Useful tool for mapping and redesigning process

A useful tool for mapping and redesigning process is 'brown paper'. An overview is developed in the 'As Is' processes, these are sketched onto large pieces of brown paper, as demonstrated in Figure 1.\

 
Figure 1: Example brown paper.

A workshop is then convened with HR and, where appropriate, representatives from the line where the process is debated and challenged. This also involves identifying for participants the extent to which the proposed HR technology can automate and change different tasks. Attendees at the workshop then redraw the existing process, identifying strengths that they wish to retain and sketching out improvements to the way that participants interact and the way the information flows through the process. A new brown paper is produced from the workshop as demonstrated in Figure 2.

 
Figure 2: Example brown paper.

There are a number of issues that need to be taken into account when building a brown paper:

• Disagreement about how the process is performed is OK. It is probable that different people perform the same process differently; that is, a significant finding. Try to capture both and get agreement on future processes.
• Not knowing the answer to every question is OK. In the process of asking questions needed to identify the flow, it almost always happens that a question will be asked that no one can answer and people can be tasked to get an answer.
• Have specialists on hand who can answer questions about what can and cannot be achieved using the HR system. Participants may come up with solutions that cannot be delivered by technology. It is best that these issues are addressed in the workshop so that participants can design processes that can be delivered and you do not have to ask participants to keep redesigning processes in later workshops. If this is not done, having lots of unanswered questions about what the system can and cannot do, will result in a process that is so high level and has so many questions that it needs more design work after the workshop or further workshops have to be convened.
• Ask for hard copy and complete examples. All key documents should be obtained with 'live' information, if possible. Ask for a printed copy of significant computer screens if the function is 'online' or interactive between the user and system.
• No value judgements (yet). The process of creating the initial brown paper should be a fact-gathering exercise. The evaluation of the information comes later. At this point, all ideas are good ideas.
• Identify one stream of activity and do it start to finish: then integrate other streams with it. Experience has shown that participants may become confused when trying to understand and document several different flows simultaneously. By choosing one and taking it start to finish, similarities and differences can more readily be identified, and the meeting more easily controlled.
• Write explanations directly on the brown paper. The only paper attached to the brown paper should be 'live' documents and their adhesive note critiques.
• Be challenging, do not fall into the trap of merely refining existing processes and responsibilities and essentially promoting the status quo. HR transformation is about shifting from today to tomorrow. Therefore, when reviewing processes, question whether HR should be involved in a task and how that involvement adds value.
• Capture the impact on the line and employees. Where HR is removed from tasks and where the line will use self-service, it is important that this information is captured and detailed. This understanding of how responsibility for process changes is vital for moving to the next stage in the change process, that of determining the impact of the new processes and systems on the organisation and the readiness of the organisation to adopt them.