This is a guest blog
entry by RuthJoy Razon, SmartDraw Software’s Training and Development Manager.
SmartDraw Software has developed Visual Process Management (VPM) a revolutionary new approach to business process management. One of the keys skill sets to a successful VPM Facilitator is your ability to effectively communicate
and relate to others. Learn RuthJoy’s top tips below.
Business process documentation is not something that can be
effectively communicated in a silo. The VPM Facilitator, or documenter, must
engage with employees, fully understand each of their jobs, and effectively
parse through this information to create a cohesive picture of the individuals’
roles and responsibilities and how their position relates to the organization
as a whole. This individual should be comfortable with both consulting and interacting
with all levels of an organization, backed by a strong understanding of the
organization’s business objectives. Because VPM follows the One-Pass Capture method
in which the business processes are documented in real time, the facilitator
should also be well versed in using the three major SmartDraw templates of VPM
which are Mind Maps, Org Charts, and Flowcharts.
Are you faced with capturing the business processes of your
company or another company? At a loss with where to start? Here are some of the
tips I have given in my VPM Certification Course:
Tip 1: Be aware of “Big Picture Thinkers” and “Linear Thinkers.”
There are generally two types of “thinkers” you will
encounter when performing your VPM interviews. The “Big Picture Thinker”
typically will represent about 5% of the people you interview. They easily weed
out the irrelevant information from their processes and can identify sub
processes during the interview. They are far easier to work with than the
second type of person you will encounter! The “Linear Thinkers” has difficulty
weeding out irrelevant information. As the VPM Facilitator, you must then guide
the individual through the use of leading and open-ended questions through their processes in order to get the
necessary information to properly document that individual’s position. You will
be challenged to sort through their long sequences and trains of thought in
order to define the succinct, logical processes.
Tip 2: Brush up on your ability to attend to, observe,
listen to, and question the person you are interviewing.
When you communicate skillfully, you encourage involvement
by showing interest in the participant and helping them feel comfortable
opening up to you. When interviewing, you will need to use four basic
facilitation skills: Attending, Observing, Listening, and Questioning.
Attending means presenting yourself physically in a manner that shows you are
paying attention to your participants. Observing skills help you assess how the
interview is being received. Bases on your observations over time, you can make
decisions to continue the interview process as planned or to modify it to
respond to the participant’s needs. Listening means that you are both obtaining
verbal information and verifying that you understand the information you hear.
Questions play a major role in conducting a VPM interview. Asking questions
effectively means selecting the right type of question, and phrasing it so it
obtains the response you are after.
Tip 3: Follow the rules of Visual Grammar.
All efforts of documenting a company’s business processes
are lost if no one else can read or understand your VPM Collection. This is why
following a set of guidelines for your visuals is important. When we write, we
follow accepted rules in the ways words are spelled, sentences are formed,
and punctuation is used. We have developed a set of standards for visuals:
-
- The Consistency Rule: The appearance of
equivalent shapes, lines, and text in a visual should be consistent.
- The One-Page Rule: Visuals should fit on one
page and the text should remain readable.
- The Left-to-Right Rule: The flow of visuals such
as flowcharts should only go in a single direction, left-to-right.
- The Split Path Rule: Traditionally, a step in a
flowchart that represents a question or decision has been represented as a
diamond with lines coming out of the two vertices, however a split path is
immediately understood without special training by virtually everyone.
Split Path
Decision Shape
For more information, please read a more detailed
explanation of Visual Grammar here.
Tip 4: Confirm quality assurance.
There are quite a few questions to ask when viewing the
title block. Does the file name of the current file match the document’s title?
Does the first shape have the exact same text as the title and vice versa? Are
the title block responsibility assignments complete and do they make sense? Is
the title block in the upper left-have corner? If not, make the appropriate
changes.
When working with the flowcharts it is imperative that we
maintain consistency. As the VPM Facilitator you must ask yourself: Do all the
links work? Is the first shape in the flowchart in the right location? Are all
the shapes the correct color? Does the flowchart flow from left to right, top
to bottom? Do any lines cross? Are the shapes the same height? Are the start
and end shapes rounded rectangles? Does all the text in the boxes follow Visual
Grammar?
With these tips, you should be well on your way to getting started
with being a successful VPM facilitator. As always, we are here to help. Please
do not hesitate to get in touch with SmartDraw when you are in the process of
documenting your company’s processes!
