What’s that you say? You’re done with all your macro management methodologies? Well congratulations, you’re ready to move away from the “big picture” view and start getting operational. We call this the meso level; it’s between macro and micro, and yes, I had to look that term up. It tracks with the Do part of PDCA that covers things like process maps and procedure checklists. Speaking of process maps, here is an example of a generic process map for the employee journey:
Process maps are flowcharts that track the activities required to add value for different parts of the organization. They track responsibilities, authority, boundaries, and precedence. They facilitate communication and troubleshooting, and make it possible to focus on resolving bottlenecks in systems instead of wasting time pointing fingers at people.
Process maps are used across all business units: marketing, finance, human resources, operations, and management. They can be used at a high level to communicate the general value stream of a business: a healthcare clinic can be summed up by referral, assessment, treatment, and discharge, for example. They can also be used at a very detailed level to train new hires in step-by-step procedures, although we generally prefer a procedure checklist – coming in part five of this series – for that purpose.
You’ll notice it includes not just the flowchart, but also what are called swimlanes: vertical divisions that show the boundaries of different departments or individuals, and horizontal divisions that show the transitions over time during the employee journey from pre-employment to employment to post-employment.
You’ll notice I chose to build more detail into the pre-employment phase. The amount of detail is entirely up to the mapper, and will vary depending on what you are going to use the map for. You could just as easily emphasize the employment phase with more detail on the performance review and development cycles, for example.
This post is part 4 of 5:
- Macro, meso, and micro management methodologies;
- Example of a balanced scorecard for healthcare;
- Use a strategy map to how value is created in a health clinic;
- A process map for the employee journey (you’re reading it!);
- Procedure checklists and workflow automation.
Luckily there are plenty of examples of process maps just an Internet search away, so take a look and start building your own!