Processes: process is not sacred|INEMA.CLUB-PRO

Lesson 3 · 20 min

Map what really happens

Ask three people how an order becomes an invoice and you hear three different processes, all prettier than the real one. The map that works for redesign comes from following real cases: the normal path, the detours, who decides what, and how long each thing takes. In this lesson you build that map on one page.

Start the lesson
In the warehouse aisle, the sales manager holds a tablet and watches a stock clerk pack jugs of detergent into a box.

In this lesson you will

  1. 1The six blocks of a map that works for redesign
  2. 2Interview the owner and follow five cases
  3. 3Separate rule-based decisions from judgment-based decisions
  4. 4Measure volume, people-minutes, rework, and waiting

Objective: map the normal path, the detours, the decisions, and today's measurements of a process, from an interview and from cases you followed.

01The map in six blocks

Scroll the page: each block lights up its part of the map. It is the same map for Horizonte and for your process.

Scroll the page: each step below lights up its part of the diagram.

  1. 1/7

    Trigger

    What starts the process, through which channel, and from whom. "Customer sends the order on WhatsApp" is a trigger. "Sales" is not. If you can't name the trigger, you don't know where to start counting time.

  2. 2/7

    Normal path

    The steps in the order they happen when nothing goes wrong, each one with who does it and in which system. It's the tagging sheet from lesson 1, now with wait time and people-minutes on each line.

  3. 3/7

    Decisions

    Where the path splits. For each decision, the test: would two well-trained people, with the same information, always give the same answer? If yes, it's a rule and can become a system. If not, it's judgment and stays with a person.

  4. 4/7

    Detours

    The paths a case takes when something is missing or goes wrong: where it leaves the normal path, where it returns, and how often this happens. Rework lives in the detours, and it's where an agent that only copies the normal path gets lost the most.

  5. 5/7

    Measures

    Volume per week, people-minutes per case, time from trigger to completion, rework and the longest wait. Each number says where it came from: counted in a system, observed in the cases or stated by someone (hypothesis).

  6. 6/7

    Completion

    What comes out of the process, for whom, and the criterion that says it's finished. "Invoice issued and sent to the customer" is a completion. Without it, the process has no end, and cycle time can't be measured.

  7. 7/7

    The whole map

    Trigger, normal path, decisions, detours, measures and completion, on one page. It's the raw material for the redesign in lesson 4 and the baseline in lesson 6.

02How to map

Four steps, in one week. The Horizonte data is fictional, for study.

1. Interview the owner

The process owner is the person who answers for the result, not the one who does the most steps. Ask about the trigger, the completion, the decisions and the detours they know. Use the script alongside.

The interview gives you the process as the owner thinks it is. Write everything down, but don't draw it yet: following the cases will correct a good part of it.

At HorizontePatrícia answers for the order all the way to the invoice. In the interview, she described 9 steps. The cases we followed showed 13.

03Templates to copy: the map and the script

The one-page map is the central template of the course. The script and the case sheet feed the map. The tabs show Horizonte.

Process map (one page)
PROCESS MAP · <from where to where> · version 1.0 (as it is today)
Owner (answers for the result): <name> · Mapped by: <name> · Date: <mm/dd/yyyy>
Sources: interview with <name> on <date> · cases followed: <ids and dates>

TRIGGER: <what arrives, through which channel, from whom>
COMPLETION: <what comes out, for whom, done criterion>

NORMAL PATH
| # | Step (verb + object) | Who | System | Wait before | People minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | <...> | <...> | <...> | <h> | <min> |

DECISIONS
| At step | Question | Rule or judgment | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| <#> | <...?> | <R or J> | <name> |

DETOURS (at least 2)
| Name | When it happens | Where it goes back to | Frequency (origin) | What is lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <...> | <...> | <step #> | <n per week · observed/hypothesis> | <...> |

MEASURES TODAY (each with origin: counted / observed / declared = hypothesis)
Volume: <n per week> (<origin>)
People minutes per case: <median> (<n cases>)
Time from trigger to completion: <median> (<n cases>)
Rework: <% or n per week> (<origin>)
Longest wait: <where, how long>

WHAT I DON'T KNOW YET: <...>
Interview script for the owner
INTERVIEW · process: <...> · owner: <name> · date: <...> · 40 min

1. What triggers the process? Through which channel does it arrive? From whom?
2. When is it done? What comes out and for whom?
3. What are the steps, off the top of your head, in order? Who does each one?
4. At what points does someone need to decide something? Who decides? By what rule?
5. When a case goes wrong, where does it go back to? How many times a week?
6. How many cases per week? Where does that number come from?
7. Which step would you most like to not have? Why?
8. Which step would you never remove? What has happened when it wasn't done?

AGREEMENT: I will follow <5> cases between <date> and <date>, without changing anything.
Tracking sheet for one case
CASE <id> · <customer or description, no personal data> · date: <...>
Entry (trigger): <mm/dd hh:mm>

| Step | Who | Started | Finished | People minutes | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <...> | <...> | <hh:mm> | <hh:mm> | <min> | <waited for what?> |

Detoured? <no / yes: which detour, at which step>
Completion: <mm/dd hh:mm> · Total time: <h> · People minutes: <sum>
Prompt · gaps in the map
You are a process analyst. Below are the map of a process from my
company and the sheets of the cases I followed. Do not redesign anything.

1. Point out steps that appear in the cases and are not on the map (or the other way around).
2. Point out decisions marked as rule that look like judgment, and vice versa.
3. Point out numbers with no origin or declared numbers treated as measured.
4. List the 3 questions I should still ask the process owner.

Map:
"""<paste the map>"""
Cases:
"""<paste the sheets>"""
Simulation: illustrative example

Order via WhatsApp → invoice · v1.0 · owner: Patrícia · Horizonte, fictional study company

Trigger: customer sends the order via WhatsApp. Completion: invoice issued and sent to the customer in the conversation.

Normal path (13 steps): reply → enter in the app → copy to the spreadsheet → check the price of every item → approve above R$ 5 thousand → print and take to the warehouse → check availability in the ERP → pick → notify Juliana → email to finance → retype in the ERP → check the customer record and issue the invoice → send the invoice.

Decisions: discount within policy? (rule) · above R$ 5 thousand? (rule) · discount between 5% and 10%: give it or not? (Patrícia's judgment) · customer with a complete record? (rule, today only at step 12) · product out of stock: deliver partially or wait? (judgment, with the customer).

Detours: D1 incomplete record: finance sends it back to customer service after picking ("about 15 a week," declared = hypothesis). D2 product out of stock: partial order, Juliana calls the customer (1 in 5 cases, observed).

Measures: 168 orders in the week of 10/13 (counted, dashboard) · 21 min of people time per order (median, 5 cases) · 30 h until the invoice (median, 5 cases) · longest wait: finance invoices the next morning, and the warehouse receives the papers in two batches (10 am and 3 pm).

04Practice

The Horizonte map with the five cases ready; yours with cases you follow yourself.

1 · The order map at Horizonte

30 min

Use the 13 steps from lesson 1 and the "The five cases" tab to fill in the one-page map of the "order via WhatsApp → invoicing" process. Calculate the medians yourself. Run the gaps prompt and answer what it raises.

Done when: the map has a trigger and a completion, the 13 steps with who and system, at least 4 decisions marked as rule or judgment, the 2 detours with where they go back to, today's measures (volume, median minutes, median time, rework) each with its origin, and the longest wait identified.

2 · The map of your process

1 week

For the process you chose in lesson 2: interview the owner with the script and follow five cases with the sheet, without changing anything in the process. Then build the one-page map.

Done when: the interview is noted with a date, the 5 case sheets are filled in, and the map has a trigger, completion, normal path, at least 2 detours, the decisions marked, and the 4 measures with origin.

Lab pieces: WhatsApp agent and dashboard (fictional study company).

05Quick test

5 questions. The explanation appears after your attempt.

Question 1 of 5

The owner described 9 steps; the cases followed showed 13. Which map counts?

06Summary

Six blocksTrigger, normal path, decisions, detours, measurements, conclusion.
Cases, not opinionAn interview gives you the hypothesis; five followed cases correct the map.
Rule or judgmentSame information, same answer: rule. Otherwise, it stays with a person.
A number with a sourceCounted, observed, or declared. The time is almost always in the waiting.

To go further

AI Work Architect: every process has six linksCopilot + Agents for Business: from prompt to workflowHorizonte Lab: the agent's conversations (fictional study company)
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