ProcessMappingGuidelines

FLOWCHARTSYMBOLS Thefollowingaretheprimarysymbols: SYMBOL NAME Activity/Processing DESCRIPTION Indicatesthatanactivityortaskisbeing performed.Writethespecificactivity, suchasCheckforErrorsorPrepare Forminsidethesymbol. Whenthissymbolappears,thetask sequenceflowstotherightifthe decisionisnoordownifthedecision isyes.Aswithothersymbols,writea briefdescriptioninsidethesymbol, keepingitassimpleaspossible.Oftena simpleApproved?orOK?is sufficient. Representsthegenerationofaphysical document.Multipleoverlayingsymbols areusedifmultipledocumentsare generated.Writethespecificdocument insidethesymbol. Flowarrowsshowtheorderinwhich activitiesarecompleted.Thearrows depicttheprocessflow. Showsthecontinuationoftheflowfrom pagetopageofaProcessMap.When youreachthebottomofapage,drawa flowchartconnectorsymbolandconnect ittothelastitemonthechart.Labelthe insideofthesymbolwithaletter beginningwithAandthepage numberonwhichtheprocesscontinues. ThelabelA/2forexample,instructsthe readertolookforPointAonpage2.
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Decision

Document

DirectionofFlow

ChartConnections

Remember:Whenusingflowchartsymbols,makesureyouareconsistentandusealegend.

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When preparing flowcharts at detail level, the activity box is often replaced by more specific symbols, such as:

ManualInput

TapeStorage

ComputerStorage

ManualFiling

OnlineActivity Preparing charts at this detailed level requires you to gather information on the whos and whats: u u u u u u What activities are performed? Who performs each activity? What sequence the activities are performed in? What forms and reports are used? What computer systems and files are used? What decisions are made in the process?

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SpecificGuidelines Here are some guidelines intended to help you complete your own flowcharts. Label origins and destinations. Always print the origin of input and destination of output above the respective symbols.

Sales Rep. Purchase Req.

Useflowlinescarefully.Ifthelinefromoneprocesstoanothercrossesoveran alreadyexistingflowline,drawthesecondarylineasshownbelow:

Secondary Proess

Existing Process
Numberthesymbols.Numberingeachprocesssymbolcanbeusefultocross referencetoasystemnarrativeorthesametasknumberonaprocess descriptionchart. Besuretoconnectflows.Alwaysuseaflowchartconnectorsymbolwhenyou continueadiagramtoanotherpageorcarryitovertoanotherprocess.

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Status Report Approved Yes

NO

G/20 G/10

Continue flowing the yes condition here

Make Changes to Status Report

RemembertodenotetheResponsibledepartmentorIndividual.Placethe departmentnameortheResponsibleIndividualaboveeachprocesssymbol orareaofthemap. Useamanualactivitysymbolbeforeadecisiondiamond.Ifyoushowtheflow branchinginayes/noresponse,someonehasmadeadecision.Indicatethat byusingadecisiondiagram.Sincedecisionsandapprovalsareseldommade inavoid,amanualactivitysymbolgenerallyprecedesthedecisionsymbol.

Verify Validity of Statistics

Valid?

NO

Yes

BecertaintheNocomesofftotherightandtheYesflowswiththemainstream. Theremaybeinstancesinwhichthiswillnotbefeasible,butingeneralthe ruleistohavetheYesflowdownward. Attachsamplesofforms.Logbooksheets,routingsheets,reportsandanyother documentsthatarereferencedandusedwithintheactivityshouldbe attachedtoyourProcessMappingreport. Levelofdetail.Thelevelofdetailincludedinaflowchartshouldbedrivenby theobjectivesoftheproject.Aflowchartshouldonlygotothelevelofdetail neededtosufficientlydocumenttheprocessandperformthenecessary analysis.Inmanycaseshighlevelmapsanddetailedmapsareneeded.The highlevelmapshowshowtheprocessunderreviewrelatestoother processes(Thiscouldbeatransactionflowchartoraprocessinterfunctional chart).Thedetailedmapistheprimarytoolforanalysis.Examplesofhigh level,midlevelanddetailedprocessmapscanbefoundintheinterfunctional flowchartstoolonthisCD.

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 Labelkeycontrolpointsusingspecificsymbolsdescribedinthelegend. Considertheseadditionstotheflowchart: u TimeperactivityHowlongdoesataskoractivitytaketoperform.For example,inAccountsPayable,thereisoftenacodingfunction. Dependingupontheclient'sprocedures,thistaskmaytakelittletime (especiallyifautomated)orhours. u "Delay"timeHowlongdoesanactivity"waitinqueue"orform"sitona desk,"oranactivitywaitforanapproval.Forexample,inthevouching taskmentionedabove,theactualcodingmaytake2minutes,butifeach vouchermustbeapprovedbytheAccountingManager,anygivencode maybedelayed(sitonhisorherdesk)fordaysorweeks. u NumberofactivitiesHowmanyactivitiesortasksafunctiontakesto perform.Generally,eachactivityshouldhaveacorrespondingsymbol. u NumberofreviewsHowmanytimesdoessomeonecheckforerrors, approve,reviewforcompleteness,etc.?Generally,reviewsareperformed because,historically,errorshavepermeatedtheprocess.Ratherthan increasethenumberofreviews,organizationsshouldpreventtheerror fromhappening.Typically,thegreatertheriskforagivenactivity,the morelikelymultiplelevelreviewsarenecessary.Performancemeasures areusefulinpreventingerrorsand,therefore,reducingtheneedfor multiplereviews. u CostofeachactivityHowmuchinpayroll,benefits,materials,and sometimesopportunitycostsdoesataskoractivitycost.Thisisa measureincurrencyandFullTimeEquivalents(FTEs).FullTime Equivalentsarethetotaleffortneededinmanpowertoperform.For example,10peoplespend30%oftheirtimefiling.Inordertoconvertthis topayroll,multiplytheaveragepayrollforagivenactivity(weoftenuse departmentpayrollforthis)plusbenefits(i.e.,loadedpayroll)timesthe numberofFTEs. u ErrorsThisisoftencalledexceptionrelatedactivity.Typically,processes withnumerouserrorsoftenhavenumerousreviews.Theseerrorsoften arepassedontootherdepartmentswhocorrectthemwithoutfeedbackto theerrorgeneratingdepartment.IntheAccountsPayableexample,ifthe retailoutletcompletestheinitialvoucherformincorrectlyor incompletely,AccountsPayableoftenrecordstheincorrectvoucherand forwardsitwithoutfeedback.Processeswithnumerouserrorsare excellentcandidatesforprocessimprovement.

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