Process Mapping

---
name: Process Mapping
description: Visualize work to improve it.
---
# Process Mapping

You can't improve a process you can't see. Mapping the steps — who does what, in what order, with what handoffs — surfaces the waste, delays, and single points of failure.

## Method
- **Map the actual process, not the official one.** Walk the floor; ask each person what they really do. The official flowchart is usually aspirational.
- **Capture handoffs.** Most delay lives at handoffs between people or systems — the queue, not the work.
- **Mark value-add vs waste.** Which steps the customer would pay for, vs which exist for internal convenience.
- **Time each step.** Cycle time vs wait time. Often 5% of the time is work; 95% is waiting.

## Use
The map is a diagnostic, not the deliverable. Redesign to collapse the waste and the handoffs; re-measure.