Business Process Improvement - Drawing the Process Map

Drawing and documenting a business process helps you understand how it works; what activities constitute the majority of the work; and where handoffs occur between departments, suppliers, and customers.

The map you draw will provide the information required to allow you to estimate how long a process takes from start to finish and how much it costs. This data will help you apply improvement techniques, and it assists you in setting improvement targets. The map provides everyone involved in the work with a better understanding of how the business process works from beginning to end.

So how do you start? Drawing a process map is not difficult, even though it may seem so when you look at one that another person created. The symbols used are simple to learn and there is software available, like Microsoft Visio, to help you draw the map. The hardest part in many projects is identifying where to begin, and drawing the map is no different. How do you know where to start? What do you write inside the first activity box you draw on the map?

Creating a foundation, or blueprint, an important step in improvement work, will help you get started with this step because the blueprint includes the boundaries, or rather where the process starts and ends. Whatever you identified as the start in the blueprint is what you write inside the first box on the map. From that point on, you will find drawing the rest of the map easy. Just remember to include the output of each activity box and make sure that what you write on the output line leads to the input for the next activity.

In most cases, unless you own the process and work alone, you need other colleagues to help you draw the map because you probably do not know every step and every handoff involved. At the bare minimum, you should have resources available that can answer your questions as they arise.

Drawing the map is the third step to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability of your business.

Copyright 2009 Susan Page

Microsoft Visio is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

5 Campaign Online Marketing Tips

Increasingly more sites and companies with websites recognize the importance of driving traffic to their site.

The concept behind marketing is to catch the attention of consumers and possible customers as efficiently as possible. For lots of, campaign Internet marketing is the only way to do so.

Project marketing helps to strike your target market in numerous ways. Campaign marketing can be an amazing tool for some, but can be a problem and nuisance for others. These 5 pointers will help you to get your Internet marketing project off to the right start.

Know your Target

The most crucial thing for you to be able to do is to entirely define and evaluate your target audience. If you are going to have an Internet marketing campaign you need to make sure that you understand exactly who you are trying to talk to.. This details will assist you to effectively reach your consumers, making your marketing effective.

Be Clear and Concise

If you desire to have a successful marketing campaign you need to be as clear and concise as possible. Plainly state the message that you are attempting to get to your target market. Confusing or muddled messages will render your Internet marketing campaign useless and not successful.

Usage Multiple Venues

There are numerous places and mediums that you can use with Internet marketing, including online advertising, email marketing, and seo. Your project must include multiple venues and mediums, as you have to get in touch with your audience on as numerous levels as possible.

Deal with Professionals

If you are thinking about a marketing project you ought to think about hiring a professional marketing business.. Experts are going to have the ability to supply you with the level of service that is tidy, sleek, and efficient Internet marketing venture.

Have Patience

Online marketing is not going to be instantaneous; it is going to require time to be effective. You need to be client and wait on the results of your marketing to totally understand the success of the project. You will then be able to evaluate your method to find strong points and weak points to deal with for your next campaign.

You require to make sure that you do your due diligence when attempting campaign online marketing. You likewise require to believe about how you are going to go about your Internet marketing strategies.

These five pointers will help you to get your marketing campaign off to the right start.

If you are going to have a marketing campaign you need to make sure that you know precisely who you are attempting to talk to. If you want to have a successful marketing campaign you have to be as clear and concise as possible. Confusing or muddled messages will render your Internet marketing project ineffective and unsuccessful.