Process Mapping is a term that is used in the business world to refer to a technique for sketching out every step in a job task. This gives corporations the opportunity to look for ways to improve productivity and efficiency and also to gather a good appreciation of just exactly who is involved in each business task, how long it takes, what resources are used, etc. We can actually use process mapping in our home businesses to help us get a handle on how we are operating and how we can improve our businesses and make better use of our time, energy and resources.
Think of process mapping as an exercise in outlining how you are going about running your home business. You might want to do it on paper–either a large piece of butcher paper or art paper, or even use a white board with some dry erase markers to sketch out your daily operations. Starting at the beginning of a task or “process”–write down each step, what resources are involved, approximately how much time it takes, who else you might need to contact, etc. For example if you process orders as part of your business–you may want to start at the moment the order comes in, or you might want to start prior to that, when you first contact a customer or begin prospecting.
As you map out each task involved in your business, you’ll want to put them together so you get an honest and detailed picture of the entirety of your business. Of course, you may want to do this in pieces and focus on one task or process at a time. You’ll be surprised what you’ll notice when you see it all drawn out on paper (or a white board) and you will likely observe some very obvious places where you are duplicating effort, wasting time or not being as efficient as you could be.
Even though process mapping is an established business tool used in some rather large and complicated corporations, it can still be a valuable evaluation exercise for your home business. After all, the more efficient and effective we are with our businesses, the more time we’ll have for family and other priorities.