Unlocking Digital Transformation: The Power of Value Stream Mapping
Source: Pexels
Information silos, convoluted workflows, and miscommunication can trap important data behind closed doors within your organization. As a leader within the business, you likely have what you need to unlock that untapped potential, but without a clear way of organizing those keys, management can often be stuck fumbling in the hallway.
When it comes to understanding and improving the flow of value and information throughout a business, value stream mapping helps you pull out the right keys for every door in your path. With Digital Transformation at the forefront of 74% of organizations’ tech initiatives, it’s never been more important to know exactly what processes are working and how.
Understanding Value Stream Mapping
Value stream mapping (VSM) is a visual representation of all the activities, material, and information that go into creating and delivering a product or service. It’s a way to eliminate waste, identify bottlenecks, and optimize processes.
Just like organizing and categorizing your keys, value stream mapping helps you take a step back and understand the big picture of how everything is connected. Once you have a clear view of what you're working with, you'll be able to identify what keys can be used to get where you want to go.
VSM is especially useful for organizations that are in the midst of digital transformation, as it allows for a deeper understanding of the current process and what needs to be changed. It can be used to identify areas of improvement in any process, from product development to customer service.
For example, if your organization has operated with several departments that work independently of each other for a long time, there may be a lack of understanding of how each one contributes to the overall success of the business.
VSM can identify the flow of information and resources between the departments and the impact of any changes. This allows teams that have been largely self-sustaining to start collaborating and utilizing cross-team solutions.
There are tons of ways that successful companies have already used value stream mapping to revolutionize their workflow and fuel digital transformation. If you want your team to be on the digital razor's edge, you need to be investing in VSM.
Digital Transformation and Value Stream Management
By now, we know that digital transformation is about more than just technology. It’s about using technology to unlock greater operational efficiency and improved customer experience. True digital transformation requires a shift in your organization’s culture and the way every process happens.
There are several benefits to including VSM in your digital transformation strategy, and each one takes this strategy beyond simple tech implementation.
Understanding The Tools You Need
Getting a clear picture of the processes within your company allows you to identify any areas that need improvement. You’ll notice redundancies, bottlenecks, and issues within the workflow. This is great news because you can not fix what you aren’t aware of.
Beyond that, with a view of the entire flow, you will have a better idea of what role any new digital tools will need to fulfill to improve it. For example, if you see that data entry is taking up the majority of time in a specific workflow, you might want to invest in AI and automation that can help.
Saving Time and Money
One of the greatest benefits of VSM is that you will save time and money in the long term. This mapping can help you highlight where cost savings can be achieved within your organization.
You might even spot areas where a workflow is needlessly complicated, or how teams can help each other get through a process faster and more efficiently. For example, you may find that by moving a process to a different team, you eliminate a specific bottleneck and improve the overall flow.
Improve Customer Experience
One of the main goals of digital transformation is to improve customer experience. With value stream mapping, you can get a clearer idea of how the customer interacts with your product or service.
You may find out that a certain step of the process is taking too long and needs to be streamlined, or that a certain feature is missing that customers have been asking for.
The Challenges Of Starting VSM
Like every other aspect of digital transformation, getting value stream mapping right can be an uphill battle to start. Before you jump in, you and your team should consider:
The Time Commitment - getting a clear picture of every process within your organization is probably going to take quite a bit of time, as it requires acquiring, reviewing, and analyzing lots of information from across the company.
The Cost - mapping out the entire process can be expensive, especially if there are multiple departments or locations.
The Complexity - understanding the data and the process flows in order to make improvements will likely take input from every department.
If you’re serious about digital transformation, having this information is going to be invaluable going forward. Having a clear and comprehensive database of what is happening within your organization is definitely worth the investment.
Implementing VSM for Digital Transformation
Once you’ve decided that VSM is the right approach for your digital transformation, the next step is to get started! Let’s take a look at the process your team will go through to create the perfect map of value through the company.
Step One: Identify Your Goals
Decide the scope of your mapping before you begin. Are you just looking at customer-facing processes? IT flows? The entire organization?
Once you know what you want to map and improve, make sure you know exactly who the stakeholders are and what they are responsible for. As many processes are interconnected, you’ll also want to define the boundaries of each map.
Step Two: Record the Current Process
Work alongside your team to map out exactly how the process flows at the moment. A tool like Stormboard will allow everyone to work on this together, streamlining the project and ensuring nothing gets missed.
Don’t forget to include how long on average each step is taking. This will help you with the next step.
Step Three: Identify Inefficiencies
Have your team flag any areas that could be improved upon. Consider speed, redundancies, and under-utilized talent. Once you know what can be improved, create a new map with the proposed changes.
VSM Best Practices
To get the most out of Value Stream Mapping, you’ll want to follow a few tips from digital transformation experts.
Tip One: Make It Visual
Complex processes can be easier to understand if you represent them visually. Use charts, diagrams, and other visuals to help make sense of the data. If they understand what’s happening, team members and new hires are more likely to use the map in their daily operations.
Pro Tip: Stormboard’s data-first collaborative canvas is a perfect tool for accomplishing this step in an efficient manner.
Tip Two: Use Real Data
Data driven decision-making is only as valuable as the data you’re using. Make sure that your maps are made with a full understanding of what is actually happening within your teams, not what you wish was happening.
If you find things to change, that’s great, but those discrepancies can only be rectified if you have a clear picture of them within the entire workflow.
Tip Three: Keep It Collaborative
In order to prevent any steps from falling through the cracks, it’s important to keep the mapping process collaborative. Make sure that all stakeholders are involved, and their input is taken into consideration.
This kind of collaboration also allows ideas for improvements to come from anywhere, ultimately fostering a culture of democratic innovation.
Conclusion
You know how much value is within your organization, and with a clear value map, you and your team will have no problem unlocking that potential. A birds-eye-view will allow everyone to see exactly what’s happening and how your workflow can be brought into the future.
Try creating a Value Stream Map with your team in Stormboard to see just how easy it is to visualize and collaborate on the data already hidden in your organization.
About the author:
A programmer by trade, Nick Saraev is a freelance writer and entrepreneur with a penchant for helping people excel in their careers. He's been featured on Popular Mechanics & Apple News, and has founded several successful companies in e-commerce, marketing, and artificial intelligence. When he's not working on his latest project, you can find him hiking or painting.
