Business Process Management Center

USING SMARTDRAW FOR BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT (cont'd)

Document the Existing Processes
Before you can improve a process, you need to know how it's currently working. Even when no improvement is necessary, documenting existing processes is a key step to achieving consistent quality, and it's the critical starting point of ISO and other quality certification.

What are the Benefits of Process Documentation?

A clear point of reference
Good documentation provides clear, consistent guidelines so employees know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Without readily accessible documentation, an employee may have to make sense of multiple, and possibly contradictory and confusing instructions.

Training
With proper process documentation, new employees can learn the ropes more quickly and cost-effectively.

Continuity
Documentation provides continuity over time even through management and staff changes.

Adaptability
A documented procedure is easier to change when circumstances demand it.

Legal Protection
Good documentation can help you defend against legal action and keep you in compliance with ISO standards.

Evaluation
In addition to helping you train employees, documented processes can be used as an evaluation tool for rewarding and correcting performance.

Accountability
Clearly defining the responsibilities of employees will help ensure that work goes smoothly and efficiently. When things do go wrong, it will also be easier to track down the source of the problem.

Efficiency
When the steps in the process are clearly defined, work will flow more efficiently.

Savings
Documenting your processes will help avoid costly mistakes and it will help identify opportunities for streamlining and cost-savings.

Documenting Processes with Flowcharts
A flowchart is the easiest way to illustrate the steps in any process or procedure. By visualizing the process, a flowchart can quickly help identify bottlenecks and places where the process can be streamlined or improved.

What are the Benefits of Using Flowcharts?

• Identify all the tasks in a process
• Determine the boundaries of the process
• Reveal redundancies
• Identify bottlenecks
• Identify unnecessary step or loops
• Aid quality team in comparing and contrasting the actual flow of a process with an ideal flow
• Help train employees

Once you have a completed flowchart you can determine whether errors and inefficiencies are inherent in the process or whether the errors are a result of employees not following the process as charted. Ask yourself: Can the same process be completed using fewer steps? Are there redundancies? Are there unnecessary delays? Where do most errors or defects occur?

Take for example the flowchart to the right that shows a simple doctor's visit. With nothing more than a cursory glance, it's easy to see that if the medical office wanted to improve the customer's experience, they could start by reducing the number of delays.

You can also use flowcharts to streamline a process by shortening the amount of time tasks take or by reducing the number of resources they require. To do so, create your flowchart as usual. In addition to listing all the steps in a process, also list the persons responsible for each task as well as the amount of time it takes for them to complete their task. Take, for example, a design approval process. A quick look at the flowchart below reveals that there are three people responsible for the approval of the preliminary design sketch each adding a day to the length of the project. You can make the design process more efficient if the head of marketing doesn't see the design until the second draft has been approved. By removing just a single person from a task, you can shave off an entire day from the duration of your process.

You can learn how to draw a flowchart in SmartDraw by reading the SmartDraw Flowcharting tutorial.