Process Profile: capture a business process on one page
A template for recording a process the way it actually runs today. No process modelling, no software, on one page.
Before anyone talks about a solution, it has to be clear what you are talking about. The Process Profile records a process on one page: how it starts, what should be there at the end, who does which steps with which system, and where time is lost along the way.
The template does not require any knowledge of process modelling. It works with a pen, in conversation with the person who handles the process every day.
Use
What the profile is for
- Understanding a process before deciding on a change or on automation.
- Making several processes comparable when the question is which one to tackle first. More on this in the article Which process should you automate first?
- Preparing a conversation, internally or with an external partner. With the completed sheet, the conversation starts with the process rather than with general assumptions.
The profile describes the current state. It is deliberately not a form for improvement ideas. Those come more easily once the process is visible.
Contents
The eight fields
Trigger: What starts the process?
The event that starts a case: an email, a call, a document, a deadline.
A supplier’s order confirmation arrives as a PDF by email.
Result: When is a case done?
What is there at the end, and where? A clear end stops the process from sprawling as you describe it.
Delivery date and price are recorded against the order in the system, and the PDF is filed.
Process today: Which steps happen – who does what, with what?
Describe the normal case, the way it actually runs. For each step, mark where things are transferred, searched for, waited for or queried.
Purchasing opens the PDF, looks up the order in the system and types in date and price (T, S).
Volume and time: How often does the case come up, and how long does it take?
Frequency, handling time per case, number of people involved. Tick whether the figures are estimated or measured.
About 25 a week, around 5 minutes per case, two people – estimated.
Exceptions: What does not go to plan?
Deviations and roughly how often they occur. Exceptions often decide later how much can be automated.
The price differs from the order. Only part of the order is delivered.
Decisions: Where does a person have to decide – and why?
Points where experience, responsibility or consultation are needed. They stay with people even after a change.
Accept a price difference or raise a complaint with the supplier.
Errors and rework: What goes wrong, and what then has to be corrected?
Typical errors and their consequences – including those that only show up later.
A wrong delivery date in the system; planning works with the wrong date.
Biggest friction: Which one point would you change first?
The point that costs the most time, nerves or queries – from the point of view of the person who handles the process every day.
Typing up the values from the PDF.
In the “Process today” field, four letters mark where time is lost: T for transferring by hand, S for searching, W for waiting and Q for queries. These four points are almost always where simplification can start.
How to go about it
- Choose one process and describe only that one. If it doesn’t fit on one page, it is probably two.
- Fill in the profile together with the person who handles the process every day. Anyone who only knows it from the outside will miss the detours.
- Describe the normal case. Exceptions have their own field.
- Under volume and time, note whether the figures are estimates. If the process makes the shortlist, it is worth measuring it with the “Measure First” tracking sheet.
Download
Process Profile
- PDF · 3 pages · A4
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Would you like to look at a specific process together? Arrange an initial call