Standard Of Business Quality
Business process mapping refers to the series of processes involved in defining exactly the activity of a business entity, people who are responsible, up to what standard of quality a process should be executed and how the achievement level of a business process can be determined. There can be no uncertainty about any internal business process, once business mapping is done. Business process mapping is initiated by gaining control over an organization through the knowledge and understanding of the basic processes.
A business entity is required by ISO 9001 to follow a process approach when managing its business, and creating business process maps will help in this objective. The entity can then progress towards ensuring that its processes are effective and efficient.
Reviewers require an instrument that measures the objectives of the business, the actual work being completed, and the impact of the processes on customers, in order to effectively analyze business processes. Business process mapping is that instrument. This analysis can take place in a four-step process.
Processes should be defined on the basis of customer perspective, instead of defining them based on the company perspective. The reviewer can identify some pivotal points by researching the customer experiences. These points form the basis for process identification. Once the processes are identified, the second step namely, information gathering begins. There is a large volume of information that should be gathered before attempting to learn the nuances of a process. The most valuable informations are identifying those who are the real process-owners or in other words people who can bring in changes. Further information that should be gathered includes the objectives of the process, risks to the process, main controlling factors over those risks and measures of success for the process. There are some important worksheets which are used to effectively record and maintain these informations. Actual process mapping is over only after each step is completed. This involves obtaining job-descriptions of each and every employee and that too by directly talking to them. It is interactively ensured that the final map matches their understanding of their work. The final process maps are chalked out using flowcharting software. Simple maps can result from even complicated processes. Although analysis is the fourth step, analysis must be an ongoing process throughout the review.
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