Process Mapping Symbols: The Key to Making Process Maps

 The importance of process mapping symbols can be difficult to comprehend when you're new to process mapping, but the impact of understanding a process map and the symbols that are used to assign value in the process steps can completely revolutionise the way your organisation looks at business improvement. Understanding the symbols involved in process mapping is perhaps the most revealing part of the business improvement puzzle, in terms of highlighting exactly how the process mapping picture connects. The value of the steps in a process map are revealed by using process mapping symbols to assign value adding and non value adding activities.

Without a standard template of symbols, process maps can become difficult to interpret and lack uniformity across your business processes.

Get access to our own Noun-Verb methodology of processmapping template by clicking on the link. It's a simple method of process mapping which will help you create process maps that are not only consistent throughout your organisation but also easy to understand.

How to Make a Process Map: What Process Mapping Symbols do You Need?

Activity

An ‘Activity’ symbol is used to describe something you do.

Activities are the steps of the process and are described using verbs. For example, ‘Update sales order with customer number’.

Connectors

Connectors are simple arrows that connect 2 or more symbols together to show the direction of the process.

External Activity

An external activity is used to highlight something that is done outside of the organisation but still needs to be shown in a process. External activities are described using verbs and transform their Inputs to Outputs.

An example might be the production of a company newsletter by an external printing company.

External Deliverable

External deliverables are outputs that are produced by an Activity that falls outside the scope of the overall process map. An external Deliverable is something that can be produced outside of the organisation, for example a purchase order from a customer.

Decision

‘Decision’ symbols are a type of activity, usually in the form of a question, where only one of the outputs is produced.

For example, ‘Internal or external customer?’ may then branch into two different process pathways depending on which option is selected.

Deliverable

A ‘Deliverable’ symbol is used to describe something you produce and are the outputs of a process.

Deliverables are the items produced (or ‘delivered’) when each step of the process is complete and are described using nouns.

Off-Page Connectors

Off-page connectors are useful for overcoming the practical limitation of page sizes. It allows the process mapper to produce a logical, large ‘piece of paper’ containing a single end-to-end process map with all the Deliverables (outputs to inputs) linked directly to each other.

Start/End Deliverable

A start/end deliverable is a deliverable symbol that is used to signify the input at the very start or the output at the very end of a process, and shows that there are no additional steps relating to that input or output.

Would you like to learn more about process mapping?

If you like to learn more about process mapping and how it could benefit your business, feel free to read our  . It explores how the real ROI benefits of the New Charter Group managed to save 350k per annum and move from a paper-based to a mobile process management system.

You can also download our Business Improvement E-book, which provides helpful advice on how to save time and cut costs in your own business.

This is an updated and refreshed version of an article originally written by Isobel Witts.

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