Leveling Process Maps
Process Maps, Diagrams, and Steps
A process map engages stakeholders to visualize a complex process in diagrams of up to ten steps each. A diagram shows the steps in boxes connected with arrows. Limiting diagrams to three to seven steps eases the cognitive load on the stakeholders reviewing the diagrams. In addition, fewer steps leave more room to enlarge label text, making the diagram more legible.
Any step in a process diagram can drill down into another diagram showing the details of the step. The drill-downs organize the diagrams into a hierarchy, which forms the process map. A process map can have as many drill-down levels as needed to clarify any ambiguity.
Drilling Down for Details
Process maps usually start with the highest level steps, with each step drilling down to a process diagram with more detailed steps. See “Process Mapping the Big Picture” for more information about drilling down.
For example, a top-level process starts with the step “Execute a CRM process,” which drills down to a diagram with the two steps shown below. You can zoom in on any diagram in this article to see it more clearly:
Step 1, “Attract unaware prospects,” drills down to these three steps.
Once marketing provides qualified leads, how will sales turn them into customers?
The “Execute a CRM process” diagram’s step 2, “Convert qualified leads to customers,” has a drill-down for that:
This seven-step process diagram shows the lead conversion “happy path” when everything goes as intended.
What happens if the prospect doesn’t qualify or is not interested? What if the prospect wants changes to a proposal - or rejects it? What if negotiations fail? The process diagram can show these exceptions:
The second row of steps shows exceptions, with the happy path steps in the top row. At this point, the diagram starts to look rather busy.
How can a process map author reduce the steps to simplify the diagram? One way is to consolidate several steps into one, with a drill-down to the consolidated steps. For example, the first three steps of the “Convert Qualified Leads to Customers” diagram could move to a new diagram:
One step, labeled “Convert lead to opportunity,” would replace the three steps in the “Convert Qualified Leads to Customers” diagram. This step would drill down to the “Convert Lead to Opportunity” diagram.
Also, moving the “Rework proposal” step (9) into the “Submit proposal” step (5) drill-down makes the “Convert qualified leads to customers” steps easier to follow. The diagram below shows that change, along with the consolidated “Convert lead to opportunity” step:
This diagram has the best of both worlds, showing the process and major exceptions in seven steps.
From the Forest to the Trees
If you zoomed in on any diagram in this article and scrolled across the steps, you may have found browsing the diagram a bit challenging. Zooming in makes the text more readable at the cost of seeing fewer steps at a time.
Putting fewer steps in each diagram with their details in drill-down diagrams makes navigating a process map much easier. For example, the steps in the “Attract Unaware Prospects” diagram only pertain to that step in “Execute a CRM Process.” Similarly, the “Convert Qualified Leads to Customers” steps only pertain to that step in “Execute a CRM Process.”
If “Execute a CRM Process” had the three “Attract Unaware Prospects” steps and seven “Convert Qualified Leads To Customers” steps in one diagram, it becomes a ten-step diagram, as shown in this sketch:
That’s a lot of steps to fit across a screen. More importantly, marketing executes steps 1-3, while sales deals with steps 4-10. Even if someone viewing the diagram knows that zooming in to steps 1-3, zooming out, then back in on steps 4-7 is an awkward way to navigate. It distracts the viewer from understanding the process flow.
It’s far better to put related steps in separate diagrams. In this case, the marketing steps (1-3) go in one diagram and the sales steps (4-10) in another. “Execute a CRM process” becomes a two-step diagram, drilling down to:
Marketing focuses on the “Attract Unaware Prospects” diagram, while sales looks at “Convert Qualified Leads To Customers.” The diagrams have room to add more steps if needed, although “Convert Qualified Leads to Customers” should stay close to seven steps, using the consolidation techniques shown above.
Limiting the steps on process diagrams by creating new levels makes navigating a process map simpler for stakeholders, engaging them to understand the process better.