Process Mapping Guide
Whether you’re building a personal website, or planning out the information architecture of your company’s platform, a detailed process map can help you move your work forward.
Process mapping enables you to speed up and simplify your project workflow. A process map visualizes the steps involved in a project or task. This helps streamline communication and highlights areas for business process improvement.
What is a process map?
A process map is a visual representation that outlines every step in a task or project. From start to finish, it offers a comprehensive overview of the workflow.
Process maps use symbols, shapes, and arrows to break complex processes into understandable segments. This helps teams identify inefficiencies, enhance communication, and highlight opportunities for improvement.
6 common types of process maps
Process maps can cover a wide range of activities and goals—from simple tasks to complex processes. Here are six common types of process maps, along with examples.
Type 1: Basic flow chart
Best for: visualizing a process from start to finish
A flow chart outlines a process’s steps from beginning to end. Flow charts are useful for processes like team onboarding or brainstorming design ideas. Learning how to create a flow chart boosts team communication and streamlines workflows.
Type 2: SIPOC diagram
Best for: identifying important elements and people in a business process
A SIPOC diagram provides a high-level overview of the supplies, inputs, processes, outputs, and customers involved in a critical business process.
Type 3: Swimlane diagram
Best for: cross-functional teams collaborating on a project
Use swimlane diagrams to map out process flows and workflow dependencies when designing and deploying apps. Creating a swimlane diagram is a useful way to enhance team communication.
Type 4: Value stream map
Best for: explaining how a product reaches customers and keeping track of process data
A value stream map is a process map that outlines each step in a process, pinpointing wasteful practices that can drain your organization’s time and resources.
Type 5: Spaghetti diagram
Best for: identifying bottlenecks and improving processes
A spaghetti diagram is a process map that shows how subprocesses in a complex process connect. This will help your team find inefficiencies and improve processes.
Type 6: Detailed process map
Best for: providing a step-by-step map of a complex process
While a typical process map gives a high-level overview of a process, a detailed process map also explains smaller parts called subprocesses. This is useful when considering how different steps work together to reach a big business goal, like launching a new product.
Process mapping template
A process map can help visualize your workflows, keep track of collaboration, and dive into subprocesses. You can turn intricate workflows into clear paths by working collaboratively with your team.
It’s easy to start with the FigJam process mapping template. This template supports teamwork with widgets and tools like real-time updates, voice notes, and chat. It simplifies creating process maps.
Benefits of process mapping
Process mapping offers several benefits for companies and teams:
- Increase productivity: Break down workflows into bite-sized steps to help team members understand their roles and perform tasks efficiently.
- Drive process improvements: Process mapping helps companies uncover problem areas and improve business process management.
- Gain alignment: A process map collects input from key stakeholders, generating company-wide buy-in to achieve business process improvement goals.
How to create a process map in 5 steps
You can create your own process map in 5 easy steps:
Step 1: Identify your workflow goal
Setting your process improvement goal will help you understand the project scope so you can decide what level of detail to include—and whose input you need to fill in your process map.
Step 2: Brainstorm process steps
Invite key stakeholders to collaborate on process steps, essential resources (people and technology), decision points, and deliverables. To outline step-by-step business processes, check out existing workflow diagrams, user metrics, and current state process documentation.
Step 3: Lay out your process map
Decide which type of process map works best for your needs, then start building it. Use process mapping shapes—such as rectangles, diamonds, and ovals— and symbols to represent your workflow’s different activities or phases.
Step 4: Make process improvements
Circulate your process map with team members involved and revise it with their feedback. Try to make your process flow as clear and direct as possible to avoid bottlenecks and reach shared goals faster.
Step 5: Communicate the new process
Share the process map with team members who are implementing it, giving them time to test the new workflow. Once your basic flowchart seems to work, you can streamline it and make necessary process improvements.
Process mapping pro tips
Mapping out a design or business process can help you understand what’s working and what’s not. Create an impactful process map with these pro tips:
- Sketch a high-level process map: Start by outlining the essential process steps in your workflow. Then add just enough detail to make your process map actionable while ensuring it’s easy to read at a glance.
- Get input from the right people: Loop in team members, customers, suppliers, and decision-makers who have a say in your work processes.
- Collect all the facts: Gather information from stakeholder interviews, current process documentation, and any available metrics. This will help you develop a process that pinpoints and fixes inefficiencies, redundancies, and bottlenecks.
- Review carefully: Check that the process map accurately shows the workflow and has the right details. Get feedback, make sure it’s consistent, and confirm it matches your project goals for a reliable overview.