Mapping Administrative Processes:
A Tool for Total Quality Teams

by Gary Saunders

Graduate students at a Midwestern university produce
high-quality process maps at a nominal cost and
prove invaluable to a total quality team's work.

For decades, process maps have helped individuals understand complex systems. As the computer became a greater force in society, computer programming needs grew geometrically, and process maps supported that growth.

A process map (or flowchart) is literally a picture showing each step in a process, and it can take many forms under different names. Barry Cushing and Marshall Romney1 group flowcharts into three broad categories: systems, program and document. Other authors have referred to flowcharts as maps,2 process flowcharts3 and deployment flowcharts.4 Whatever the name used or the process considered, process maps probably are the most underutilized tool of total quality teams.

Process maps are useful for designing new processes and depicting existing ones for improvement. They also are invaluable for training new employees. As total quality teams increase their focus on improving the processes in support areas, the importance of process maps to that effort cannot be overstated. If improvements are made in a process that is not understood, it is a result of happenstance and not by design. Deming would call this "tampering." Meaningful improvement only comes with a thorough understanding of a process, and process maps are key to understanding processes.

As total quality efforts broaden from physical production processes to administrative service areas, the challenges became more formidable. Employees must be convinced that the service they perform is a product and that they have customers for that product, even when they're internal to the organization. Many refer to internal customers as stakeholders. Once they recognize their customers, they must commit to serving their customers better by continuously improving service. And in order to improve a service, they must understand the processes involved in producing it; enter process maps.

An organization should prepare process maps for all service processes, but, in reality, few organizations have done this. Their preparation requires a significant time commitment, and many executives remain unconvinced of their value. That attitude should change as they endeavor to meet ISO 9000 documentation requirements. Total quality personnel at a medium-sized Midwestern university were convinced of the value of process maps and decided to devote the effort necessary to prepare them for some of the basic administrative processes. This article describes the experience of that university's total quality team in producing high-quality process maps of a number of its administrative processes at a very reasonable cost.

Obtaining affordable process maps

One total quality team, the Process Simplification and Paperwork Reduction Team, formed to recommend improvements in selected administrative processes. Through brainstorming, the team developed a prioritized list of processes for consideration. That list included, among others, the employment process, the procurement process and the drop-add process for students.

The total quality team decided that for them to understand the processes under consideration and to develop recommendations, they would need both process decision maps and document maps. According to Diane Pattison, "process flowcharts are a simple way to begin to understand and communicate how a process actually works." A process map depicts the major steps in a process, including all decisions (in a yes-no format) and the actions that each decision triggers. It does not identify the individuals making the decisions or the relationships between those individuals. The process map illustrates the sequence of logical operations performed in completing a process in an organization.

Max Laudeman5 says that "a document flowchart permits a reader to better visualize complex procedures and thus facilitates the identification of both redundant features and processing steps where controls are inadequate." This is accomplished, at least in part, because document flowcharts graphically portray the movement of documents through the organization's different departments and functions for a particular process or transaction. They trace the flow of a document from its creation to its destruction, or permanent storage location. They provide a broad view of the formal communications network in an organization and permit a reader to better visualize complex procedures. This, in turn, facilitates the identification of nonvalue-added operations and those operations where controls are inadequate. Nonvalue-added operations can then be eliminated and those resources shifted to provide more for customers without additional resources.

One major obstacle to mapping administrative processes is the knowledge and effort it requires. Individuals most familiar with the processes do not normally possess the requisite knowledge or have the time to map them. Training one or more individuals in each functional area to prepare maps for processes in their area is probably quite inefficient. The university's total quality team selected a talented graduate student6 to prepare all process maps, which therefore allowed them to invest in training only one person. Learning the basics of preparing process maps was made easier by selecting a relatively small number of symbols to use. Figure 1 shows the symbols used in preparing process decision and document maps for the total quality team. During the student's final semester, the team selected another graduate student to train with him as a replacement.

Before beginning the actual mapping, the team developed a sequential list of steps to guide the process and facilitate training replacements. These steps are:
1. Obtain a thorough understanding of the basic steps in the process.
2. Identify all of the decisions required in each step of the process.
3. Identify the documents used in each step of the process.
4. Interview individuals who work most closely with the process to develop an in-depth understanding of the process.
5. Sketch the map on paper and then draw it on the computer.
6. Distribute the map to the individuals interviewed for their study and validation of its accuracy.
7. Revise the map based on a consensus of the feedback obtained from individuals working with the process.
8. Distribute copies of the map to members of the total quality team and obtain their feedback.
9. Revise the map based on feedback from members of the total quality team.
10. Present the completed map to the total quality team for their use in formulating recommendations.


Figure 2 shows these steps in a process decision map. In completing steps 1, 2 and 3, the individuals preparing the map will obtain copies of relevant documents and discuss the process with people who are process customers but have not been central to the process design. These are the "forgotten customers" for whom the process was established.

For example, when considering the faculty employment process, discussions may begin with departmental secretaries and proceed through the dean's office to the academic vice president's office. Beginning at the lower levels in the hierarchy and proceeding upward will provide interesting viewpoints on how the process actually works. As you move up in the administration, closer to the policy makers, you will tend to receive the story of how the process should work. These insights can prove invaluable to the total quality team.

Step 4 requires you to identify someone in the area having responsibility for the process under consideration. For the employment process, this will usually be the personnel department, or one with a comparable name. This department will be most familiar with legal requirements and most involved in the process design or modification. Not only can you gain a thorough understanding of how and why the process is designed to work from these individuals, but their support of any recommended modifications will be almost a necessity for improvements to occur. Discussions with individuals should result in a thorough understanding of the step-by-step procedure to be followed in the process, including what offices or individuals must approve each decision, the flow of documents and where each copy of completed documents is filed.

As shown in step 5, the map can be sketched by hand using a flowchart-symbols template available at most university bookstores. Also, the Goal/QPC Memory Jogger and Memory Jogger II are useful aids in preparing maps. When a map is first prepared, using a flowchart template, pencil and paper can facilitate understanding of the process. When using the computer for drawing process or document maps, a variety of software programs are available.

After completing the map, schedule additional interviews with those individuals (step 6) who provided input in step 4. If possible, they should study the map very carefully to ensure accuracy. If they cannot find the time to review the map, they can usually assign that responsibility to another individual in the area. Based on feedback, the map can be modified (step 7) and returned to the relevant persons for additional study. This process of ensuring accuracy may require more than one revision and may take several weeks to complete, but the map should be as accurate a depiction of the process as possible when completed.

After verifying the map's accuracy, you can duplicate and distribute it to total quality team members for their comments. Frequently, team members will have experience or insights that may add to a better understanding of the process. They may have a comment to add to the map or may note a discrepancy. After making any revisions based on team member feedback, the map can be presented to the team (step 10) for its use in formulating recommendations to improve the process.

This 10-step procedure has been used successfully on about six different processes at the university, and a third graduate assistant is now being trained to prepare additional maps for the total quality team. The total quality team and the administration are pleased with the quality and economy of the mapping efforts.

Generating team recommendations

While maps have been prepared for a number of total quality team projects, including the employment process, a subprocess of the employment process-the personnel action request process-illustrates the benefits of mapping. Five documents are used in the university's employment process: the staff personnel recruitment authorization, the position information questionnaire, the PAR, and the WV-11 and I-9 forms. Not surprisingly, the forms repeat much of the same information. A PAR must be processed when the status of an employee, or potential employee, changes. Commonly, the process begins when an individual has been recruited for a position and ends when the individual shows up as an employee in the organization's records. However, if a current employee's payroll status changes (e.g., a change in pay rate, overtime work for an hourly employee or summer teaching for faculty), a PAR must be processed.

Using the 10-step procedure, a decision process map and a document map were prepared (see figures 3 and 4).

After maps of the recruitment process were completed, they were presented to the total quality team. Members were given time to study them for accuracy and to identify any forms or setups that could be omitted or shortened. Any necessary changes to the maps were made, and team discussion centered on potential improvements.

After carefully studying the maps and holding team discussions, the total quality team decided to first address the processes that were completely within the university and, therefore, under the control of university administrators. Falling under that category, the PAR process was one of the first considered. The team realized that for continuing employees, practically all of the information on the form was repeated each time a PAR was prepared for that employee. They believed that by eliminating or greatly reducing the effort of completing PARs, the process would significantly improve. Note that the first area identified as offering the greatest potential savings did not fall directly in the area under study, the recruitment process, but in the routine completion of PARs relative to continuing employees or repeating part-time instructors.

In order to more fully develop a recommendation to submit to the administration, the team decided to form a subcommittee to develop and test a model for computerizing the PAR form. The subcommittee included several total quality team members, the computer center director and a key payroll employee who approved all payroll vouchers.

They developed a tentative computerized network model for testing. With the model, an individual initiating a PAR could retrieve most of the data for past and present university employees from a data base and could avoid reentering much of the data required on the PAR. The form would be approved or rejected electronically at each administrative level. If an administrator failed to act upon the PAR (neither approved nor rejected) within an established time frame, approval would be assumed and the form would move forward.

Of course, an administrator who failed to act might reopen the issue later, but nearly 100 percent of the forms are approved. Ordinarily, a PAR is rejected because of data errors, and these would be virtually eliminated with electronic processing. However, this model was never fully developed because of a shortage of computer-programming assistance.

Undaunted, the total quality team considered other alternatives. Some subcommittee members agreed to work with others in the university to eliminate the PAR by sending a list containing all relevant data through the existing process. This list would include only existing employees and rehires (e.g., part-time faculty previously employed) and would be transmitted via the computer network. This option is scheduled for implementation in one academic college and, after eliminating the problems, expanded campuswide. The team discussed other improvements but could not implement them without changing state requirements-an option not available to the team in the short term.

Maps are worth the effort

Most total quality team members had little previous knowledge of how the hiring process actually worked or how much paperwork was involved and where it went. Before studying the process and document maps, most thought the process was relatively simple and that improving it would not be very complicated. The maps helped dispel these ideas and showed how the process worked and where the paperwork moved. By seeing the process details depicted in the maps, team members could more easily understand why the process takes so long to complete and could focus on steps where employees performed nonvalue-added or redundant work. The maps also made formulating recommendations much easier.

If all employees were aware of the steps required in administrative processes, they might better understand why the processes take so long to complete. Then they might stop complaining about the processes and work to improve them in conjunction with total quality teams. Consistent with this premise, some administrators have decided to include some process and document maps prepared as part of this project with organizational charts and other materials that will be distributed to employees.

The most negative factor in mapping administrative processes is lost time. Some processes are very complicated, which makes the maps difficult and time-consuming to complete. In addition to the time required to draw the maps, information must be obtained from several different sources. Probably the biggest difficulty encountered in preparing the maps for this study was arranging time to speak with the different administrators about how the process works. With most of them, meetings had to be made weeks in advance, and often they would cancel the meetings because of seemingly more pressing issues. While this added to the time required in gathering the information, most administrators were very cooperative.

Overall, the mapping of administrative processes described in this article has been a success. According to Laudeman, maps "present interrelationships more clearly than is possible in a narrative description." That may be important in today's society, where people are more used to learning by looking at a picture or model than by reading. Michael Bauer says: "The map does not have to be a graphic; but, a picture is worth a thousand words and is sometimes more communicative than text. A graphic is also sometimes less open to human interpretation than text is."

Graduate students produced high-quality maps at a nominal cost and proved invaluable to the total quality team's work. When recommendations are prepared for submission to the administration, process and document maps can serve as strong supporting evidence for them.

References

1. Cushing, Barry E. and Romney, Marshall B., Accounting Information Systems and Business Organizations, 1987, pp. 161­p;162.

2. Bauer, Michael W., "The Very Beginning of Analysis and Development: The Map," Journal of Systems Management, December 1992, pp. 37­p;40.

3. Pattison, Diane D., Caltrider, James M. and Lutze, Robert, "Continuous Process Improvement at Brooktree," Management Accounting, February 1993, pp. 49­p;52.

4. "TQM Tools and Techniques," TQM in Higher Education, July 1993, pp. 4­p;5.

5. Laudeman, Max, "Document Flowcharts for Internal Control," Journal of Systems Management, March 1980, pp. 22­p;30.

6. The talented graduate student is John Burdette, and the author wishes to recognize his initiative and ability. His efforts were a major factor in the success of this project.

About the author . . .

Gary Saunders is a professor of accountancy and holder of the Miller Distinguished Chair at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He has been instrumental in guiding the implementation of total quality concepts and courses at Marshall.