Mapping one real process step by step

Start with the work, not the software

Most automation projects fail because they start with a tool. Someone buys software, then looks for something to use it on. We start the other way round: with one real process in your business, written down step by step, exactly as it happens today.

What counts as a process

A process is any piece of work that happens again and again in roughly the same way:

• taking an order on WhatsApp and turning it into an invoice;
• collecting weekly sales from three branches into one report;
• chasing customers who have not paid;
• approving staff expenses;
• reordering stock when it runs low.

Choose one that happens at least weekly and annoys someone. Annoyance is a good sign of wasted time.

How to map it

1. Name the start and the end. For example: starts when a customer sends an order, ends when the invoice is sent.
2. Ask the person who does it to talk you through a real recent example, not how it is supposed to work.
3. Write each step on its own line in order: who does it, what they do, and which tool they use (paper, WhatsApp, Excel, accounting software).
4. Mark every handover, where work passes from one person or tool to another. Handovers are where delays and errors happen.
5. Mark every time data is typed again that already exists somewhere else. This retyping is the main target of automation.
6. Note waiting time, such as "waits for manager's approval, usually two days".

A worked example

A building supplies shop in Ibadan maps its order process: order arrives on WhatsApp; sales assistant writes it in a notebook; checks stock by walking to the store; types it into Excel for the invoice; prints the invoice; accountant types the same invoice into the accounting software at the end of the week. The map shows the same order written or typed four times.

Keep it simple

A map on one page, written in plain words or drawn as boxes and arrows, is enough. You do not need special diagram software. The goal is a shared picture of what really happens, so everyone can see where time goes.

What this means for you

Mapping one process honestly usually reveals the problem before any tool is involved. Sometimes the fix is simply to stop doing a step. Everything else in this course builds on a clear map.