Workflow mapping
FOLLOW ONE REQUEST.
KEEP THE HANDOFFS VISIBLE.
A useful map records what happens today, including the waiting, repeated questions and workarounds.
THE REQUEST ARRIVES
Give the work a clear starting point.
A request needs to explain what is needed and who should receive it. Follow how those details reach the team today.
- Owner
- Who is responsible for receiving the request?
- Input
- The request, its purpose and the information needed to begin.
- Next action
- Identify where incomplete requests are clarified.
Select a handoff to read the work behind it.
Workflow mappingObservation
ASK THE PEOPLE WHO HANDLE IT.
Choose an ordinary example of recurring work. Follow it from the first request through the decisions and actions that lead to delivery. At each handoff, record what arrives, what is missing and what the next person needs.
The map should distinguish work from waiting and a decision from a transfer of information. It is a shared account to test with the team, not a finished diagram imposed from outside.
The output
A MAP PEOPLE RECOGNIZE.
The working map names roles, inputs, outputs and open questions. It can show loops where work returns for clarification and points where authority is unclear. The team reviews the map against actual examples before choosing a change.
Turn an observation into an experiment