Of all the activities that an organization can do to improve its financial position, challenge employees, and produce better performance, process mapping takes the lead. It is the fastest way to return the greatest amount of resources back into the system. Those resources may be dollars on the profit and loss statement, hours saved on manufacturing processes, or quality improvements in goods or services. In any case the rewards or return for process mapping should be to:
- Achieve maximum return for minimum effort.
- Achieve maximum quality with maximum efficiency.
- Eliminate unproductive hard work.
- Use resources in an effective manner.
- Make informed decisions to implement continuous improvements or reengineering.
The ability to recover inefficiencies, cut costs, and improve service is well documented in everyday examples. Many of these activities are tied to quality improvement programs. At the individual level, process mapping takes on a more practical tone and less of a textbook meaning. For decades management consultants have looked for the magic formula for motivating employees. The heart of the answer is to give people challenging, meaningful work. A process that is repetitive, redundant, and excessive does not meet that specification. To improve the overall sense of achievement among employees try process mapping specifically to:
- Make the job easier for the employee.
- Remove drudgery found in noncritical, boring work.
- Remove nuisances that get in the way of productivity.
- Make the job more productive overall.
- Improve the quality of the activity.
- Save time by eliminating wasted motion.
- Save costs by effectively using resources.