Articles Archives - Gravity Flow

May 14 2018

What is Customer Journey Mapping and Why Do You Need It?

Workflows are designed to improve internal processes, but they can also contribute to the external customer experience.

When customers or vendors interact with your business, they expect a certain level of service. If operations are working as they should, approvals are met when they should be, things arrive on time, and problems are quickly resolved.

If the internal workflow is off, it can be harder to reassure customers that everything is working according to plan, especially if that plan isn’t being properly implemented by your team.

Having a customer journey map can help keep the customer in the forefront of your mind when you and your team are trying to keep pace with your workflows.

Here’s what to know about customer journey mapping as it applies to internal processes.

Free Download: Examples of Customer Journey Maps From the Pros

Why is Customer Journey Mapping So Important?

We’ve written before about how essential workflow automation is to the customer journey, and why customer journey mapping is important, but when things get busy and workflows become harder to maintain, the customer journey is often the first thing forgotten.

If bottlenecks occur and workflow steps start backing up, especially for steps that aren’t automated and rely on employees to complete, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and forget about the customer experience in the process to “catch up.”

Customer journey maps are the visual representation of the customer experience.

Maps outline every touchpoint a customer or vendor will have with your business, what that touchpoint means for their business, and how your interactions work over time to build a real relationship.

Customer journey mapping — (Image Source)

Research shows that customer experience is directly correlated to future sales and increased loyalty.

When you keep the customer experience at the forefront of your internal processes, even when things get busy, you’re saying to the customer, “I value you no matter what.”

Customer mapping is good for your bottom line.

How Customer Mapping Keeps You Customer-Focused

To the casual observer, customer journey maps are simply diagrams that allow you to visualize every customer touchpoint, but for employees who rely on them, they’re much more than that.

Customer journey maps keep important customer-focused tasks visible for employees.

When it comes to non-automated workflow steps that require the human touch, like making a phone call to a customer, making sure that every touchpoint is met is important.

This customer journey map of the average car purchase shows every interaction between the typical buyer and the car dealer, for example.

You can see that even seemingly “small” tasks are listed as part of the customer journey, like sending a “Thank you” letter after someone has signed their car contract for the first time.

While that touchpoint may seem insignificant compared to other touchpoints, like helping customers research the best car model, it’s still paramount to a “positive experience.”

Because a task like that (sending a card to a customer) isn’t always automated, it can be easily overlooked during a rough day at the office or when other things go wrong.

When workflows are adjusted to overcome bottlenecks and backups, the customer journey map is a visual reminder that the customer is still the number one priority.

Creating Customer Journey Maps for Chaotic Moments

Backups, delays, breakdowns, shutdowns, and errors made by man and machine can cause serious setbacks with your workflows.

By having your customer journey maps already in place when things go wrong, you can make adjustments to your workflows (skip steps, etc.) to keep things moving without leaving out vital customer interactions.

If you’re a college administrator backed up with student applications, for example, your customer journey map will remind you that certain customer touchpoints — like emailing potential students about their application status — are still a priority in the workflow.

Even if you end up making adjustments to other parts of your workflow, the core customer experience will remain intact.

That’s why it’s important to map out the customer experience from the very beginning of their interactions with your organization all the way through the end.

It will give you an overview of which touchpoints are most essential so you can maintain customer-focus when overcoming stressful situations internally.

According to Search Salesforce, there are four distinct stages of the customer journey: inquiry, comparison, purchase and installation.

Your map should cover the most important elements of each customer journey stage. Click To Tweet

For instance, a college administrator might create a customer journey map with touchpoints that includes:

Application submission
Submission notifications
Application progress notifications
Request for more information (email)
Request reminders
Application rejection/approval notifications
Next step instructions (email) for approved students

Your map could also include information related to customer motivations, which can keep your workflows in perspective.

This customer journey map, for example, includes customer motivations as part of the map.

Knowing motivations makes it easier to prioritize workflow automation.

For example, students might feel anxious about receiving information about their application approval. By sending out status application notifications as a part of your workflow, you can keep their worries at bay.

Understanding that anxiety will make notification automation a priority on your end, even during the busiest times of the year.

How to Create a Helpful Internal Customer Journey Map

Not all customer journey maps are created equal. It’s important to design a map that illustrates the most important touchpoints for your workflows, not just the most important touchpoints in your industry.

For example, if your college only accepts online applications, including touchpoints like “mail in application” or “application received by post” won’t make much sense.

Your customer journey maps should be unique to your organization.

First, write out the steps involved (a customer framework) that applies to the majority of your customers. This might mean creating several maps based on the first touchpoint.

Sticking with our college application example, students who are applying for student aid or special financial assistance may have a slightly different customer journey map than students applying without aid.

Write down every step in your workflow and identify customer touchpoints, like so:

Customer lands on website, fills out application (customer touchpoint)
Application is received by admin (not a touchpoint)
Notification is sent to admin email that application has been received (not a touchpoint)
Notification is sent to student saying application has been submitted (customer touchpoint)
Application is reviewed by admin and sent to next step (not a touchpoint)

If you need help visualizing these steps, try creating a swimlane diagram of your workflow steps first and identify customer touchpoints based on your workflow map.

Second, choose a customer journey map type that will reflect all of your customer touch points.

There are no rules about what a customer journey map should look like, so make it as simple or as detailed as you need it to be.

If you need help designing a customer journey map, check out a few of these popular customer journey mapping tools. Mapping tools can be helpful if you need to create several maps.

Finally, identify key touchpoints on your map (mark them however you want) that are vital components to your workflow and note which touchpoints could be skipped in the event of a delay.

This will help you keep your workflows streamlined without missing key touchpoints that might negatively impact the customer experience.

When push comes to shove and you’re looking to catch up when you’re behind, having a list of vital workflow steps will not only improve your processes, but also keep customers happy during your most stressful situations.

Here are some of the best workflow map examples to get you started

Final Thoughts

Customer journey maps are not only important for the overall health of your business, they can also be essential when things go wrong.

Knowing which touchpoints are the most important for customers, not just for your internal team, keeps things in perspective when adjustments need to be made and maintains the focus on the customer.

When creating your customer journey maps, be sure to indicate on your workflows/maps which steps are the most important, so if you do need to skip things during a crisis, all of your most essential bases are covered.

Apr 30 2018

How to Build an Email Course Using Gravity Flow

Email marketing is rising in popularity as a sales tool for many businesses.

As it stands, it’s the third most influential marketing tool for B2B brands.

It’s also becoming more popular as a way for consumers to stay connected to the brands they love. Studies show that of the majority that enjoy receiving promotional emails, 38% want more emails from brands they trust.

Automated email courses — educational emails typically sent in a series to those who opt-in — can be particularly effective for generating leads while still providing something of practical value.

They allow you to convert visitors into email subscribers as well as establish your business as a go-to expert in your field. It’s a win-win.

Building an automated email course isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, if you have WordPress, you can build them easily with Gravity Flow. Here’s how.

Free Download: Tips for Improving Your Email Course Open Rates

The Basics of Building an Automated Email Course

An email course is simply an autoresponder with more components. It’s built in a similar way, though there are more emails in the series than a typical autoresponder that has one or two at most.

Most likely, the hardest part of your email course will be coming up with the topic and content yourself.

We won’t cover that here, but you can check out Content Spark’s email course ideas guide and Teachable’s email course content guide for inspiration and advice.

When it comes to practically building your course, there are three things you need to be aware of before you even open WordPress:

Your email course outline — How many emails you will send out in your course
Your course timeline — How soon will the series start once someone has opted-in? How often will they receive emails (once per day, once per week, etc.)
Your opt-in forms and placement — How will people access your course?

1. Decide on email course length

The first thing you want to do is plan out how many emails you will need.

There’s no hard and fast rule about how many emails you should send out, but the average email course ranges between three to seven emails.

In some cases, you might need more, but it will ultimately depend on your content, audience and goals (marketer Josh Earl has some advice on email course length here).

Email course gravity flow — (Image Source)

Each lesson of your course will be another email (another step) that will require its own design and setup, so keep that in mind when you’re deciding on length.

2. Decide on a timeline

The next step is to create a timeline for when you will send out emails.

Again, there’s no ideal timeframe as it will depend on your audience, but most courses are sent out once a day.

So the total number of days would be dependent on how much content you have and how you break it up into different emails. If you wanted to add time in between lessons, your course might take a few weeks.

The timing will matter when you schedule out your lessons. The first email is typically sent when someone opts in, but the rest will be scheduled according to your timeline.

You might also consider adding in more emails after the course is finished, like sales email follow ups.

3. Build your opt-in form

Once you have your email length and timeline figured out, the next thing you want to do is build your opt-in form.

If you’re using Gravity Flow, you will want to build an opt-in form using Gravity Forms. This could be a simple pop-up opt-in or a CTA button somewhere on your website (or both).

The design of the form itself is up to you.

You can segment your list (here’s a tutorial in segmenting your Gravity Forms opt-in) or just gather a name and email (or just an email, like the example above, though gathering a name can help you with personalization later on).

AffiliateWP has has a guide here that can help you build a Gravity Forms opt-in form of any length or style, and Gravity Forms has a design tutorial for opt-ins here.

How to Automate Your Email Course Step-by-Step

Now that you’ve decided how many emails you’re sending, when they should be sent and how people will sign up for your course, it’s time to build.

Make sure you have the Gravity Forms plugin and Gravity Flow plugins installed in WordPress.

In your WordPress dashboard, when you go to Forms > Settings you will see that a “Workflow” option has been added to your forms.

You will use the workflow tool (shown above) to start adding steps to your email course (we have a guide for using Gravity Flow for workflows here).

Step 1: Setup Email Confirmations and Notifications

When you’re in the workflow section of your opt-in form, you want to click Add New, which gives you the option of adding steps.

At the end, your steps will look something like this:

Tip: Build your lessons first before you start adding steps to save time. Click To Tweet

The first step you want to build is your confirmation email.

The confirmation email works as a way to introduce the user to your course, but also confirm that they want to receive your content. This is called a double opt-in, and it helps you create a list of more qualified leads.

After selecting Add New, choose the Approval step.

Scroll down to the Email field and in the assigned email section and make sure your settings are configured (see image below).

Then, add in your course information, including a “From” name, your course title and any content that will be in your welcome email.

You also want to check the box for “Send reminder” and “Repeat reminder.” Then, configure your expiration dates and next steps (your next step should link to your first lesson).

Once this email is built, you want to build a similar email (using the steps above) to create a second notification email for those that don’t reject or approve your first email.

This should not include links to any other lessons or emails. If it’s ignored, then the workflow ends and they won’t get access your course, but can sign up again using your opt-in form at any time.

Step 2: Create Your Email Lessons

Once your confirmation emails are set up, the next step is to build your lessons.

Each lesson is built similar to the steps above, only instead of creating an Approval step, you will create a Notification step.

Then you will configure your scheduling settings. Make sure to check the “Schedule this step” box and to set a certain time limit for each lesson (this is where knowing your timeline will come in handy).

Next, make sure your workflow notifications are enabled and add your content.

You can also add additional emails, like a follow-up email a few days after the course ends, using the Notification step just like you would for a lesson email.

Each lesson is created as a separate notification step, so keep that in mind when you’re planning out your lessons.

3. Define Your Workflow and Test

Once your lessons are created, you’re more or less done.

The next step in the process is to test it out. You can do this by either signing up for the course yourself and run through it as your audience would, and/or by using the Gravity Flow flowchart extension to map out the process first.

Here’s an idea of what an email course workflow map might look like:

Here are a few tips for optimizing your course emails for higher open rates

Final Thoughts

The steps to building an automated email course in Gravity Flow is fairly straightforward.

You build your form (using Gravity Forms) and you add workflow steps to it, including:

Confirmation email
Confirmation rejection email
Lessons 1, 2, 3, etc.
Any follow-up emails

The more complex aspects of your course will involve planning out your lessons, how many emails you want to create and when to send them out.

Of course, the most complex component will be coming up with the content itself. But at least the email building process is easy with Gravity Flow.

Apr 16 2018

How to Use Gravity Forms as a Workflow Tool

One of the challenges with many form plugins is the lack of ability to use forms within workflows.

If a form needs to be approved or have information added to it, for example, it’s not always easy to coordinate the approval process or display the appropriate information.

The solution — which often involves seemingly endless emails back and forth between parties — can be cumbersome.

Worse yet, it can hinder productivity when forms need to be approved or edited quickly.

But there is a solution for those using Gravity Forms to build forms in WordPress. You can take advantage of Gravity Forms extensions like the Gravity Flow plugin to add workflows to your forms quickly and easily.

Free Download: 5 Essential Tips for Creating Your First Automated Workflow

Using Gravity Forms for Workflows

This could include a simple feedback or review loop for a vacation request or something more complex, like conditional branching, scheduling, or even reporting.

Take this example of a job application workflow, for instance:

The recruiter, HR manager and the department manager are all involved in the job application approval process, even though there’s only one form.

How will each person know when they should do their jobs?

Without an automated workflow solution, each team member will have to email or communicate with one another in order for the process to be completed.

But with an automated workflow (using Gravity Forms and Gravity Flow) they will be automatically notified when they should approve or reject the application.

This not only saves time, but it creates an easy system for future approvals, or when multiple applications come in at once.

No one on the team is overwhelmed, and results are easily measured. Click To Tweet

With that in mind, here are the steps for using Gravity Forms and Gravity Flow together as an automated workflow solution.

Step 1: Create User Roles

After installing Gravity Forms and Gravity Flow (here’s how to install Gravity Forms and how to install Gravity Flow) in WordPress, you should have two new areas available to you called Forms (Gravity Forms) and Workflow (Gravity Workflow).

Additionally, when you go to Forms > Settings you will see that a “workflow” option has been added.

This will allow you to add workflows to your forms.

But before you start building forms and adding workflow steps, there’s an optional step that might help streamline the process for you.

Each workflow can be assigned to specific users or role using the User, Role and Assignee Fields (found in the Workflow Fields section of your Gravity Forms form builder).

This allows you to choose from a list of roles and users in such cases where you might need to add an approval or user input step.

Note that assignees don’t have to have user accounts in order to participate in workflows. Workflow steps can also be assigned to email fields.

If a form from a manager needs to go to your HR person for approval, for example, both the manager and the HR team member would be users who have unique roles in the process.

You can create roles (assignees) in WordPress for both users using a plugin called Members.

This grants permissions to specific people from your team, making it easy for them to do things like adding workflow steps, managing your inbox, and so on.

Here’s what those permissions look like (you can read more about roles and permissions here):

It’s not a required step, and you may choose to limit roles to only users who know how to interact with WordPress, but it can be helpful for certain workflows or situations, particularly for approvals and user inputs.

Step 2: Create your Form

Once your user roles are defined, the next step is to create your form. If you already have a form created and simply want to add a workflow to an existing form, skip to step 3.

There are several ways you can create the forms you need using Gravity Forms.

You can build one from scratch, using Gravity Form’s drag-and-drop form builder (the documentation for that can be found here).

If you decide to build a form from scratch, be sure you understand all the fields required to create the workflow you need.

For example, an approval form may require hidden fields that are only visible to you. To add these fields, you will need to create these fields on your forms using the Advanced settings (of Gravity Forms).

Here’s an example of what that looks like for a vacation request approval form:

We go over adding hidden fields in more detail here.

GravityWiz also has a simple tutorial for creating a basic approval form using Gravity Forms here. This should give you an idea of which fields you should include and how to set up a basic form.

If you’re not sure how to create your own forms from scratch, or you simply want to save time, you also have the option of importing an existing form directly into WordPress.

Under Forms, click on Import/Export and then select “Browse” to upload the form you wish to use.

This will allow you to quickly add forms needed for the next step in the process, which is adding workflow steps to those forms.

Step 3: Add Workflow Steps to Your New/Existing Form

Now that your form is created, it’s time to add a workflow.

Under Forms > Settings > Workflow, select “Add New.”

This will now allow you to add workflow steps.

The steps you need will depend on the type of workflow you’re trying to create (approval workflow, etc.), and should be outlined in your workflow diagram.

We’ve talked about workflow diagramming (also known as workflow mapping) here, here and here. You can use our Flowchart Extension to help you visualize the steps you need to take to complete your workflow.

Here’s a visual representation of an approval workflow for a purchase order using the Flowchart Extension.

Each step in the above example should be created as a workflow step.

For example, if your form required a manager’s approval after submission, you would create a step called “Manager Approval” (adding that title to the “Name” box, shown in the image below).

The “Step Type” would be an “Approval” step (for an approval workflow).

Depending on the Gravity Flow Extensions you have, there are more steps you can add.

You can add steps that allow you to convert forms to PDFs, for instance, or simply trigger a notification that a form has been submitted.

After you’ve chosen the step type, you can then assign the step to a specific user (from Step 1), and configure other settings, like email confirmation and so on, depending on the workflow you want to build.

Here’s an example of assigning roles for an approval workflow step:

Each step is built based on your workflow diagram. Some workflows require more steps than others, so make sure that your workflows are fully mapped out to ensure accuracy.

Keep in mind that you can change the order of steps at any time using the drag and drop interface in the “Workflow Steps” section (as shown below).

If you need more help, the full step-by-step process for adding workflow steps is documented here.

Once all of your workflow steps are created, you’re done! You’ve successfully created a workflow using Gravity Flow and Gravity Forms.

The final step in the process is simply to test your workflows to ensure they work, and make any adjustments as needed.

Ready to build your first workflow in WordPress? Read these tips first.

Final Thoughts

Using Gravity Forms as a workflow tool is relatively easy with Gravity Flow.

The biggest challenges, however, will revolve around knowing how to set up your forms correctly (form fields, hidden fields, etc.) and how to map out the right workflow steps.

It’s important to map out the process before you start building your forms so you don’t miss any vital steps. You can learn more about building and organizing your workflow here.

When it comes to the actual building process, you should be able to build almost any kind of workflow in no time.

If you’re stuck at any part of the process, be sure to check out Gravity Form’s documentation here as well as our (Gravity Flow’s) documentation here.

Apr 02 2018

Admins: Process College Applications Faster Using Checklists

The college application process is not only stressful for students, but also for the college administrators and enrollment directors who participate.

Adding to the issues is a high level of individualization in application policies between various schools.

While efforts are often made to streamline the process, most colleges have to figure out what works for them and their students.

This can leave administrators frazzled, especially as they sort through hundreds or even thousands of applications each year.

But there is a way that college admins can make the workload easier using workflow management and checklist.

Free Download: Tips for Staying Organized During Enrollment Season

Why Enrollment is a Challenge for Many College Admins

Most colleges in the U.S. struggle with enrollment, whether in terms of the number of applicants or the processes involved with the enrollment process.

According to key findings from a 2017 Survey of College and University Admissions Directors, only 34% of colleges had met their enrollment target as of May 2017.

That number is lower than results from the 2016 survey that indicated that 37% had met their goal.

Many college administrators involved with the student enrollment process is to boost enrollment rates without adding effort to the process for students or staff.

Studies show that reversing even a 7% drop in enrollment rates can create more than $2 million in additional revenue.

College application checklist — (Image source)

Yet, many colleges struggle to keep up with an ever decreasing drop in enrollment.

Part of the struggle is often due to outside contributing factors, such as:

Economic and financial status of enrolling students
Political policies that impact things like tuition support
Shifting eligibility guidelines and more

For many institutions, these issues are compounded by the fact that there is no universally accepted enrollment process. Every college is unique.

There is no universally accepted enrollment process. Every college is unique. Click To Tweet

How Unique Enrollment Processes Negatively Impact Productivity

Because there is no set standard for how to enroll, most college-seeking students must spend time researching how to best apply, which can add time to the application process.

Admins, too, may end up taking additional steps in the research process when determining who to accept.

When you’re sorting through thousands of applications, an extra step can eat into your already valuable time.

Take the average enrollment for a single student, for example, which might include elements like:

The written application
Additional personal information
Extracurriculars information
Details of summer activities
Essays or related schoolwork
Honors or special awards
Disciplinary history or a list of infractions
The application fee or fees
Standardized test scores and mid-year/final-year grades
Official high school transcripts (may be from multiple high schools)
Teacher or counselor recommendations

That can be a lot of information for just one student, let alone hundreds or thousands.

Again, not everything included is universally accepted in the application process, however. For example, some schools may not bother reading disciplinary history.

Other colleges might require several teacher recommendations, while others might only need one or two.

Goucher College, for instance, additionally asks students to submit a two-minute video along with their application, as well as examples of graded school work. They don’t require test scores or high school transcripts.

Bennington College, as another example, allows applicants design their own application, and, like Goucher, doesn’t require student transcripts.

Some colleges take the additional step of checking student’s social media as a determining factor for acceptance or rejection.

Harvard University received some backlash for revoking the acceptances of 10 applicants in 2017 based on their social media profiles, which depicted jokes at Harvard’s expense.

With these constantly changing standards, it can be difficult on the staff that process applications.

Extra time spent reading a custom application, or checking social media for appropriate (or inappropriate) content, or simply watching a two-minute video can add to the time spent.

It can also be difficult to know exactly what’s involved with the process, what’s been completed and what’s left to be done without a formal system or organize the enrollment process.

A lack of organization can mean that vital components might be missed or otherwise ignored, which could potentially reduce enrollment rates further.

So what can admins do to make sure that they stay organized during the enrollment process, even with so many varied elements involved?

One solution is to use checklists to organize the enrollment workflow.

How Checklists Can Improve the Enrollment Process

Philip Crawford, a former management consultant, believes that checklists are one of the best answers to the problem of disorganized workflows.

As he puts it:

“[Checklists are most valuable for] recurring processes that are high value to [an organization] or where mistakes can be harmful. This is especially true of recurring processes that are not performed every day.”

He adds that checklists not only create more organization, but they also add to motivation (our natural response to checking a box is to keep checking boxes and completing tasks) and productivity.

“By having a checklist you can complete repetitive tasks more quickly and efficiently, with fewer mistakes” he notes, adding, “This gives you more time in the day.”

So how do you incorporate checklists into the enrollment process?

One way to do this is by using a workflow management system to track the enrollment process from start to finish.

Workflow automation tools, like our Gravity Flow WordPress plugin, for example, can help college admins manage processes like application enrollment, email notifications and so on.

Here is an example of a typical enrollment workflow flowchart based on the application process at Atlantic Union College:

This is a visual representation of the steps involved for processing applications.

Each of those steps can easily be represented within a checklist in a way that actively marks each step as completed or incomplete.

The Gravity Flow Checklists Extension is a great tool for adding checklists to any Gravity Flow workflow or flowchart quickly and easily.

You can turn a flowchart that looks like the above example into an interactive checklist like this that can be displayed in any page in WordPress.

This can help college admins:

Identify which steps a student has to take in the application process
Separate pending applications from finished (accepted/rejected) applications
Exempt students from certain forms by clicking on a checkbox

Considering that the enrollment and application process can be incredibly individualized and time consuming for admins — and considering how important the results of that enrollment processes are not only to the students who depend on them and the financial status of the college itself — staying organized is essential.

Checklists, as Philip Crawford points out, are invaluable to any college that deals with repetitive (yet important) tasks, like student enrollment.

Here are more tips for college admins looking to stay organized during enrollment

Final Thoughts

College administrators and admissions directors have one of the hardest jobs when it comes to accepting, processing and deciding who gets to enroll into a given institution.

Most are administrators and directors are judged on whether they can improve enrollment rates, which, in turn, improves funding for the school.

Part of the challenge for administrators is staying organized amidst the varying requirements for each college’s unique enrollment process.

One of the best ways to do that is by using checklists to clearly organize complicated enrollment workflows in a way that every member of the college staff can understand so that no important details are missed.

If you want to learn more about Gravity Flow’s workflow solutions or the Checklists extension, be sure to check out our documentation here or read testimonials from colleges and other organizations who use Gravity Flow here.

Mar 19 2018

5 Tips for Painless Workflow Process Mapping

Every organization has processes, and every process ultimately has inefficiencies of some kind.

Evaluating those processes — through workflow process mapping — is essential to figuring out those inefficiencies and ensuring that an organization is operating at peak performance.

Workflow mapping is designed to determine where to focus improvement efforts.

Yet it’s not always the quickest or easiest task to undertake for any organization. It involves a lot of mapping (as the name suggests), as well as time, consideration and planning. It’s also often a team activity.

While the process isn’t always easy, it is essential. The good news is that there are ways to ensure that your workflow process mapping goes smoothly and gives you the results you want.

Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your mapping process.

Free Download: 7 More Tips for Building a Better Workflow Process Map

1. Don’t Map Every Single Process

Process mapping shouldn’t be a buzzword.

You should do it because you want to learn about and improve the various workflows that make up your organization.

The key is in understanding that not every process needs to be mapped.

Primarily, you want to look at areas of your organization that are underperforming, whether that means noticeably failing to meet goals or simply not living up to desired expectations.

Look for processes and departments that have obvious bottlenecks first. From there, you will most likely see how those processes are impacting other areas of your organization.

Here’s an example of a simplified (but effective) process map:

To start the mapping process, consider your objectives. The goal is to:

Identify persons who are executing each process
Determine which events occur at every step in the process
Detail each step clearly and visually (mapping)
Search for bottlenecks or other slow-downs
Analyze data to find areas of improvement
Create an actionable plan for improvement

There are certain processes that will be clearer than others.

If you’re not sure whether there are bottlenecks but you’re noticing that something is “off,” start there.

2. Ask: What Type of Process is This and Can It Be Mapped?

It’s also important to know that process mapping doesn’t work on every single process.

Most organizations’ business operation can be categorized into three types of processes:

Transformational (manufacturing processes, input/output, etc.)
Transactional (sales activities, call center support, outcome-focused, etc.)
Decision-making (approved/rejected applications, pricing, inventory control, etc.)

Different types of process maps are more effective than others depending on the type of process.

A process map for a manufacturing process will most likely be easier to create than a process map for inventory control.

Here’s an example of a typical sales workflow, for instance:

There is an obvious flow to every step of the process, which can be mapped by symbols and arrows. Not every process can be visualized so neatly.

Consider whether or not the process involves a lot of high-level, open-ended decisions.

This will require more than just a flowchart to map, so consider starting with your more basic transformational or transactional processes.

Those can typically be mapped using something as simple as a swimlane diagram.

3. Start with a Simple Design and Virtualize It Later

The initial mapping process will be messy. You will most likely add or removes steps, change the way your map looks, assign/re-assign names and change colors.

So there’s no reason why you need to start with an expensive or complex mapping tool.

A roll of paper and some sticky notes is really all you need to start. Click To Tweet

Here’s an example of what that might look like:

You can use different colored sticky notes for the different “lanes” of a swimlane map, if needed, and use contrasting colors (pink, for example) for pain points.

Just be sure to hold off drawing connectors and arrows until you’ve verified that your map is correct (unless you’re using a whiteboard where it’s easily erasable).

Otherwise you will have to spend time erasing and rewriting your map unnecessarily.
Once your physical map is created, you will want to input it into a digital format using a tool like Visio, Excel or PowerPoint.

If you’re a Gravity Flow user, you can take advantage of our Flowchart Extension, which allows you to switch between a list step and a visualization of the steps as a working flowchart.

4. Use Swimlanes to Show Responsibilities

For most processes, we often recommend using swimlane diagrams.

Swimlane diagrams have the ability to simplify complex workflows as well as visualize how different departments, persons and roles work together to achieve an outcome.

Traditional process maps are never truly ideal when it comes to showing multiple responsibilities among different parties, especially when one of them plays a leadership role.

On a swimlane diagram, a cross-team activity can be indicated by a task that extends across several swimlanes.

Here’s an example:

Without showcasing responsibilities, it can be hard to spot whether a bottleneck is coming from a specific step or a person or team.

You want to know whether or not a specific role is limiting your productivity or if the process as a whole just isn’t working.

You don’t want to throw out a good process simply because you failed to recognized that the wrong person had the wrong job.

5. Get Input From Your Team

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you don’t want to create workflow process maps by yourself.

They should always be created in conjunction with your team (leadership team, etc.) using input from those who are involved in a given process.

If one of your workflows goes through HR, for instance, and you’re mapping it to assess whether it’s efficient, you’ll want to interview someone from HR to ensure that they are doing the right work at the right pace.

If they say, “We never have time to upload these files,” the solution might be to add automation to the workflow to save time.

But if the bottleneck comes as a result of the software rather than a deficiency from team member or employees, then it might be time to upgrade your software or add/eliminate steps from your workflow.

You won’t necessarily recognize these bottlenecks without talking to the members involved. That’s why it’s important to get feedback from your team when mapping your processes.

Here are 7 tips for building a better workflow map when you’re struggling

Final Thoughts

Workflow process mapping can sometimes be a long process, so it’s important to know how to save the most time and energy.

To start, you want to ensure that you’re not mapping every single process unnecessarily. Focus on the ones that are prone to bottlenecks or that show signs of inefficiency.

Next, ask, “What type of process is this and can it be mapped?”

Not every workflow will be able to use a swimlane diagram. Some processes are of a higher level and require a different approach.

For those that can be mapped, start with something simple, like sticky notes and wall. Map out each step and look for areas where there are potential inefficiencies (don’t add arrows until you know your map is correct!).

Use swimlanes to show areas of different responsibility so you can see if there are human bottlenecks in your workflows.

And finally, ask for feedback. Make sure your maps are as accurate to real life as possible so you know which strategy will most improve it.

Why is Customer Journey Mapping So Important?

How Customer Mapping Keeps You Customer-Focused

Creating Customer Journey Maps for Chaotic Moments

How to Create a Helpful Internal Customer Journey Map

Final Thoughts

The Basics of Building an Automated Email Course

1. Decide on email course length

2. Decide on a timeline

3. Build your opt-in form

How to Automate Your Email Course Step-by-Step

Step 1: Setup Email Confirmations and Notifications

Step 2: Create Your Email Lessons

3. Define Your Workflow and Test

Final Thoughts

Using Gravity Forms for Workflows

Step 1: Create User Roles

Step 2: Create your Form

Step 3: Add Workflow Steps to Your New/Existing Form

Final Thoughts

How Unique Enrollment Processes Negatively Impact Productivity

How Checklists Can Improve the Enrollment Process

Final Thoughts

1. Don’t Map Every Single Process

2. Ask: What Type of Process is This and Can It Be Mapped?

3. Start with a Simple Design and Virtualize It Later

4. Use Swimlanes to Show Responsibilities

5. Get Input From Your Team

Final Thoughts

Examples of Customer Journey Maps From the Pros

Tips for Improving Your Email Course Open Rates

5 Essential Tips for Creating Your First Automated Workflow

Tips for Staying Organized During Enrollment Season (for College Admins)

7 More Tips for Building a Better Workflow Process Map