Business Process Mapping
At the core of every business are processes.
Whether it is employee onboarding or purchase
orders, data needs to move around the office in a
certain sequence to get done.
But, if you were to ask your team members to draw
out the exact process flow, what would it look like?
Something like the blueprint to a battleship, or a
lot of fuzzy lines and question marks?
This is where business process mapping comes into
play
What is Business Process Mapping?
Business process mapping is a powerful technique inside business process management (BPM) to visually
depict process steps and show how a process should function from start to finish. With this technique,
business processes are laid out visually so every stakeholder in your organization can understand and adhere to
the proper functioning.
Business process mapping uses charts, flowcharts, and symbols to answer the following three essential
questions:
What are the tasks in the process?
Processes are made up of individual tasks that must be done in a particular sequence in order to complete an
item. When you map business processes, you clearly identify every step in the process and make sure everyone
knows where one task ends and another begins.
Who does each task?
In business process mapping, you must identify exactly who is responsible for a particular task. Task
assignment might be static (Karen always does it), or dynamic (the initiator’s manager always does it), or might
be dependent on data in the form. But business process mapping makes it clear on roles and responsibilities.
When does each task occur?
A process mapping tool will set each task within the sequence of the entire process. Does it happen first? After
another task? Can this task happen simultaneously with other tasks, or is it dependent on other data being
processed first?
What’s the Difference between Mapping and Modeling?
Business process mapping is often used interchangeably for business process modeling. Mapping can usually
be done on any medium, including a piece of paper or a whiteboard. However, business process modeling is
always done in some kind of software to create a digital model that can be automated.
Why Do You Need Business Process Mapping?
Business process mapping is an essential part of running an efficient business. Without a visual representation
around how predictable processes run in your company, employees are left to guess and make mistakes as to
what the best practices are. If you don’t clearly define a business process through mapping, each department
and individual is left to create his/her own sequence and assignment. This leads to chaos, confusion, and blame
when the task owners are not clearly assigned.
The benefits of business process mapping include:
•Corporate clarity around the process
•Systematic control over how the process functions
•Established operational norms
•Elimination of redundancies
•Increased process visibility
•Better compliance with industry standards
•More uniform employee training
How to Create a Process Map?
1. Gather all the stakeholders. You need several voices of people who are both responsible for the process and
who are actively involved in the day-to-day activities.
2. List out all the human tasks. What are all the things that humans do as a part of this process? Initially, this is
often best done with sticky notes that can be easily moved around later.
3. List out all the system tasks. There are many tasks such as data transfers, sending emails, or simple folder
creation that can be done better by a machine than a human.
4. Identify redundancies. Go back and check your list of tasks and see if some can be eliminated, converted to
a notification, or switched to a system task.
5. Determine who is responsible for each task. Most tasks will have a single owner. Some might be able to be
assigned to a group of people, but someone should be ultimately held accountable for the timely completion.
System tasks also need someone responsible in case there are any errors.
6. Set the sequence of tasks. What needs to happen first? Can some tasks be done at the same time? Which
tasks are dependent on others? When is the process complete? While this phase is best done with physical
objects like moveable cards, eventually, you will want to move to a business process mapping tool that can
digitize what you’ve created
Marketing Process | Steps of Marketing Process
A process that involves the customer’s satisfaction towards their requirements created in
terms of value is called the marketing process. It is a string of actions and their reactions
performed by the companies and the customers in order to satisfy the customers.
Steps of Marketing Process
The first step is to analyze the condition in order to identify the problems or needs of the customer. Then a
basic strategy is made upon those identifications to propose a value. As a result of this step, a tactical
decision is made to handle the value. After that, a plan is executed and lastly, the results are gathered.
Here are the five major steps of the marketing process:
1. Understand the customer needs
2. Develop a basic strategy
3. Make a decision
4. Execute a plan
5. Deliver the result
Now, we will discuss each one of them in detail. Let’s see starting from the initial step and going towards the
result, what we basically achieve.
What is the 7Ps Marketing Mix and how should it be
used?
The marketing mix is a familiar marketing strategy tool, which as you will probably know, was traditionally
limited to the core 4Ps of Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It is one of the top 3 classic marketing models
according to a poll on Smart Insights
1-Understand the Customer’s Needs
Understanding is the key to a successful business. To understand the needs of the customer
and develop your marketing MIX, You should have an insight into a few things:
•Understand the local area
•Understand the country you are targeting
•Know the interest of your customers
•Know how much they can spend on that
The traditional 7Ps of marketing consist of:
Product / How can you develop your products or
services?
Promotion/ how can we add to or substitute the
combination within paid, owned and earned media
channels?
Price/ How can we change our pricing model?
Place/ what new distribution options are there for
customers to experience our product, e.g. online, in-
store, mobile etc.?
People / who are our people and are there skills
gaps?
Process/ Are there internal process barriers in the
way to delivering the best customer value?
Physical evidence/ how we reassure our customers,
e.g. impressive buildings, well-trained staff, great
website?
2- Develop a Basic Strategy
In order to start a business, you must know:
What is trending in your area?
What do they really want to buy?
Who is your targeted customer?
What is the level of need for that product?
3. Make a Decision
Once you know who you are targeting, now you can make a marketing plan. At this
point, you have to make a decision by drafting:
Budget (see Business Finance)
Product specifications (also read Feasibility Study)
Product development (in future)
Ways and mediums for promoting your product
The expected date for launching the product
4. Execute a Plan
Execute your plan now. You have a draft of your plan, now work on it. To execute the
best plan focus on three things
Sharpen your interest
Create your competence
Light up your passion