Currently, organizations determine their strategies to achieve their own goals, but it is important to mention that not only is it enough to propose them based on their desires to maximize their productivity, they also have to take into account all their processes, making them flexible and allowing them to have the capacity to be redesigned at any time to meet your needs.
Process Mapping is a technique, methodology or tool applied to work in the scope of the organization and not only in the impact of the company, in organizations this scope refers to the gradual change of behavior.
When we talk about behavior we refer to people, so they have an important role in mapping the processes.
This article will describe the phases for the development and design of a process mapping and how it can be applied in an organization, it should be remembered that a company is as effective as each of the processes that make it up are.
General
Before that, it would be necessary to define some important concepts for the correct understanding of the subject:
- Mapping: Transferring conceptual systems or structures to a map. (RAE, 2014)
- Mapping: Action and effect of mapping (representing all parts of a whole). (RAE, 2014)
- Scope: These are the changes that are created by being related, by carrying out activities even when motivated, these changes are intended to collaborate with certain aspects of the community's well-being by providing direct partners with tools, techniques and resources to contribute to the development process. (Earl, Carden, & & Smutylo, 2002)
- Scope mapping: It is a participatory method for planning, monitoring and evaluating initiatives for change. (IIFAC, 2012)
- Process: These are actions that are related to each other and that make up the entire operation of the administration and that also involve different activities with a tendency to go after an end through the optimal use of human resources, materials, technology and operation. (UAN Quality, 2012)
- Signs of progress: A set of indicators of behavioral changes that are identified in a specific direct partner and focuses on their degree and quality. (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, Outcome Mapping, 2012)
- Direct partners: These are the organizations or groups and individuals with whom the program maintains direct interaction and with whose participation it is in a position to foresee opportunities to exert some influence. (IIFAC, 2012)
Process Outcome Mapping (OM)
Outcome Mapping focuses on a single type of results, which are the outcomes that are reflected in behavior changes, these can be logically linked to the activities or tasks of a program, although they should not necessarily be caused by them.
Most of these activities involve multiple scopes as they may have several direct partners.
Its main concentration is on the scope instead of the impact, although it also recognizes the importance of said impact but as the ultimate goal of the programs it wants to achieve. (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002)
Therefore, Process Mapping is considered as a methodology, although it is also known as a tool that allows analysis and communication, which helps existing processes to be optimized.
Outcome Mapping Features
(Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002) The main characteristics of Outcome Mapping are mentioned below:
- Defines program scopes based on some changes in the behavior of direct partners Focuses on how programs lead to changes rather than how to control or simply cause them Recognizes complex nature of development processes and context in which they are carried out Analyzes the relationships between interventions and scopes instead of trying to attribute these scopes to a specific intervention Establishes program objectives within the parameters for the development of those that exceed the limits of the scope to encourage and motivate the taking of necessary risks. It requires an integral participation of the direct partners in all phases of the process such as planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Structure of Outcome Mapping
Structure of Outcome Mapping
Illustration 1 Structure of the Outcome Mapping (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002)
Outcome Mapping provides the system with the tools to analyze and reflect on the strategy that allows them to achieve their results.
It includes, namely three stages, for each one of them, certain work tools are provided to help the programs organize and collect information on the desired outcomes.
The diagram shown above presents a graph of the three stages and the twelve steps for designing an Outcome Mapping.
First stage: Intentional Design
Intentional design: this stage helps the company to establish a consensus about the changes at a macro level which will help to create, as well as help to design the strategy to be used. (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002)
The design stage should answer the following questions:
- Why? - Allow to define the vision. Who? - Direct partners. What? - They are the desired achievements and signs of progress. How? - Establishes the mission, maps of the strategies, practices of the organization.
Second stage: Outcome and performance monitoring
In the second stage, a follow-up is generated for each of the concepts mentioned in the first stage, and it is based on self-evaluation and these data can be oriented as the tools used to gather their own data such as:
- Diary of the achievements that are the signs of progress. Diary of performance represented by the practices of the organization. Diary of strategies or strategy maps.
Third stage: Planning the Evaluation
Finally, the program must establish which are the priorities of carrying out the evaluation to determine the resources and activities that will be most useful.
Benefits of Process Scope Mapping
The main benefits are found in its application in Quality Systems such as ISO 9000: 2000 and the ISO 9000: 2008 series, but within the eight principles that they mention, there are three where OMit has great effects. (Red Laboral, 2012)
Principle Number 4: Process-Based Approach
This allows to reduce costs and cycle times through the optimal management of the resources that it operates, the objective of this principle is to focus on the greatest number of opportunities for improvement.
Principle 5: Systems Approach to Management
With this, the benefit of being able to integrate and align processes that produce expected results is obtained, it also allows having the ability to focus all efforts on some keywords, thus providing reliability to the interested parties.
Principle 6: Continual improvement
It offers advantages in the performance of the organization's capabilities by providing coherence to the improvement activities at strategic levels of the company and also allows to react quickly to any opportunity that may arise, the continuous improvement of the overall performance of the organization should be an always permanent goal. (Aguirre Tapia, 2011)
Using Outcome Mapping
Generally, it begins with a workshop led by an external person or facilitator who is familiar with this methodology and is aimed at those people who are in charge of implementing the program, orienting themselves to planning the desired changes.
OM Employment (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002)
Illustration 2 Use of OM (Earl, Carden, & Smutylo, 2002)
Outcome Mapping helps programs determine the changes they want to observe as well as the strategies that will be used, thus achieving more important and effective results.
It also has a certain specialty on those data that cannot be measured, and that require a deeper and contextual analysis in a development process.
Finally, it is a dynamic methodology that was put to the test in organizations. (IIFAC, 2012)
Documentation for Process Scope Mapping
Documentation for OM is a very important process since thanks to this it will be possible to have an antecedent and data on how the processes are at present to later empty them to a database or some software that allows to visualize in a better way the results. (UAN Quality, 2012)
(Red Laboral, 2012) The data recording sheets must contain the following information:
- Process name Sub-process name Inputs Suppliers Procedures Outputs Customers
Organization by Process Mapping
The organization by OM is a model of administrative structuring that is valid in any company regardless of its type, it makes it possible to focus on small or gradual changes in each of the processes in which you want to implement within an organization.
In order to see the behavior that is taking place in the organization, it will be necessary to observe the gradual behavior that it is suffering in the processes.
(Fernández, 2009)
conclusion
In the completion of this article we can conclude and understand that organizations also need strategies that their processes are clearly defined and optimized.
As mentioned above, process scope mapping is a methodology that allows to measure the behavior of people within the process in which they are, said mapping is carried out to specify in what process or moment the company is currently.
The fact of creating an OM allows the organization to create a competitive advantage, thus generating desired productivity and quality indices.
The organization for this must take into account that it must develop its ability to manage its resources and make the most of the economic capital and all this is possible if it is possible to make a correct selection and application of planning tools such as OM.
References
- Aguirre Tapia, F. (June 13, 2011). Gestiópolis. Retrieved March 2016, from http://www.gestiopolis.com/mapeo-de-alcances-metodologia-etapasatributos-y-conveniencia/Calidad UAN. (2012). Obtained from http://calidad.uan.edu.mx/diplomado/documentos/modulo2/maproc.pdfEarl, S., Carden, F., & & Smutylo, T. (2002). Outreach mapping. Incorporated learning and reflection in development programs. Canada: LUR.Earl, S., Carden, F., & Smutylo, T. (2002). Outcome Mapping: Incorporating learning and reflection in development programs. 176. Earl, S., Carden, F., & Smutylo, T. (2012). Outreach mapping. 176.IIFAC. (2012). International Institute for Facilitation and Change. Obtained from http://www.iifac.org/servicios/mapeo-de-alcances/el-que-y-el-porque-demapeo-de-alcances/RAE. (2014). Obtained from http://dle.rae.es/?id=OJwO7XpRAE.(2014). Royal Spanish Academy. Obtained from http://dle.rae.es/?id=OJv1tf7Red Laboral. (2012). Strategic Management: Process Scope Mapping or Outcome Mapping. Obtained from
OM: Outcome Mapping
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