The average employee spends 40 hours per week at work—but a shocking 36% say they “hardly ever” know what’s going on within their organization. This lack of understanding has obvious consequences: disengaged employees are far less productive. With an overwhelming number of team members consistently feeling “out of the loop,” it’s no wonder why leading organizations are turning to process flows to boost transparency and bolster productivity.
What are process flows?
Process flows are an excellent way to standardize how things are done. In many business settings, employees perform processes on auto-pilot with little documentation of the steps involved. This can leave other team members in the dark: they’re unsure who carries each responsibility and have limited understanding of the steps required to see a project through to success. The result? Employees that feel removed from the bigger picture. Process flows overcome these challenges by providing a crystal-clear, step-by-step guidebook for each process. Some professionals see process flows as a “mind map,” extracting work steps from individual memory into a shared, communal record. They typically come in the form of a flowchart, serving as an easy-to-follow visual aid for anyone to review. The chief benefits of a process flow are:
- Show other employees every step in a process: Instead of a long, drawn-out explanation, it’s a quick way to teach upper-level management and other team members who are unfamiliar with the process.
- Find out ways to improve an existing process: What’s slowing things down? Where can you implement new technology to make things more efficient? Are there any redundancies? By shining a spotlight on every step involved, you can find new ways to streamline internal activity.
These helpful diagrams use different symbols to indicate decision points, tasks, inputs, and other elements important to the success of a process. They not only connect individuals and departments, but can show how information travels between teams, or show where an app or other software integration is needed.
