Process Mapping provides a detailed look into a specific process within the larger system by capturing the inputs and outputs of every step of the process.
It is used to visualize the ‘flow’ of a process and identify where you can make small changes to eliminate waste or duplication and improve effectiveness or efficiency. A good process map should show, with certainty, where improvements can be made, where inequities are happening, where decisions are made, where cycle time delays exist and where smooth handoffs are not taking place.
When process mapping, you should have a specific, measurable goal for the change you think would be an improvement to the system.
Goals for process mapping could be:
Shortening the length of time from assessment to move in in our CE process
Streamlining our process for enrolling people on our BNL
Improving the number of outreach contacts with queer youth or youth of color
Identifying specific manifestations of racism in our assessment process
Improving the number of housing matches identified in case conferencing that result in a move in
Meeting Prep
Pick the Target for Improvement: Using data and other information, pick the part of your system with the most significant bottlenecks or areas for potential improvement.
Identify who needs to participate: Invite a specific and intentional group and keep it limited to only those who are necessary. Select the people that perform the work in the target area, people with decision making authority and ‘myth-busters’.
If you are not inviting young people with lived experience of this process to your meeting, be sure to find another way to hear their perspectives (see our Involving Young People in Process Mapping Resource)
Set Expectations: participants should be ready to talk about improvement and come open to critical self-reflection
Select a map collection method: Process mapping can be performed using sticky notes and flip charts/white boards, an excel spreadsheet or technical drawing software program. specifically think about how you will track where inefficiencies or opportunities for improvement emerge.
Schedule a designated meeting time: Plan an appropriate amount of time for the process separate from other meetings - the only purpose of this time should be to complete the process map! *Tip: Ideally plan for two separate meetings to complete the ‘current state’ and ‘desired state’ map
Pick a Facilitator and Note Taker: Don't try to facilitate, record and participate! Ask your ACI Coach to act as a neutral facilitator if needed.
Get the Data: Identify data to understand the “NOW” and prepare to measure improvements. Do NOT skip this step! If you can't think of what baseline data to organize talk to your ACI Coach.
Pro-tip: Consider doing some one on one interviews with key participants or users so you can come to the meeting with a ‘skeleton’ of the current state process.
Make it anti-racist
Consider who you are inviting to map this process as you are making the invite list - what perspectives are present and likely to be missing?
Identify the groundwork that needs to be laid for participants to engage in conversations about how and where racism is being perpetuated in this process.
Include disaggregated data in your preparation - what is it telling you about where in the process we might be generating disproportionality?
Are there questions about how racism is perpetuated in this process that the group may not feel comfortable asking? Think about how you will approach that.
How prepared do you feel to hold space for difficult conversations and keep the conversation focused on anti-racist practice?
Are you measuring success in a way that will lead to anti-racist or equitable outcomes?
Even if the goal is not specific to closing a disproportionality gap, you should always be talking about where disproportionality is showing up in the process - failing to look closely at this information may mean we miss significant opportunities to improve or see no problem in a process because there is no problem for the dominant group.
Facilitating the Meeting
Framing the meeting
Establish the objective for the meeting: What are you improving and by when?
Define the Process being mapped: what is the start and end point?
Identify the Measurement: How will you know you improved the process? What outcome would you see change?
Mapping the process
Map the high level steps in the process
Layer in any data that helps illuminate the reality of what is happening with each step (ie: number of days it takes to get from x to y, median number of matches, etc)
Add detail to the current process, including decision points, paperwork, referrals, handoffs, who is involved, how long it should take, and WHY we do each step
Pro-tip: Avoid making assumptions or accepting ‘it’s the way it’s always been done’ as a reason to continue with a specific step or process if it is not generating an equitable, efficient, or effective outcome.
Visually identify the bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the current process using stickies, color coding, etc.
Pick one or two identified improvement areas to do tests of change
Identifying changes
Brainstorm: what changes could we make to this process that could get us closer to our goal?
Pick 1-3 changes to try
Set up a test cycle/s and leave with a plan!
What change do you want to see/how would you know if this change was successful?
When will the test start and end?
What data do we need? Who will get it?
What are the action steps?
Who holds the red ball?
Next Steps / Closing
Make it anti-racist
Incorporate disaggregated data, calling specific attention to data that you notice to have large disparities between populations (ie, 50% of housing referrals that don’t result in move ins are for LGBQ young people)
Ask specific questions about why we may be seeing these disparities in the data.
Use facilitative methods that allow for every person to share their perspective, especially if there are disputed steps or differences between administrative and ‘on the ground’ perspectives.
Make it a goal to identify and test at least one change that the group thinks will result in better outcomes for youth of color - talk without change isn't enough!
Questions to ask during mapping:
Where in these steps do you spend most of your time and why?
Where in the process do you repeat work? How often and why?
What was intended to happen during this step? What actually happens?
When pressed for time, what steps in the process are skipped?
What do people want or need from the process? What pains does the process cause?
Where do cycle time delays take place?
The 5 Whys Technique:
The idea is to simply ask why something is done as it is. To the response, another why is asked. This continues until the facilitator drills down to the ultimate basis for the action or process step.
This is an easy way to accomplish two things:
It makes the team understand that they cannot just accept every step as necessary because it had been done that way before.
Team members understand that they are going to have to defend their position and support it with facts. As the team goes along the process, it becomes easier and easier to find steps that are truly not necessary.
Mapping an ‘ideal’ process:
After mapping the current state, bring the group back together to map an ideal future state - In a perfect world, what should this process look like. This allows participants to imagine new alternatives and deepen their reflections on what is possible and changeable about the system. Identify a few tangible first steps to make progress towards the ideal state.
After the meeting
Prioritize the Improvements: If the improvements and suggestions will have a broad impact on the process, avoid implementing them all at once. Start small and monitor impacts to the system, layering in more as you go.
Identify the Improvement Project Manager - Designate who is holding the big red ball and will convene future meetings and drive the improvement team forward.
Identify the Timeline: Decide when the improvement team will meet again (at what intervals and for how long) to evaluate and measure if ideas being tested are resulting in improvement.
Assure that Project Management includes continual data analysis to understand where to focus improvement efforts - when to stop, when to modify the idea, when to scale and codify.
Make it anti-racist
Reflect on how the group engaged with the data and questions about disproportionality. What changes could be made in another session to improve engagement?
Where did we identify racism and what change idea could we test accordingly?
Do we truly have commitment from everyone in the room to move forward with the issue we’ve identified? If not, why?
Is the Project Manager committed to undoing racism within this process?
Is implementation work divided equitably?