In any business or project, processes drive efficiency, productivity, and success. But often, businesses struggle to clearly define their workflows, understand critical steps, or identify the best ways to improve them. This is where workflow mapping comes in.
At Neat Workflows, we offer a free service to help businesses and projects visualize and streamline their workflows. Here’s how it works and why it’s valuable.
What is Workflow Mapping?
Workflow mapping is the process of visually laying out the steps, inputs, and outputs of a business or project workflow. It can be applied to specific projects or repetitive business workflows, helping teams identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
How Our Free Workflow Mapping Service Works
Step 1: Initial Consultation
We start with an approximate one-hour meeting with the client. This session is an open conversation where the client shares ideas, challenges, and thoughts—often without a clear direction. Our role is to capture everything, gauge what is most critical, and start identifying key areas for improvement.
Step 2: Understanding the Workflow
During the consultation, we focus on:
- Defining inputs and outputs of the workflow.
- Identifying critical steps and processes between them.
- Grouping similar processes into smaller, manageable chunks.
This initial output provides the client with a starting point—a structured view of their workflow challenges.
Step 3: Identifying Quick Wins and Data Needs
Through this mapping process, we can:
- Pinpoint ‘low-hanging fruit’—easy-to-implement changes that deliver quick value.
- Highlight data gaps—what the business needs to start collecting to make more informed decisions.
- Form metrics that measure the impact of a proposed solution.
Step 4: Interactive Online Whiteboard
The client is given access to their own online whiteboard, where they can:
- Review the mapped workflows.
- Provide comments and feedback.
- Collaborate at their own pace.
We understand that clients are busy, so they can review the workflow at their convenience before scheduling the next step.
Step 5: Follow-Up Meeting
The second meeting is a review session where we refine the mapped processes and define an appropriate first-step solution. This could be:
- The most critical issue.
- The most important to the client.
- The process with sufficient data to act on.
Step 6: Defining a Solution
If the client agrees, we move forward with defining a solution for a specific workflow process. This could involve:
- Parametric modeling or automation using existing solutions.
- Developing a new custom software solution.
- Switching software or optimizing existing tools.
For any new solutions, we provide a full feature description, highlighting:
- Expected benefits.
- Metrics to measure success.
- Implementation details and estimated timelines.
This process is designed to be flexible and continuously evolving, ensuring that improvements align with the client’s needs over time.
The Problem We Solve
Many businesses face challenges such as:
- Lack of clarity on workflow problems and how to break them into manageable steps.
- Jumping to solutions before properly describing the problem.
- Unclear data collection practices, making it difficult to assess performance and improvements.
Why It’s Free
We believe that every business should have access to a clear understanding of their workflows. By offering an initial consultation and basic workflow mapping at no cost, we help businesses take the first step towards improved efficiency and decision-making.
Ready to streamline your workflow? Get in touch with us today!