How To Run a Process Mapping Workshop

Learning how to run a process mapping workshop is a great way to quickly capture, understand and improve processes. It brings people together, aligns them and provides a fantastic opportunity to generate new ideas. 

Workshops help introduce people to planned change, make them feel part of it and brings them along on the journey. This means that you are more likely to gain future support and engagement in your change or continuous improvement initiatives.

But if you’ve never run, or facilitated, a process mapping workshop before it may feel daunting. Want to learn more? In this guide we explain how to run a successful process mapping workshop. 

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    Before you start

    Choose your approach

    Process Mapping workshops are brilliant for generating conversations and collaboration. But they shouldn’t be unstructured. You need to guide the conversation to ensure you get the desired outcome. 

    For this you need a process framework or notation that is easy to use and guides the conversation. There are lots of approaches available that you can read about in our process mapping guide. At Skore we use UPN – Universal Process Notation. This approach uses a box that describes the key steps and who does them, and a box that tells you when the activity starts and finishes. It’s straightforward, clear and very effective.

    We really like this because it is very simple to use and understand. It means that everyone in the workshop will be able to engage straightaway and you don’t need to be an expert in Process Mapping to get involved!

    In any case we recommend keeping it simple while asking the important questions. What, why, how, who and when.

    Practice with this before you start. By keeping it simple this type of process mapping will come naturally to you and your participants. 

    Agree the title, scope and participants

    Don’t try to do too much at once so that your process mapping workshops aren’t too long. Think carefully about which process you’re going to map, where does it start and end. This is your scope and will help you determine who needs to be involved. If necessary you can break a large process down into smaller pieces. 

    Set the agenda and objectives

    We have written about process mapping workshop agendas before. But at the very least you need to set the duration, objectives of the workshop and set time aside for introductions and wrap up. 

    Share with your participants early and remind them before the workshop. 

    Make sure everything is set up

    There’s nothing worse than arriving for a process mapping workshop and waiting for the facilitator to set up the screen, flipcharts, handouts etc. Arrive early, or even the day before, and make sure everything is working and ready to go.

    During the workshop 

    Snacks and refreshments

    Depending on how long your process mapping workshops are you should consider providing refreshments. Even providing water, tea and coffee can help participants to relax and show that you are considerate for their situation. They will be busy, and may not have time to take regular refreshment breaks so you are offering them a safe environment.

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      Introductions

      Start your process mapping workshop with introductions, including personal introductions for any participants that are not familiar with each other. Restate the objectives to make sure everyone is aligned and in the right room!

      Review the agenda and spend some time to explain the basics of the approach and how it’s going to work. We also recommend setting some ground rules such as; set phones to silent, one person talks at a time, what gets said in the room stays in the room and park unresolved discussions after 5 minutes. These are basic suggestions so you can add your own. The objective here is to make everyone feel comfortable.

      Follow the methodology

      Now it’s time to start the work your process mapping workshop was intended for. Capture the process following your chosen methodology. You can take a look at our 5 step approach here.

      Capture opportunities, issues and actions as you go

      As soon as a group starts talking about their processes they will immediately identify issues in how they work and make suggestions for improving. Sometimes there are unanswered questions or quick wins the team can action immediately. Try to capture these things as you go.

      Use a flip chart or whiteboard to capture issues, opportunities and actions and then write them up afterward. Or if you are using software to map your processes, capture these items directly against the relevant steps in the process so that you can report on and share them later.

      This template lays out all the steps to consider

      Wrap up and assign actions

      Before you let anyone leave the room make sure you review all the actions and assign them. Agree to follow up so everyone can keep track of the actions and when they are completed, or the outcome of each one.

      It is definitely worth reviewing the objectives of the workshop. Did you meet them, or will you need further sessions and research to close it off?

      This workshop may be part of a wider piece of work so make sure you participants have access to the plan and understand how this fits.

      After

      Share the content

      At the end of a workshops participants will feel a sense of achievement. They will have had a chance to get things off their chests and discovered things about their colleagues they didn’t previously know.

      But remember that you were there to capture and understand a process. So make sure you share the content with them along with any other information that was generated.

      Many people need time to digest the discussion so often come up with more ideas and feedback after the session. Make sure there is a way for them to feed that back into the work.

      This could be by email, or if using a software such as Skore you can capture the feedback against the processes.

      Keep participants up to date with progress

      Where this workshop was part of a wider project it’s important to keep participants up to date on the progress of the project and how this work contributed. There will undoubtedly be time in the future when you will need to invite them to more workshops. So it’s essential that they feel their time was well spent and led to improvements.

      Put what you’ve learned into action

      Finally, you ran this workshop for a reason. Feed what you’ve learned back to the project team to ensure that opportunities are acted upon and the benefits are realised.

      How to run a process mapping workshop

      In this article you have learned to how to run a process mapping workshop successfully. The key steps should remain the same whenever you do this but the tools you use can make all the difference.

      Skore was designed specifically to be used in live process mapping workshops to map processes at the speed of conversation. This means you no longer need to write up notes after the workshop. You can map and share processes there and then. This means you can get sign off and agreement from your stakeholders in the workshop and not lose time chasing after them once the workshop has finished.

      What’s more, you can also capture all your risks, issues, ideas and other information against the process. You’ll have one place to store, manage and share the information. Skore will even provide instant insights through its built in analytics. Plus you get a living breathing document, easily update-able and engaging that everyone in your organisation can read and understand.

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        Looking for a RACI Alternative?

        There are RACI alternatives out there that can help you. In this blog we’ll explore your options plus you can get access to our simple guide on how to apply these different methods to your Process Improvement Initiatives.

        Do you need a clearer way to analyse roles and responsibilities in your organisation?

        Struggling to find an effective method that gives you the data you need from the information you put in?

          Free Guide to How to Use RATSI in Process Improvement

          We’ll examine how to tackle the vagueness of RACI that so many of us find so confusing and demonstrate easy ways of digesting the information, especially in large and complex documents. If you need a RACI alternative then read on to discover more.

          Fixing the RACI terminology confusion

          Let’s start by tackling the terminology… As a reminder RACI stands for 

          • Responsible
          • Accountable
          • Consult 
          • Inform

          We use RACI to give everyone a level of responsibility in each activity. The point is that it should then be clear what is expected of everyone working on that activity. However, the truth is that often we have different views on the meanings. Especially the difference between Responsible and Accountable. 

          In this RACI blog we explain why we think Responsible is the person who does the majority of the work and Accountable is the person who owns the output of the work – like the director or process owner for example. 

          However lots of people might disagree with this. In addition, for international companies, there is the added challenge of being lost in translation. Responsible and Accountable can mean the same thing in other languages. Which can lead to much confusion!

          There are a number of RACI alternatives that correct this issue and our favourite is RATSI. 

          RATSI as a RACI Alternative

          RATSI stands for: 

          • Authority – “owns” the activity or the decision to be made. Clearly not involved in the day to day work.
          • Responsible – for ensuring the activity is done (not necessarily doing the work but ensuring it is completed to an agreed standard).
          • Task – actually does the work as described.
          • Support – provides inputs in exceptional situations / edge cases (otherwise it would be Task).
          • Informed – is informed the activity will happen / has been done (successfully or not!).

            Free Guide to How to Use RATSI in Process Improvement

            RATSI is our favourite because it stops the vagueness and confusion. In RATSI, R is still Responsible but it means the owner not the doer. The doer is T (Task) and A (Authority) is for the person who takes go/no go decision

            Tools for applying RACI or RACI Alternatives

            Common Tools for RACI

            Like any tool, software for capturing, analysing and sharing RACI information should make our lives easier. Of course the purpose of RACI is to actually clarify roles and responsibilities for everyone. The truth is that often the activity makes things even more confusing and leads to frustration. 

            Often we see that RACI charts are represented as a Matrix. Roles are listed along the X or Y axis and key activities along the other. Where the two intersect is where you record the responsibility level – R,A,C or I. 

            The idea is that for any given role you simply follow the row (or column!) for that role and it shows the varying levels of responsibility for each activity. Or you can select an activity and look at the matrix to see who is involved. Spreadsheets can be used for this type of grid and therefore RACI matrices are often produced in Excel or Google Sheets. Some project management software products also have a RACI matrix capability as well. Drawing softwares such as MS Visio can also include templates for making a matrix although they can be harder to manage and update when things inevitably change. 

            Skore, the Process Improvement platform was designed to handle RACI matrices and below we’ll explain in more detail how it can help you solve your RACI/RATSI queries. 

            The main problems with common RACI tools

            While creating a RACI matrix in something like Excel seems straightforward, actually it has a number of problems which means people search for a RACI alternative. How often have you spent days creating a matrix to find that no one ever looks at it again? Or worked hard to craft a detailed spreadsheet only to be told that it’s still too confusing to understand everyone’s roles and responsibilities? 

            If this is you, have you considered that a matrix rarely exists without a process diagram alongside it? And that the activities represented in the matrix are generally part of a wider process. So it makes sense that the team really needs to understand the process in the first place. 

            However often we create the process as a separate document and it’s referenced separately. Or the team hasn’t understood the process. It makes sense that activities in the matrix are going to be pretty unclear in that case. Even worse if there are lots of detailed activities it will lead to an enormous matrix which is impossible to read. 

            A large and complex RACI Matrix in Excel

            SKORE – an easy, simple way to capture and understand RACI or any responsibility matrix.

            Skore was designed to incorporate simplicity at every level. The process improvement platform uses UPN – the easy process mapping language designed to be understood by anyone in your team. In Skore every time a user assigns a role to an activity they assign a responsibility. This means that the team can focus on one activity at a time and agree on the responsibility level together.

            RACI Alternative - RACI tags on a process
            Roles are tagged with RACI when added to an activity

            So while you map a process in a workshop, Skore automatically creates role descriptions. These show the activities of each role as well as the responsibility level. If you’re using a RACI alternative, Skore supports models such as RATSI and RAPID or allows you to create your own custom model.

            RACI Alternative - Role Descriptions
            A simple role description showing RACI tags

            Easy to Read Matrix

            Even better, Skore effortlessly creates a simple RACI matrix using the Reports tab. Plus, if you prefer, it can be exported to a spreadsheet when needed.

            This means one of the main benefits is that you store a visualisation of the process alongside the RACI information, rather than having two separate documents. Plus, Skore links the information so updating the process means you are also updating the RACI information and vice versa.

            Many companies also use tools such as RACI for organisation design. Either if they are are designing completely new processes, or transforming existing processes. In this case RACI helps to design new roles in the organisation. The Skore platform’s powerful analytics help you determine whether you have the right balance of responsibilities across the team.

            RACI alternative - visualisations
            One of various visualisations that help with role design

            It can even help you model scenarios to understand how many people you need to run the process, based on their responsibilities.#

              Free Guide to How to Use RATSI in Process Improvement

              Conclusion

              RACI is a powerful tool for helping teams to clarify roles and responsibilities but it comes with a number of challenges. This results in people looking for a RACI alternative. To find the right solution first evaluate the specific challenges you face and try to identify what the true issue is. For example, if it’s because you are suffering confusion and vagueness around the RACI acronym then look to use an alternative such as RATSI.

              If you are struggling with an overly complex matrix or a lack of understanding from yourself or your organisation, then re-evaluate the tools you are using in the first place. It could be that Skore is the solution given that it combines the power of simple process mapping with RACI and analytics. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you then get in touch with the team below. 

              What is UPN?

              What is UPN (Universal Process Notation)? In the world of Process Mapping, UPN is a method of mapping that is easy to understand for the widest audience. Recommended by Salesforce, who call it a ‘simple, engaging diagramming notation’, it is designed to work for anyone and not just the technical experts. Read on to discover why UPN could be the solution to stronger collaboration, stakeholder buy-in and engagement in process management for your organisation.

              UPN was first documented as a specification at Nimbus Partners which later became part of TIBCO Software. One of Skore’s founders, Craig J Willis, wrote the early versions of the specification. Today there are several software products, including Skore, that support Universal Process Notation.

              In this article we will answer the following questions for you;

              • What is UPN ?
              • How does it work?
              • Where did it come from?
              • What is it for?
              • Why do so many businesses choose it over other approaches?

                Guide To Getting Started with UPN

                So exactly what is UPN?

                Universal Process Notation uses symbols to describe business processes in a universal way. It is the simplest format and is quick to learn and straightforward to read. Business process notations, such as UPN and BPMN, are standardised methods of mapping business processes in a visual form. We map business processes to understand how any work is done in an organisation. We use diagrams to show how the work and data flows through an organisation. It’s a great way to understand complicated processes because we can look at them visually. UPN saves you time, engages your team and stakeholders and creates a long lasting legacy that everyone can collaborate on.

                Want to learn more about business process mapping? – check out our comprehensive guide here >>

                Where did UPN come from?

                Universal Process Notation is based on IDEF0 system modelling with some simplifications.

                How does it work?

                Activities

                UPN is a very clear language that really focuses on how people describe and think about work. It uses 1 shape to represent an activity in a process and natural language to describe the type of activity.

                Let’s look at an example – here, if the activity is to ‘send a notification’ it is described as:

                An activity (What Box) captured in Skore

                Outputs

                Every activity in UPN is followed by an output. The output tells us why the activity is done, or when it’s finished. UPN is designed to be used in a conversational setting, like an interview or workshop. As such, the output is a powerful tool to help individuals think more deeply about the process. So here we can describe the output very simply as:

                Activity and Output (What and Why box) in Skore

                UPN is rare in insisting on an output in this way. For other types of notations this means analysis is often lost during the actual mapping process. Analysts frequently have to carry out additional analysis later on, which takes up more time.

                Roles and Resources

                The final key building block of any UPN process is the Role, or Resource, required to do the activity. This is the Who, the person that does the activity, or the system required. We can very easily add this to our activity box.

                Activity showing a role and a system with RACI

                Want to know more about roles and responsibilities using RACI? Check out our RACI overview here >>

                Sub-Processes, Details and Drill Downs

                One of the unique aspects of UPN is that it has multiple levels within a single process map. UPN recommends that process diagrams are easy to read and fit on a computer screen. For processes with lots of activities this can be hard but UPN makes it easy by using this approach.

                The ‘detail view’ button is on the top left of the what box and created with a single click

                Activities are grouped together and then summarised in a single activity with a subprocess, or detailed view, underneath. There are no limits to the amount of levels you create, it’s all about making it easy to read. It’s a bit like Google Maps where you can zoom into the detailed street view for a given town or city.

                Hierarchy of Skore Process

                Detail views allow you to drill down into sub-processes

                  Guide To Getting Started with UPN

                  Attachments

                  Finally, other important information can be easily associated with steps in a process through attachments. These could be detailed descriptions, additional instructions or links to other places. Ultimately it’s about making sure that all the information is just a click away from anyone following the process.

                  A variety of attachment types are accessible through the paperclip icon

                  Want to try Skore for yourself? Talk to one of our experts today >>

                  The Benefits of UPN

                  Universal Process Notation can be used in most situations where we require process maps. It is particularly powerful where you need to involve large numbers, or a diverse range of people. 

                  For example, if cross functional teams have to collaborate on a process, UPN provides a simple common language for all the teams working together.

                  Because the approach here is so simple it is easy enough to use to map processes live into software during a workshop. This saves a huge amount of time for both the analyst and the participants. No one needs to wait for notes to be rewritten and shuffled around, it can be done at the pace of the conversation in the room. At the end of the workshop the processes can be shared directly rather than waiting to be transcribed into another software product. Plus if you have key stakeholders in the room there is no reason why you can’t sign off on your process straightaway, no waiting around for weeks for people to come back to you.

                  In addition, the system based style of UPN means that everyone in the workshop can structure their thoughts in a more natural way. As a result we get more analysis taking place in the workshop rather than after. The participants and stakeholders can quickly develop a better understanding of the problems and solutions in the process. This means they get clarity early on and are more likely to buy-in and engage.

                  Finally, the simplicity of the notation makes it easy enough to read so you don’t need to train someone to understand it. Therefore an organisation isn’t dependant on just one person having the skills to manage process mapping and saves times. The straightforward format means the processes can then be used for many different types of documentation such as standards, training and user manuals.

                  The Most Common Uses of UPN

                  With many of the benefits around Universal Process Notation being about simplicity there are a huge number of uses.

                  Software Implementation / Upgrades

                  Software implementation projects are one of the most common types of initiative where UPN is first used in an organisation. These types of projects need to quickly understand how things work today, how they will work with the new system and identify the gaps.

                  This requires working closely with the people that perform the process and ensuring they are clear about the changes. UPN is perfect for achieving this by quickly engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and getting them bought into the change. The attachments function means it is really easy to add all kinds of useful information on to the process maps – including legacy software systems or useful information.

                  Training / User Manuals

                  Most businesses start process mapping in order to diagnose and solve a particular problem. Once that time has been invested in creating these documents they are valuable assets providing they are kept up-to-date.

                  With UPN it’s common for these process maps to then belong to the teams, or process owners, that execute the process. Those teams regularly review and update their own processes without the need for specialists, unless there is a specific process improvement to be made. There is no reason why your processes shouldn’t become ‘living’ documents that can be used by everyone in an organisation to help them do their jobs well.

                  Audits and Compliance

                  Once UPN processes have been established, in a library, they are incredibly useful for demonstrating compliance with various rules and regulations. The processes are simple enough to avoid ambiguity and can be shared easily with an auditor and whoever else needs to be informed.

                  Organisational Design and Business Transformation

                  Like software implementation projects, Org Design and Business Transformation are popular initiatives that adopt UPN as the approach to process discovery and mapping. These programmes often have an even larger focus on the human side of change management which makes UPN the perfect tool.

                  Key Things to Remember about UPN

                  At the time of writing this article Universal Process Notation has been in use in organisations of all sizes for over 20 years. UPN has been used to underpin Business Process Management and Improvement programmes in global organisations in Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Retail and Manufacturing.

                  And it’s not just the largest organisations that benefit from this approach. Thousands of small and medium sized businesses have used UPN to scale up and improve customer experience.

                  If you’re planning any of the initiatives above then keep these things in mind when deciding whether UPN is the right approach to use:

                  • Do you have to involve large numbers of people? UPN helps you quickly get buy-in and alignment among large numbers of people due to the simple and easy to learn nature of the approach.
                  • Do you have to engage different audiences? If you have to work with both technical and non-technical audiences UPN provides a simple common language that makes cross discipline communication easier.
                  • Are these processes going to be an ongoing asset? UPN is the perfect approach for building easy to use process maps that can be referenced and updated into the future.

                  Are you planning to use UPN in your organisation? Talk to us to learn more about the fastest and easiest UPN software available today.

                  Get In Touch To Find Out More Here

                  The Best Business Process Management Software

                  As a business, you need processes to flow constantly and efficiently.

                  You need your employees to know what to do, when, and how to do it, without you needing to step in all the time.

                  This is where business process management software comes in and makes your life a whole lot easier. 

                  But not all business process management software is alike, so let’s dive into what you really need to be on the lookout for.

                  Why Do You Need Business Process Management Software? 

                  Before we go any further, let’s remind ourselves why business process management software is necessary.

                  Your business is made up of a variety of processes. By process, we mean a set of tasks or activities that need to be accomplished to deliver a specific outcome. This can be anything from assembling toys to customer service interactions – businesses are made up of a lot of processes.

                  Process mapping, as its name suggests, maps out these processes visually to make them easily understandable for yourself and your employees. You express your needs as a business through these processes, and by mapping them you can see what parts are missing. It’s even better if these processes are all expressed with the same notation style to avoid any mistakes.

                  This is not, inherently, a novel idea. 

                  It comes from the times of Henry Ford, when they would use pen and paper to figure out how their processes worked. Even in the world of today, it is not uncommon to see huge drawing boards, sticky notes, and tons of paper around Business Analysts’ or Business Process Manager’s desks.

                  But this has several problems.

                  It is easy to lose track of processes when they are written down like this. Either because the sticky note itself is lost, or because it has been put away in a filing cabinet that is who knows where with a lot of other information. Also, the person doing the note-taking might have a different approach than the person reading it further down the line.

                  What do we mean by this?

                  A great example to think about is archaeological digs. 

                  The dig takes place in a set number of years, and x amount of objects are found, removed, given a number, and shipped off to a lab or museum. They should then, theoretically, be processed at the lab or museum by their number, photographed, and then either moved to a museum or storage unit. Many years down the line, a student, or professor, may come in and be doing research on an artefact that was found and want to study it. Theoretically, they would have access to all the associated documentation and images of the object for their study.

                  This is all in an ideal world, of course. 

                  Often excavator notes get lost or become illegible with the wear of time, or are illegible without appropriate context. Similarly, photographs may get lost, as may the objects themselves, making it harder for anyone to come by later on and study the artefact. Or the documentation may change, making it difficult to truly understand previous digs based on notes or drawn maps, because they no longer mean the same thing.

                  The same problems exist with business processes being mapped in pen and paper or sticky notes.

                  To avoid all of this, business process management software exists.

                  You upload it to a common tool that the pertinent people in your organization have access to. From there, anyone relevant can see it. You are not relying on someone to read writing from years ago or to interpret wording from back then, either. 

                  With UPN (Universal Process Notation), the notation is the same for everyone, so there can be no misunderstandings or confusion about what is meant each step of the way.

                  Business process management software is the response to the issues created by making maps on paper. It comes from a desire to improve existing systems, and it is needed for any business that is looking to grow, expand or streamline itself in this new era.

                  Qualities of the Best Business Process Management Software

                  Clearly, business process management software is a need. 

                  But how do you go about selecting the right one for you?

                  Well, there are a few qualities to keep in mind when you are shopping for your perfect fit.

                  Make sure it is cloud-based and collaborative

                  Make sure the software you are purchasing is cloud-based and can handle the maximum amount of employees that may be using it at the same time. Especially because mapping out processes typically require an ample amount of collaboration from all of your team members.

                  As a business, you will have multiple people consulting this software continuously throughout the day from different devices and, in the remote world of today, from different locations.

                  Cloud-based software is also scalable and low-maintenance, and a lot more agile for the purposes of business today. 

                  For instance, our client Lawrence & Wedlock, a leading intelligent automation services provider working across industries, had previously been using multiple tools to collect process information. Using multiple tools made it difficult for them to truly understand what was happening, it slowed down the process, and required different people to use different systems for similar tasks constantly. 

                  Instead, they reached out to Skore, and managed to scale down their discovery process time by an entire week, thanks to our cloud-based solution.

                  Get In Touch

                  Integration capacity works with your current tech stack

                  You also want to make sure your business process mapping software can integrate with software you are already using, or that it is scalable to incorporate those features. 

                  Whether that is a CRM or ERP, you want to make sure that whoever is offering the software is aware that you will be using other tools and technologies as well. They all need to be incorporated into the mapping.

                  A great example of this is our work with A2Z Cloud, wherein the solution is first designed in Skore using our mapping software, then developed and embedded on Zoho, and finally put in use by A2Z. Skore was aware of A2Z’s needs as a client and worked with them to find the best way to include and integrate our software with their business model.

                  Focus on mapping processes visually in a way that fits your organization

                  You want to make sure that the mapping software you are looking for corresponds to what fits your organization. A purely top-down, hierarchical approach may not work for everyone, just as a bottom-up approach may not, especially when it comes to visualizing these processes as a map. 

                  So you want to make sure that the software you invest in works for what you want it to do at your organization.

                  Let’s take a look at an example: Bovis Homes has a long history as a company – longer than Skore definitely.

                  But they wanted to improve their process and practices even further, to find areas where they could continue to grow and expand. 

                  By implementing Skore, they were able to find a tool that allowed them to bring their processes into the twenty-first century while maintaining some of the management tricks they’ve acquired over their long history. They’ve tried different things and know what works for them, and Skore fit all the requirements they had and were looking for in a business process mapping tool.

                  Intuitive and easy to use with a single notation style

                  The process mapping you choose has to be easy to use for everyone that may come across it. 

                  As Stuart Morgan, Design Engineer at Carte Blanche, said:

                  “Everyone can look at a Skore map and understand it. It’s a very simple system.”

                  If you have a process mapping tool, but everyone is using it differently, you may as well be building the Tower of Babel.

                  For business process management software, simplicity, and neutrality are key. Everyone needs to be in agreement on what means what, so that there is no confusion or debate as to what the process should be. 

                  The idea of business process mapping software is that you have it available and easily understandable to then analyse what you can do better – Skore does just that.

                  Analysis of processes to help you figure out what is working

                  A core feature of any good business process mapping software is offering space for analysis.

                  It’s not enough to simply have the process mapped out, you want to understand why it is working or not, and how you can improve on it. And you need it to be quick and understandable in minutes, not days.

                  Our client Foxability made use of Skore’s mapping process to the utmost when it comes to analysing their client’s processes for the software that would fit their needs best. As an advisor company, they need to know and show their clients where they might need to tweak their process, and Skore allows them to do so very easily. 

                  Security is a main feature of the software

                  A lot of the information that is added to a business process map is sensitive. 

                  They include how you do things, with attachments with sensitive information about yourself, your product or service, and your employees. You need to be careful and aware of what is being shared and when to whom, and you want to always know.

                  Business process management software needs to have clear controls and permissions with third-party integrations for clients. Skore has all of this, and more. Our client’s information is kept safe, and even in collaboration with partners such as Marjolo, we know that their client’s information is just as important to keep safeguarded.

                  Conclusion

                  Business process management software is a need for any organization looking to do business in the twenty-first century.

                  You might not know yet what the future holds for you and your business, but getting those processes working as they should and ensuring everyone knows about it is a key component for success.

                  If you’re interested in getting some help with process mapping for your organization, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, and we’ll get you started on your mapping journey with a free trial!

                  Why UPN Is Best for Process Improvement Methodologies

                  What UPN is has been covered in our blog in the past, but here’s a quick refresher before we dive deeper into this article.

                  UPN stands for Universal Process Notation and it is the simplest way of mapping business processes visually. By creating simple flows and diagrams, everyone in the company can understand how different aspects of the business works. It is best used in cases of training, audits, new software implementations, and organisational design, but it can also be used in other ways. 

                  In this article, we will learn why it is UPN above all other process improvement methodologies that you should be using. 

                  What’s Broken About Process Improvement Methodologies?

                  There is a big problem in process improvement methodologies at the moment. 

                  Most of them rely on paper, pens and post-it notes – even those built in a virtual space. 

                  When you are using process mapping post it notes, you will end up losing information whenever you switch your process or methodology. Or, it will change to a different format but the previous processes do not translate over well and you lose important information.

                  You’re essentially playing a game of broken telephone without realising it, and it is costing you your business’ organization and history.

                  And you don’t want that.

                  There are many different process improvement methodologies, a few of which we will examine later on in this article. And while they all have their pros and their cons, there is one salient fact: there is not one standard way of doing it. 

                  Because of this, you have different people applying different methodologies to every task or project. A lot of the time the process will be the exact same, but the mapping of it will be different. So it will seem like the entire process is different when, in fact, it is not. And it just ends up becoming more confusing and complicated than it needs to be.

                  By sticking to one, simple process improvement methodology notation your business will organize and self-regulate a lot better. And that one notation should be UPN.

                  How Universal Process Notation Helps Process Improvement Methodologies 

                  When we think of process mapping, you might think of tools like Visio or Lucid Chart. Now these might work for project management, but they cannot take on the complexity of business processes. Skore was designed in response to this need, making use of UPN for business operations and process mapping, demystifying and making it all more accessible to everyone involved.

                  This is why we have based our software on UPN.

                  By committing to using UPN, we narrow down the methodologies to simply one mapping process with a universally understood notation. Your team only needs to learn one type of mapping process, and you teach each new employee or team member the same one.

                  And, because UPN has standardised notations for process mapping, you mitigate the risk of anyone seeing the map having varying interpretations of each symbol or step. Not to mention, UPN is designed to be understood by any business person, not just experts.

                  UPN will also save you time. 

                  Not only are you not disagreeing as a team on processes due to a lack of consensus on notation, but you are also not spending time trying to understand what each person is doing. You are not relying on the paper and pen technologies of Henry Ford, when process mapping methodologies began. 

                  All your information is centralized, accessible and legible thanks to UPN-powered software. You do not have to re-read or re-write the same sticky note hundreds of times, or check the one file cabinet all the way at the back. 

                  It is all accessible via software like Skore. And easily understood.

                  With Skore, you can do end-to-end process mapping, and break down each section. Skore’s UPN-reliant process mapping framework allows businesses to create a hierarchy of the complexity of the processes, so that each business can go from big picture to small details of any process.

                  With Skore, process improvement and process optimization are at the tips of your fingers, as you will have a process library you can access anytime and anywhere. Within the process repository Skore offers, process management and process standardization will go hand-in-hand. No more looking at fifty different notes to find what the order should be!

                  Having understood the issues inherent with process mapping methodologies and how UPN mitigates those problems, let’s take a look at three methodologies more closely, and examine how using UPN would solve any issues.

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                  Value Stream Mapping

                  Value stream mapping comes from Toyota’s Production System, and it refers to the process of mapping every step of the material and information flows needed to bring a product from order all the way through to delivery.

                  Typically you start off mapping the current condition of the flow, and then creating a future map based on that of how the flow should actually work. Value stream mapping, as the name implies, focuses on value-streams as a whole – it is a ‘big picture’ approach to understanding how your business operations are working. As opposed to process mapping, where you focus on one aspect in particular of the entire process, here you are trying to understand and show how the entire operation and organization is working, and find places where you can make it better.

                  It also shows you the connection between your material and information flows, and really brings the entire process down to a level where it can be discussed without it seeming too overwhelming.

                  With maps this large, however, it is very easy to get lost and confused in the weeds, especially when mapping your current flow. If part of your current flow is always relying on Steve from the Warehouse to move some of your product in a certain way, what happens when Steve takes a sick day? Or when some piece of equipment fails for whatever reason?

                  You could spend hours pondering these questions when you first map everything out, and, if you do not commit to one way of noting each instance, future workers will be just more confused. Not only might Steve not be there to show them how it’s done, but if you’ve chosen to keep the information of how it’s done on a sticky note somewhere in the archives, rest assured that it is highly unlikely it will get done as intended.

                  Instead, UPN can step in here and save the day. 

                  By having your value stream maps made using universal process notation, there can be no mistakes or misunderstandings when it comes to reading the map. Everyone will be familiar with the signage, and will be able to step up wherever it is needed at any time, as everyone will be able to follow the intended flow of materials and information.

                  And software like Skore will make it even easier to access all this information in one place.

                  The Seven Wastes

                  Another process improvement methodology is the Seven Wastes. Also part of the Toyota Production System, they refer to seven wasteful activities that do not add value to your business processes and the goal is to try to diminish or eliminate them. They are: transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over-processing, and defects.

                  Transportation does not add any particular value to your product, so minimizing this cost is a no brainer. Not to mention, the environmental costs transport has. A solution would be to build manufacturing closer or opt for more efficient transportation methods when the time comes. 

                  Inventory waste is related to unprocessed inventory. Not only the storage costs, but also the waste of possible revenue with having unprocessed inventory and all the costs associated with storing it. And all the environmental effects keeping said unprocessed inventory stored have.

                  Motion is all the motions, whether done by machines or human workers, that can be minimized. Whether that is having less distances between spaces on a conveyor belt or setting a machine up to paint instead of a worker, depends on the product. Minimizing motion can also refer to taking better care of both workers and machines so that they both are kept in good condition.

                  Waiting, which we all hate, happens when one part of production is finished but you cannot move onto the next. This may be due to transportation issues, motion issues, or any combination of the seven wastes you can think of. But it slows down the entire process, and you should always be on the lookout for ways to minimize it, as waiting only generates less revenue and more costs for your business.

                  Overproduction is exactly what it sounds like. You bite the bullet and make way too many Mr. Potato Head toys, only for kids to want lightsabers for Christmas this year instead. Overproduction will then result in more unprocessed inventory, and all the associated costs there. Not to mention all the revenue you are never going to see come back.

                  Over-processing is any part of the manufacturing process that can be considered unnecessary. You are adding value to a product in an area that it is unneeded. For example, in Barbie’s Holiday Home, you don’t need to paint every wall a different shade of pink. That is way too much work to go into a toy that will probably be used until it’s broken. You’ve created more work and spent more money on an aspect that will be unimportant to your customer. And this is something you never want to happen.

                  And finally, defects. We’ve all come across an Amazon review of someone that ordered something and it came looking a lot different. Whether because it was a sizing mistake or a design issue, your business now has to take on the responsibility of the defect, process the associated paperwork, send the customer a new one or offer a refund, and potentially lose a customer and the associated revenue.

                  Now imagine if any part of your process mapping associated with the seven wastes and how to mitigate them is confusing for your business people. You might end up producing more waste instead in the worst case scenario. After all, overproduction or over-processing would only happen if something was not communicated properly.

                  And the key to any good business operation and process is good communication.

                  UPN, by virtue of it simplicity and standardisation, would greatly serve to correctly communicate the processes needed to avoid all of these wastes. With software dedicated to process mapping utilising UPN, you would not have to worry about any of these, as all of your business people would be able to understand and fix issues as they come up.

                  The 5 S’s

                  The 5’s also come to us from Toyota. In Japanese, they stand for seiri (organize, or sort), seiton (orderliness, or set in order), seiso (cleanliness, or shine), seiketsu (standardize), and shitsuke (discipline, or sustain).

                  Sort refers to eliminating any part of the process that can be deemed unnecessary. Think of Marie Kondo’s bringing joy metaphor. If the part of the process does not bring joy to your business or does not amplify it in any way, you can dismiss it. The same goes for actual items, be it unnecessary equipment, tools, flyers, inventory, etc. Anything that is unneeded to complete the actual process should be removed.

                  With orderliness, you look at what you have left and you arrange it neatly. You identify what tool or equipment you use where, and make sure they are easily accessible in those spaces. You should also indicate what each space and tool is used for, so that everything remains where it should be going forward.

                  Shine essentially boils down to keeping your work area clean. Anyone who has worked in the food or beverage industry can attest to the importance of constantly cleaning after yourself and your clients. In a business manufacturing environment, it is the same thing. Keep everything clean and tidy, and you will not waste time or run into any potential problems.

                  Additionally, standardisation means you should schedule regular cleaning and maintenance by sorting, being orderly, and shining on a daily basis. Which leads us to discipline. The moment you think something can be pushed for the next day is the moment where you lose track of things. Just have a daily list of tasks, a bi-weekly list of tasks, monthly and yearly, and keep to it.

                  To ensure that the 5 S’s are followed, you need to have mapping and messaging throughout all the different parts of your business manufacturing process that reflect their importance and which steps should be followed when. And, if this messaging looks any different at any point, this will only cause confusion. Eventually, a step will be missed, or someone will get confused, and it will snowball into a lack of all 5 S’s.

                  By utilizing UPN, you are able to circumvent any potential misunderstandings. As the notation is universal, no one will be confused, and everyone, regardless of whether they’re an expert at business mapping or not, will be able to follow along with the correct steps.

                  After all, UPN makes it easy to understand how your map flows, thereby making it easier on all to understand how you want your steps to go.

                  Conclusion

                  We’ve explored a variety of process improvement methodologies in this article, from three very specific examples to all of the problems inherent in using them as a combination.

                  Instead, think of UPN and its simplicity for all of your team. Anyone can understand it, and apply it correctly.

                  And, in the digital world, you no longer need to rely on paper and pen.

                  For business product mapping processes, Skore is happy to provide you with UPN software to make all the steps flow naturally and easily for your entire business team. 

                  Book a demo today to find out more!

                  How to Create a Process Library

                  Introduction – How to Create a Process Library

                  Businesses constantly map processes and create process documentation but often it ends up sitting on a shelf and collecting dust, never to be looked at again. In this blog we’ll show you how to create a process library so the next time someone wants to look at those processes they are fresh and up to date.

                  Processes are valuable assets that describe how a business works. To avoid endlessly wasting time and money redoing what has already been done, all businesses should have a live process library that’s easy to use and easy to access for everyone.

                  Why do you need a process library?

                  Consider why you need one – is it because the boss told you? Or because everyone else has one? Before you dive into creating your process library it’s important to put some thought into the benefits you want it to deliver.

                  Process libraries can be used to standardise your processes to improve quality, reduce waste and increase customer satisfaction. Alternatively you may have certain rules and regulations your company needs to follow or perhaps you are implementing a process improvement project and need a solid foundation to build on.

                  Whatever the reason, you need to know how to create a process library and make sure you can clearly describe it to everyone else in the business. You’re going to need their time and input so it’s important you can tell them why it’s valuable for them.

                  Which processes will you add to your process library?

                  When you understand why you’re creating a process library you should have a better idea of which processes to add. There are many different processes across all areas of a business so sometimes it can be a little daunting to get started.

                  The trick is to start making a list and then refine it. Firstly make note of the main processes in your business; the sales process, the marketing process, the delivery process, the development process, accounts payable and account receivable. 

                  Then, if you’re a small to medium sized business, check out our Business on a Page template for the most common processes. If you’re a larger business you may find the APQC process classification framework useful. You can get a visual representation of it here.

                  These templates and frameworks are great starting points for you but remember that they’re generic. It’s important to take some time to think about how this fits with your business and feel free to add or take away the processes that make sense.

                  When you create the process library this list of processes will form the centre of it. It will change over time so it doesn’t need to be perfect to start with. In addition, it’s worth sharing with others in the business to get their view too.

                  Who owns these processes?

                  One of the most important things to get right when improving any process is to identify the right Process Owner. The Process Owner is the person responsible for the output of the process. In other words, if the process isn’t producing the right output, it’s the Process Owner you need to speak to, to find out why.

                  Let’s take an example; if the Sales process exists to deliver confirmed orders to the production team, then the Process Owner for the Sales process is the person ultimately responsible for making sure confirmed orders are there. This person is most likely to be whoever is responsible for sales, such as the Sales Director, Head of Sales or Chief Commercial Officer.

                  Therefore, the Process Owner is then also responsible for ensuring the process is continuously improved. This should help you identify the right person or role.

                  Another important factor to consider in how to create a process library is who will be responsible for gathering feedback and improvements to the process. You also need to decide who will make changes to the process documentation so that the processes in the process library stay up to date.

                  Do you already have a central team that manages this for all other teams? Or do you have a distributed approach where individuals in each of the departments are responsible for updating their own processes? You should consider that while the former is ideal for new teams starting out building a process library, as the initiative grows across the business, the distributed model will scale much better.

                  Create a plan

                  Once you know which processes you are going to start adding to the process library, in which order and who owns them, you can start creating a plan. Mapping processes can be time consuming so pick an approach and a software that will make it as easy as possible and everyone in the business is going to understand.

                  Skore is based on a simple 2 shape approach that’s quick to learn and easy for people to read. The software has an intuitive user interface designed to be used in meetings to capture processes while people discuss them. Check out the key features here.

                  Learn more about process mapping in our Process Mapping Guide >>.

                  Once you have chosen the right tools for the job you can work out how many workshops you’ll need to capture each process. Then you will need to work out who needs to take part. Identify stakeholders in each process, the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and people that actually do the process.

                  Once you have your plan you can start capturing processes and building your process library.

                  Agree measures

                  When learning how to create a process library you don’t necessarily need to identify measures. However, if you want your process library to be used and not left to gather dust then this is a key activity.

                  There are various things that can be measured. Look at how the Process Owner and their team are being measured. These are normally the Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. In our Sales process example this could include the number of confirmed orders, order value and order quality.

                  Improving a process should improve at least one of the KPIs for you to measure.

                  However, it’s also really important to know how closely the team follows the process that has been documented. This gives you more confidence that changing the process will have the desired effect. We call this type of measure a Process Performance Indicator (PPI). In this case you are looking at the process and ensuring the team are doing it as described.

                  In our example of the Sales process – it is key that the sales team capture all the necessary information from the client to accurately fulfil their order…

                  The fulfilment team have created an order form that includes all the necessary fields and this is referenced in the Sales process. In this case the team can measure how many times orders are delivered to the fulfilment team using the correct form instead of by email or phone.

                  PPIs are generally quite easy to identify and to measure. It’s good to keep them simple but also be aware that the team can quickly reach the desired target so it’s useful to think about changing them from time to time – this will also ensure that your Process Library stays up to date and relevant.

                  Monitor and Improve

                  With all your measures in place, KPIs and PPIs, you can start to monitor and improve the processes. Each team should be monitoring their own KPIs and when things aren’t going to plan, they should look at the process to see what can be improved.

                  You should also build a regular programme of process reviews. This involves asking the team what has worked well and what could be improved since the last review. The frequency of these meetings will depend on the team and process. For areas that change often then a weekly review may be appropriate. For other areas the process reviews might be monthly, quarterly or even every six months.

                  At the same time teams can suggest improvements at any time. These need to be captured, ideally using a tool, and then reviewed. When considering an improvement, think about which of the KPIs or PPIs it’s likely to impact and in what way. Then, once you make the improvement, you can monitor its effectiveness clearly.

                  Conclusion

                  Although mapping processes and creating documentation can be a time consuming exercise it’s often necessary as part of key projects in a business. The danger is that all the work to map the processes can go to waste if they are not maintained. Creating a process library is a great way to store and manage those processes thereby protecting a valuable asset for the business.

                  The key things to remember, when learning how to create a process library, are to:

                  • Keep things simple
                  • Choose a software that’s easy to use for everyone
                  • Identify the Process Owners
                  • Get people involved
                  • Measure the processes

                  Why not take a free trial of Skore to get started creating your own process library today?

                  Sign up for your free trial

                  Using Skore to Deliver the People Side of Change Management.

                  Are you implementing a new system, designing a new organisation or improving business processes? If so, you need the right people in the right place with the right skills or your efforts are likely to be wasted. 

                  At Skore we’re passionate about making people the centre of everything related to process change. That’s why Skore has been simply designed to make people-led change a core part of process improvement. Whether you’re trying to build a case for change, get buy in, understand training needs and/or recruitment, there are a number of tools available to help you.

                  In this article we cover the following topics to show you how Skore’s simple software can help you deliver successful people-led change.

                  1. Set clear objectives
                  2. Get buy in early
                  3. Roles and responsibilities (e.g. RACI / RATSI)
                  4. Skills and competencies
                  5. Job descriptions
                  6. Org charts
                  7. Make change stick (giving people confidence – landing pages and training aids)

                  Set Clear Objectives

                  Whatever change you’re making be clear about what you’re trying to achieve. Setting clear goals and objectives, that everyone understands, is key to ensuring you are aligned.

                  Having a clear objective from the start means that in a workshop or training session people understand why you are changing something. There will be a lot less resistance if individuals and the organisation understand why they need change in the first place. 

                  Then translate them into the specific questions you’re trying to answer during investigation (discovery) and design workshops. A really effective way of doing this is to present a question that needs answeringin the workshop.

                  For example, if you are embarking on a software implementation project you need to define why the system is required and the high level benefits for the individuals involved. As part of your investigations you’ll run As-Is workshops (read more about As Is vs To Be here) to understand the current issues in the process.

                  This can be framed as a few questions such as:

                  • What things are slowing us down?
                  • What is preventing us from improving quality?
                  • What do we find frustrating?

                  Make this visible during the workshop to remind everyone what is important to focus on.

                  Try Skore for yourself for free

                  Get Buy In Early

                  Setting clear objectives is one thing but helping individuals build their own case for change is essential to getting buy in. A brilliant way to do this is to involve them in the work as early as possible. This gives them a stake in the change, an understanding of how it will impact them individually, both good and bad.

                  The Skore process approach is powerfully simple, meaning that everyone can get involved in process discovery sessions and really understand what’s going on. A great way to ensure buy in. Everyone can work together to:

                  • Align on how things work today and what’s wrong with them
                  • Collectively identify opportunities for improvement
                  • Agree on the constraints that may impact success
                  A Simple Process Captured In Skore

                  A simple process captured in Skore

                  Create this process framework by involving the team. Then suddenly it’s not a group or consultants or analysts doing it to them, they all have a stake in what the potential solution will look like. The same framework is used for further communications as the project progresses and further changes are made. This ensures everyone is on the same page.

                  Roles & Responsibilities

                  Processes are essential for helping the team align around what happens, when and why. With Skore you also build a deep understanding of who is involved and to what extent. This is really important when you want to know whether you have the right roles to make your processes work as designed. 

                  By default a Skore What box asks the question “Who does it?” and by enabling the Responsibilities model you can extend this using RACI, RATSI, RAPID, or your own preferred model (find out more about RACI alternatives here).

                  With this enabled you can tag the roles on each step of the process according to their responsibility level. If you are using RATSI, for example, you can tag the Responsible role with R, the Authority role with A, the Task role with T and so on. You can add as many roles to a What box as you like but remember that too many can make your process look complicated. (Tip: hide roles tagged with Support or Inform so they are not visible on the page but are still tagged against the process step.)

                  People Led Change Management starts with understanding responsibilities in Skore.

                  Multiple roles tagged with responsibility levels

                  Once you’ve added all your roles to the process go to Roles > Insights tab and you can immediately see how your roles stack up.

                  Insights tab shows responsibility levels and helps improve People Led Change Management

                  Roles > Insights tab showing responsibility levels across different roles

                  This view shows you how often each role has been tagged by each responsibility level. In RATSI the A (for Authority) shows who is responsible for key decisions. In this example you can see that the Marketing Director is the only role by design. Key decisions are kept to a minimum in this process and therefore as few people as possible need to have that authority. You may wish to represent lots of decisions, in which case you could use this view to ensure that no single role has to make all the decisions.

                  We see that the Marketing Manager has both a large amount of Responsibilities and Tasks. Therefore we would recommend reviewing that role to determine whether it actually needs to be divided into two or more new roles.

                  Whatever you do with the insights provided, you can change the process immediately and your change will be instantly reflected here. If you need to review individual roles use the Role Description on the main Roles tab.

                  Skills and Competencies

                  When changing a process, adding new activities, or creating a whole new process it’s likely there are going to be gaps in the skills and competencies of the existing team. Use Skore to identify these gaps and create job descriptions later on.

                  In Skore we ask what competencies are required for an individual piece of work without having to consider the role involved. By focusing on the activities we can objectively agree what the right competencies are required to deliver the desired outcomes.

                  Screenshot shows the individual competencies that can be added to a what box in Skore

                  Individual competencies attached to an activity

                  Here we can see competencies have been added to the activity using Custom Field attachments. This activity has two competencies associated with it. You would review each activity in the process and add competencies as required.

                  Now we can go to the Roles tab and this time we select the Competency tab. The Competency tab is automatically generated as soon as you start adding competencies to the process.

                  Insights generated by Skore to show the number of Roles by number.

                  Roles by number of associated competencies

                  Here we can start to see how different competencies cluster around different roles. Fewer competencies generally means roles are much more specialised whereas large numbers of competencies indicate a more generalist role.

                  Again this view shows that the Marketing Manager has a large number of competencies compared with other roles so we can legitimately ask the question whether it’s feasible that one person could have such a broad skill set. This may be further evidence that the Marketing Manager role needs to be redesigned.

                  Note. This example does not include the minimum level of competency but this could be added to Skore if required.

                  Job Descriptions

                  With the information gathered so far it’s now possible to start creating accurate job descriptions. For this you will use the Role Manager in the Roles tab. The Role Manager lists all the roles in the process and shows how often they appear. Selecting a role will show you the detailed Role Description on the right hand side.

                  Skore Software generating role descriptions. In this case a Marketing Manager.

                  Role Manager View

                  The view above shows the role description for the Marketing Manager. Many roles will directly translate into a job description while other job descriptions may be made up of multiple roles. In the Marketing Manager example the description lists all the activities and their responsibility level.

                  The Custom Field section will show you the list of competencies that this role requires to carry out the activities it has been assigned. This should be the full list of competencies required for the job.

                  Image shows a competency list created in Skore.

                  Competency list for the selected role

                  The Collaborators section tells you which other roles the Marketing Manager is working closely with. This is determined by how often each role appears on the same activity as the Marketing Manager. The higher the count the more they will interact.

                  Other roles that collaborate with this one

                  Finally you can see how this role interacts with others through handovers. This is another form of interaction where the role is passing over finished work to another part of the process, often outside of their team or department.

                  Handover view of the Marketing Manager as shown in Skore

                  Handover view of the Marketing Manager

                  With this information it is now possible to create a job description that is directly connected to the work described by the process model.

                  Organisation Chart

                  The job descriptions created in the last step provide a basis for developing your org chart. They will give you a good sense of the level of responsibility, the level of skills and knowledge as well as the types of activity they are involved in. Assembling the org chart may require some work but is easily carried out in Skore using Note boxes and Icons.

                  A descriptive and colourful Org Chart in Skore using Notes functions.  Show how your people will be affected by Change.

                  Org Chart in Skore using Note boxes and Icons

                  Make Change Stick with People Led Change Management

                  Even after you assemble the team and start implementing your change things will still be new to everyone. Regardless of experience and skill level these are new ways of working and not everyone will remember everything from day one.

                  Set up training on the key process changes and any new technology. Using Skore, create User Manual versions of your new processes so that everyone has easy access to the new processes and any supporting material.

                  Processes need to be easy to find so that people aren’t left frustrated and not able to figure out how to do simple things. There will always be challenges during implementation but the aim is to make it as easy as possible.

                  Create landing pages in Skore that make it easy for people to find this information in a simple and friendly way. Landing pages are easy to make using images and links to the appropriate processes.

                  A landing page created in Skore to inspire people in your organisation to adopt change.

                  A simple landing page to make it easy for users to quickly access their processes

                  Add additional information to processes to make it as easy as possible for people to find the actual information they need. This could include links to documents, forms, policies, apps or even instructional videos.

                  How to add video links and extra details into a Skore map. This helps to encourage People Led Change Management in hour organisation.

                  Video tutorial embedded in a Skore attachment to support users through change

                  Finally you can use the collaboration features in Skore to gather issues in the process as users come across them. The Skore processes really become the communication medium between those doing the process and the support team helping them through the change.

                  Conclusion

                  Delivering change without spending enough time considering the impact on people is always going to be dangerous. Without the right people, and without getting them behind the change it’s unlikely to deliver the expected results. That’s why Skore has been designed to make it as easy as possible to engage with people and provide an unrivalled set of tools that allows you to align People, Process and Technology all in one view. Deliver change with your People on board and you’re on the route to success.

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                  How to map your Procure to Pay Process.

                  Understanding how to map your Procure to pay (P2P) process can seem somewhat daunting at first. Of course the steps already exist in your organisation, but being able to get it all down in one place can seem a difficult task. 

                  In this guide we will share with you some of the basic stages you should consider and the reasons why it is so important to have a clear understanding of your process. Our how to map the Procure to Pay process will outline the steps and we’ll even throw in a free Procure to Pay template to help you get started. Just read on to find out more.

                  What is the Procure to Pay Process?

                  Procure to pay is the end to end process from selecting and ordering from a supplier to receiving goods/services and making payments. Historically P2P, also known as Purchase to Pay, was a manual process involving numerous parties, different requirements and countless pieces of paper. Whilst the numerous stages remain, many organisations are taking great steps to automate the Procure to Pay process. Why is this so key? As a vital component of any business, an efficient P2P process results in a healthy financial outlook, competitive strength and not to mention a honourable reputation. 

                  You can break the P2P process down into different sections and there are different interpretations of this. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how many stages you have as long as you’ve included the fundamentals. In this blog we group them into four main categories – to keep it simple. 

                  When you start to examine how your business runs its purchasing process you really need to consider the following aspects:

                  Want to learn more about Process Mapping? Read our definitive guide here.

                  Selection and Sourcing 

                  Before you even start raising purchase orders you need to detail the system in place to identify company needs. Plus how you find and select suppliers.

                  • Who do you need to speak to in the company?
                  • What are your criteria for selection?
                  • Do you have existing relationships with suppliers and who manages them? 

                  Once suppliers are selected:

                  • What contractual agreements are in place?
                  • Who manages these relationships?

                  In addition this also our first glimpse into compliance requirements in the P2P process. It’s vital to get this right from the Selection and Sourcing stages. 

                  Purchasing and Ordering

                  Once you have selected a supplier and signed the relevant agreements consider how you raise your purchase orders. It can be a very simple process, but historical and manual involvement means that it is often convoluted, confusing and wastes time. This is often due to a delay in getting sign off or a lack of clarity around your company rules and policy.  Mapping out your P2P processes is a great opportunity to see the steps involved here and whether there is room for improvement.

                  • Think about how you create a requisition?
                  • Who decides how much money you will spend?
                  • How do you get approval from the budget owner and who enters the details into your computer system so a purchase order can be raised?
                  • Once a PO has been generated how do you send it off to the supplier ready to order your goods or services?

                  Read about the most common mistakes people make when mapping processes here >>

                  Receiving Goods and Services 

                  Next, your services or goods should arrive.

                  • Whose responsibility is it to check on the quality of the goods/services?
                  • How do you define if they are up to the standard you were expecting?
                  • Have they arrived in a timely fashion?
                  • Are there any credit notes or faulty items to return?
                  • How has your purchasing experience measured up so far?
                  • Most importantly who is responsible in your organisation for each part of this stage?

                  Remember these are the types of questions you should be asking your organisation as you work through the process. Consider what tools you use in your organisation to measure these questions. Make sure you document them as you capture the P2P Process. 

                  Invoices and Expenses 

                  Finally as soon as the goods/services are delivered the payment part of the process is in motion. Invoices will be raised and entered into your accounts system. Goods or services delivered are crossed off and compared to what was ordered. Payments are made and accounts settled. You want this to run smoothly, paying suppliers promptly and without mistakes of course makes for a smooth supply chain. Once again, consider who does what at these different stages:

                  • What different departments are involved in releasing payments?
                  • Have you also thought about the different methods of payment your business uses to pay back suppliers?

                  You also need to compare how much you forecast to spend at the requisition stage and check how much the actual amount is in the invoice. This is key to managing the company’s cash flow. This is another clear example of how learning how to map your P2P process will help with the financial management of your business and keep it healthy too. 

                  At this stage you can also include details of how you deal with internal expenses.

                  • How do you pay back your employees?
                  • How do you keep copies of receipts and proof of payment?
                  • What do you ask to see and who needs to sign these off before payment can be made?

                  Expenses payments are a vital part of the P2P payment process. 

                  Risks in not having a well thought out P2P process

                  As highlighted in this article, the Procure to Pay process is fundamental to an effective business. Making sure you know how to map out the P2P process is key.  Not taking the time to clearly outline the process can result in many issues for any organisation including:

                  Slowing productivity

                  Customer satisfaction decreased because you couldn’t hire the temporary staff quick enough to satisfy demand? Products removed from your stock because you couldn’t get hold of the goods you needed to make them? All this relates back to your Purchase to Pay process. If you can’t get that right, your business can’t work quick enough. 

                  Hidden Costs

                  Do you really know how much you are spending on your suppliers vs the value it brings the organisation? Are you able to access this information at a touch of a button? A lack of clarity from your business means that you may not be able to track the flow of money around your organisation easily. 

                  Compliance

                  A purchase to pay process that has not been clearly mapped means it’s easy to fall into the trap of making mistakes or not adhering to regulations. If your organisation was audited tomorrow – could you relax knowing that everyone in your business understands the rules and regulations and has been following them?

                  Communications

                  Traditional approaches meant that P2P had a paper trail. How many lost purchase orders or requisitions entered incorrectly have you experienced? Do you truly know how many people are involved in the P2P process? Do they all understand the steps and requirements? If there was an issue with payment tomorrow – do you know who to speak to about it?

                  Reputation

                  Supplier disputes, late payments? All headaches you clearly don’t need. They aren’t great for your reputation, suppliers need paying and all of this can be avoided if you have a system in place that works well. You may not even be aware of the issues your suppliers and staff are experiencing until you take the time to map out the Procure to Pay process. 

                  Successful P2P leads to Successful Organisations 

                  When you look at the breakdown of the Procure to Pay Process, you begin to understand why it is such an integral part of any organisation. The delivery of goods and services are a component of every department. The success and smooth running of any P2P process is key to an efficient and profitable business. 

                  Yet we still see hesitation. For many the task itself seems overwhelming. P2P affects every part of your business and at Skore we see that some people just don’t know where to start. By mapping out your process you are opening up that discussion. You are discovering your key people in this process, learning about the limitations and uncovering where your bottlenecks are. 

                  A clearly defined Procure to Pay process means that:

                  • You have better control of your business. 
                  • The lines of communication are open within departments and everyone understands their roles. 
                  • Efficient sourcing and payments will make your company more competitive in the marketplace and of course improves reputation.
                  • More opportunities to uncover hidden costs and potentially save money
                  • Saves time approving suppliers and creating orders
                  • Safeguards your company from compliance and risk issues. 

                  And these are just some of the initial benefits.  As more companies move towards automation in the Procure to Pay process, the opportunities to reduce errors and streamline the process become even greater. 

                  How to map your Procure to Pay process – Free Template. 

                  At Skore we understand that for some it means just taking the first steps towards a healthy P2P process. That’s why we have made our Procure to Pay Process template available and free to use. Skore’s Process Improvement Software platform was designed to be used by everyone in the organisation. That means there are no complicated shapes or terminology to learn and from the moment you start mapping the software will begin to build your analytics dashboard to help you understand where the costs, risks and opportunities are in your business. 

                  The Procure to Pay process template will help you look at a standardised way of managing the process. It’s up to you to customise or change it to your own business requirements.

                  If you have a Skore workspace you can add it for free or you can always sign up for a free trial and try out the process template for yourself.

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