definition and overview

  • List of process assumptions and operating principles

  • Process workflow

  • List of process inputs, outputs, and associated customer deliverables

  • Map or checklist of the information technologies that enable, and automate the process

• Roles and responsibilities matrix

• Set of approval rules governing the process

• List of access rights (to data, systems, etc.) for those operating within the process

• Performance metrics that measure process outcomes

• Process templates, frameworks, standards, and tools (i.e., the process' reusable components)

• So-called knowledge library of explicit process knowledge, such as scenarios, case studies, best-in-class examples, and linkage to internal and external supporting information resources

Together, these process mapping elements provide a complete picture of the business's current or desired workflows and its underlying IT requirements. It is assumed that one or more business analysts from the PMO will perform much of this work on behalf of the IT project team. The remainder of this chapter examines these mapping elements in some detail, employing the solution selling process within the HG & Co. consulting firm as a case study example. But before we proceed, the author would like to make a brief case for employing a business process mapping methodology.

First and foremost, business process mapping focuses on the underlying business value(s) of the process under consideration. If the enterprise is to invest its human and financial capital in an IT-enabled business process, the value proposition for that investment must be clear and cogent from the outset. In making it so, proponents of the undertaking will enjoy the ongoing support of key executives, allowing the project team to devote its energies to project execution. Mapping also helps to define business priorities and to identify those particular business unit performance problems around scrap and rework, poor communication, and an inability to leverage knowledge and IT assets to achieve the enterprise's goals and objectives.

Mapping also creates a holistic view of the current state of realities around business process delivery. From this, mapping leads to gap analysis and the definition of a desired state that in turn clarifies the respective positioning of IT enablement, work process collaboration, and the sharing and leveraging of enterprise resources. Of course, the devil is in the details. So let us consider the elements of business process mapping. ^[3]

^[3]For an electronic version of the author's mapping tool, see The Hands-On Project Office, http://www.crcpress.com/e_products/downloads/download.asp?cat_no=AU1991, chpt6~1~process map~template. Also included are two completed mappings: one for the selling solutions example cited in this chapter (see chpt6~2~process map~selling~example) and the other a related mapping for service delivery, again featuring HG & Co. (see chpt6~3~process map~execution~example).

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