Business Process Management Center

Using Org Charts

Organizational charts, or org charts, are tree diagrams that illustrate the relationships among personnel, departments, or divisions in an organization. You can create an org chart to visualize the hierarchy within your quality improvement team or to identify the relationships between personnel in the process you are trying to improve.

Learn how to draw great-looking org charts in SmartDraw by reading the SmartDraw Org Chart Tutorial.

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 them and saving on costs.

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?