Three processes most small businesses run, mapped the way they actually happen. The details are illustrative, but we see these problems all the time. For how to draw maps like these, see our guide to process mapping.
How to read the maps
Each lane is a role. Boxes are tasks, diamonds are decisions and arrows show the order of work.
- Gold marks the bottleneck, the step everything else waits for.
- A copper outline marks waste, such as retyping or rework.
- A dashed line shows what happens when something goes wrong.
Example 1: order to invoice
Every order is typed in twice, once into the job system and again into accounts. Quotes over £5,000 wait three days for the founder. One order in five arrives incomplete and goes back to the customer.
We'd set approval limits so most quotes don't need the founder, replace emailed orders with a form that can't be sent incomplete, and connect the job system to accounts. The approval limits save the most, and they cost nothing to set up.
Example 2: new client onboarding
Nothing starts until the founder runs a kick-off call, and the next free slot is six days away. The client's details are typed into three systems. Two clients in five send incomplete documents and get chased three times each.
We'd hand the kick-off to a delivery lead with a weekly slot, collect the client's details once through a form that feeds all three systems, and send a checklist so clients can see what's missing.
Example 3: a support request
Requests sit in a shared inbox for four hours before anyone picks them up. Anything difficult waits two days for one specialist. One customer in three chases for an update, which adds more to the inbox.
We'd assign each request to someone as it arrives, give the support team a guide to the common fixes so fewer cases reach the specialist, and send customers updates automatically.
The pattern
The same few problems turn up in almost every business we map: details typed into more than one system, approvals waiting on the founder, work starting before it has what it needs, and handovers nobody owns. In each example the cheapest fix comes first, and only then the automation.
Want a map like these of your own business? See how our process mapping works.
