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Every organization needs a set of rules to guide its members. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are established for this purpose. SOPs are an essential part of any business and are necessary to ensure the quality and consistency of organizational operations amid the busyness of daily work. 

This post will help you as you write your organization’s own standard operating procedures effectively and make them part of your day-to-day management approach. It explains and includes,

• What are SOPs 
• Different SOP formats
• How to write SOPs and best practices 
• Editable SOP templates 

What Are Standard Operating Procedures

Standard operating procedures are a set of written guidance on how to accurately perform important, routine, or repetitive activities or processes in an organization. 

They explain the way activities should be performed in order to facilitate conformance to technical and quality system requirements and to support data quality. 

SOPs are typically specific to the organization they are written for and assist them in maintaining its quality assurance and quality control processes. They also help organizations ensure that they adhere to governmental regulations and maintain consistency in the quality and integrity of products and services they offer. 

SOPs,

• Are cross-functional documents 
• Represent workflow across functions 
• Are initiated through a process map 
• Answer the question ‘who does what?’
• Are written in active voice 

Terms such as protocols, worksheets, work instructions, and laboratory operating procedures are also used instead of standard operating procedures.

Importance of Standard Operating Procedures

Almost every activity, from cleaning a production machine to carrying out a critical process can be documented through standard operating procedures. They help,

• Improve business performance by providing protection, health, environmental and operational information necessary to successfully carry out individual business processes 
• Ensure the safety and quality of products and services
• Ensure compliance with relevant standards, regulations, and guidelines  
• Remove variations in procedures and processes carried out by different employees in different locations or factories, thus helping maintain consistency 
• Serve as a sound foundation for training and onboarding new employees
• Enable control of processes and in turn, allow opportunities for continuous improvement  
• Facilitate improved communication
• Serve as checklists to help inspectors with auditing procedures  
• Reconstruct operational systems in new settings

Types of SOP | Standard Operating Procedure Formats

While organizations can use a preferred or a customized format to write their standard operating procedures, there are a few types of SOP formats that are widely used by organizations out there.

Checklist format 

This takes the form of a checklist maker where the different tasks to be performed are outlined. This is suitable for smaller teams or individuals who don’t require detailed instructions. 

Step-by-step format 

This format uses bulleted or numbered lists to present the SOP guidelines. This format is best suited for procedures or processes that are routine, straightforward, and easy to follow.  

Hierarchical format 

Similar to the step-by-step format, the hierarchical format also explains the procedures step-by-step. However, in this format, substeps are added under each primary step as bulleted or numbered lists to highlight the required additional information. This format is best suited for complex procedures with a lot of information. 

Flowchart format

Flowcharts help simplify complex standard operating procedures with many possible outcomes that are unpredictable through visualization. This format also highlights how each step of the process is connected to each other, hence clearly outlining its flow for easier comprehension. 

How to Write Standard Operating Procedures and Best Practices 

Step 1: Identify the procedures to be documented 

The first step is to identify the activities, processes, or workflows that you need to write guidelines for. 

Talk to an expert on the processes or individual employees to find out the activities they perform daily, weekly, or monthly in almost the same way. You have the option to collect the necessary information here through a survey as well if talking to them proves difficult. 

With this list in hand, you can then proceed to single out the processes that need to be standardized.

If the requirement is to update an existing SOP, review and improve it with the help of someone who has proper training and experience in carrying out the relevant process.

Step 2: Define the objective 

Next, identify the objective of creating the SOP document. Is it to align the processes with business priorities? Or to ensure that processes function well? Identifying the reason for writing the SOPs will allow you to structure it more effectively. 

In the case of an existing SOP, identify the pain points or obstacles in your processes that are causing delays and failures and determine what changes should be made to improve them. 

Step 3: Choose a format

There are a variety of SOP formats that cater to different business requirements and the processes involved. As discussed above, these SOP formats include checklists, step-by-step format, hierarchical format, and the flowchart format. One of these formats can be selected based on the type of information you want to share.

Step 4: Identify the creators and stakeholders 

SOPs should be written by subject-matter experts who are actually involved in carrying out or using the process.

 When writing standard operating procedures for multi-tasked processes, consider a team approach where the experiences of multiple individuals involved can be utilized.   

In addition, C-level executives and management leaders can also be involved to ensure that the SOPs

• Align with the higher-level business priorities 
• Has the necessary resources and the equipment to be implemented 
• Are plausible in terms of resource consumption and logistics 

Tip: Whether you rely on the task owner or an in-house writer to document the standard operating procedures, make sure that they have the necessary technical writing skills and in-depth knowledge of the relevant organizational processes.

Step 5: Determine the audience 

Knowing who will be referring to the SOPs is essential to write them effectively. 

SOPs should be written with sufficient detail that allows employees, even someone with limited knowledge of and experience with the process, to reproduce the procedure without supervision. 

In order to determine the level of detail that should be included in an SOP, you need to first understand who you are writing it for. This could be a new employee without any prior knowledge or someone who has performed the activities several times. Learning their needs will help you customize the SOP for their comprehension by 

• Focusing thoroughly on their duties 
• Using the correct language and terminology familiar to them, and explanations of the terminology that are new to them 

Tip: Talk to the employees who are ultimately responsible for carrying out the processes and learn about the challenges they face and listen to their suggestions. Using a visual workspace like Creately, you can bring everyone on to the same canvas to facilitate collaboration as you visualize, edit, and review the standard operating procedures.

Step 6: Create an outline of the SOP 

Once everything has been finalized – the process, creators, audience, and the format – start planning the document. Following are the typical components included in the SOP document. 

The elements of an SOP document

• Title page – this is reserved to include the relevant information about the document, including the SOP name, date of creation, unique identification number, the names of the writers of the document, and department or the designation of the individuals who will be implementing the SOP.
• Table of contents –  If necessary, include a table of contents to make it easier for anyone to navigate through the document. This element is useful in the case of SOP documents that contain multiple pages. 
• Preparatory information –  this includes preliminary information such as the purpose of the SOP, roles and responsibilities, resources, materials, and equipment needed, and safety precautions. 
• Methodology and procedures – this section explains the procedures using the chosen SOP format. 
• Quality control and assurance – this is where the rubrics or other means to measure employee performance with regard to the SOPs are outlined. 
• Reference and glossary –  this section is reserved to list down the external resources you have cited within the document and explain the terms you have referred to in more detail. 

Tip: Accompany complex details with simplified diagrams such as flowcharts, process maps, or workflow diagrams and illustrations to help the reader comprehend better.

Use a consistent writing style 

SOPs should be easy-to-understand, concise, and precise to ensure that everyone understands and follows them correctly, hence avoiding quality and safety risks and deviations. For this purpose, make sure that the standard operating procedures,  

• Are written using a step-by-step format that is easy to follow
• Are unambiguous and not very complex 
• Are written using the active voice and present verb tense. Avoid using but imply the term ‘you’ 
• Are not lengthy and redundant 
• Adhere to the style guide (i.e. font type, font size, and colors used) used by the organization
• Use flowcharts to visualize processes being explained 

Step 7: Review and approve the SOPs

The written SOPs should be reviewed by one or more individuals who have proper knowledge of, and training, and experience with the process. Reviewers should make note of and share any issues or concerns they come across while reviewing the document. These can then be corrected before approval. 

Tip: Get the individual who is ultimately responsible for carrying out the process to test out the drafted SOPs before finalizing them.  

In order to be effective, SOPs need to remain current. This entails regularly reviewing, updating, and re-approving them whenever procedures undergo change. 

These SOPs should also be systematically reviewed every 1-2 years to ensure they are relevant. As a best practice, always mention the review date of the SOPs that have been reviewed. In case a certain process is no longer followed, remove it from the file and archive it.  

Tip: Make sure that the SOP documents are readily available either in hard copy or digitally, especially to those who are directly involved in performing the activities. Create an SOP library with Creately; centralize all necessary documents, resources, links, and visuals related to your SOP documentation in a single-connected workspace where you can collaborate in real-time through video conferencing and synchronous editing.  

Ready to Write Your Own Standard Operating Procedures?

SOPs allow you to take the best methods of working in a business and create a simple document of best practices that enables everyone to perform their best at what they do. In this post, we have covered everything from how to write effective standard operating procedures to templates you can use right away. Follow the steps to create one successfully.

Share your experience and insights with us in the comments section below.

An audit lets you assess the effectiveness of an organization’s internal functions. The audit process involves examining accounting and financial records, assessing employee performance and many other tasks. Without proper preparation or a strategy,  handling the audit process may become difficult.

In this post, we will look at how to audit a company using several diagram types or visual techniques that will help to simplify and accelerate your internal and external audit processes.

How to Audit a Company with the Help of Diagrams

Org Chart to Illustrate Job Roles and Functions

In both internal and external audit processes, organizational charts play the role of illustrating the relationships between employees and who is accountable for each function/ process.

It helps auditors assess whether the company has the necessary personnel with the skills to carry out the duties and to check if the work is delegated properly.

Org charts can also be helpful in putting together a competent audit team, highlighting their responsibilities or delegating tasks among them. It can be shared among them so they can refer to it whenever they want.

Mind Map to Identify Areas that Need Auditing

One of the initial steps of an audit process is identifying areas that might need auditing. These can be distinguished by referring audits done in the past.

Details you gather, areas you need to assess and everything else you need to be aware of when planning an audit can be neatly organized with a mind map. You can refer to this map even when you are planning your audit strategy.

Following is an example of such a map. You can edit it to customize it to your needs.

Knowledge Map to Organize the Needed Documents

An audit requires checking documents such as bank statements, organizational charts, committee minutes, previous audit reports etc. If you already have digital versions of them, you can create a knowledge map (a mind map that carries links to other documents, sites, resources etc.) which will allow you to store all necessary documents in one place.

When it’s time to refer to the documents, auditors can refer to the knowledge map. That way it’s easier for the audit team, whether they are from your company or from an outside one.

Flowchart to Outline the Audit Process

With the information gathered from the documents, the next step is to plan out how the audit will be conducted.  A flowchart or process map can help you outline your entire audit strategy.

In the process of mapping out the strategy, you may also want to pay attention to the risks that will arise throughout. Come up with ways to avoid them as well.

Eg. Internal audit process flowchart

Eg. External audit process flowchart

Gantt Chart to Visualize the Timeframe

Once you decide on a timeframe for the audit, you need to assign tasks, schedule them and set due dates. A Gantt chart is the ideal tool for this. It helps you track the tasks to be completed and monitor the progression of each of them.

Turtle Diagram to Identify Input/Output of the Process

Turtle maps are a quality tool that is used to highlight different process characteristics such as inputs, outputs, criteria and other important information about organizational processes.

In an internal audit, the auditor can use a turtle diagram to assess the process stakeholders of the process, process owner, other dependent processes, skills of the personnel involved, and mechanisms and controls.

Use this turtle diagram template to audit your company processes.

Together with the turtle map, you can use process maps as well to visualize the key activities that make up processes and those who are responsible for them. In both internal and external audits, process maps can come in handy when auditing processes.

Get instantly editable process maps templates for your company audit process.

How Do You Carry Out Your Company Audit Process?

We’ve discussed useful visual techniques that can assist you in performing different audit process steps. And these are just a handful of techniques. If you have other tools that you use with your audit planning, share them with us in the comment section below.

The business analysis models come into play when understanding the requirements of stakeholders in every organization whilst identifying opportunities for growth and problem-areas which needs attention. While there are many areas to look at, it would consume more time unless you have the correct tools at hand.

In this guide, we have compiled a list of business analysis models that you can use during a strategic, tactical or operational business analysis. They are as follow,

Analyzing Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses

Organizational Charts

Organizational charts help to visualize the hierarchy of your organization and the reporting relationships among employees. Org charts are useful when planning a project, allocating resources, planning for future projects or organizational developments.

Any change you want to make to your organizational structure should start with an organizational chart template like the one below.

More Organizational Chart Templates

MOST Analysis

Business analysts use the MOST analysis to plan and analyze organizational activities and make sure that they are centered around your business goals.

How to do it

MOST stand for,

Mission – Mission is basically what your organization wants to accomplish or its purpose. It should be centered around your stakeholders and benefits.  Write down your mission statement in the Mission box of your MOST analysis template.

Objectives – These are the individual goals that will help you complete your mission.

Strategy – This section includes the different tasks you have to do to reach your objectives.

Tactics – Here you need to identify and list down the specific tactics you need to get your activities done.

Once you’ve filled out the template, you can get a quick overview of how you need to plan your organizational strategies.

PESTLE Analysis

PESTLE analysis is a tool that is used to identify and examine the external factors that affect a business. These macro environmental factors the analysis try to identify are

• Political factors such as government policies, trading policies or elections
• Economic factors such as economic trends, taxes, or import/export ratios
• Social factors such as demographics, lifestyles, or ethnic issues
• Technological factors like advancing technology or technology legislation
• Legal factors such as employment laws or health and safety regulations
• Environmental factors such as climate change or environmental regulations

More PESTLE Diagram Templates

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis can be used to identify both internal and external factors that may affect a business. These are Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Refer to our post on SWOT Analysis: What, Why and How to Use Them Effectively to learn about the technique in more detail.

Check out our post on Marketing Strategy Planning Tools to learn about more useful tools and techniques for business analysts.

Analyzing Competitors and the Market Trends

A competitive analysis lets you identify what makes your product or service unique from that of your competitors and develop strategies to attract your competitors.

There are many competitor analysis techniques like Porter’s Five Forces, value proposition canvas, radar chart etc. to conduct a research on your competitors. Refer to our post on Visual Techniques to Conduct a Competitive Analysis to learn about these techniques in detail.

Analyzing Products and Services

Product Roadmap

Product roadmaps are a great way to analyze the development or the evolution of a product over time. They highlight the goals, milestones, and deliverables of your product development project.

They can also be used

• To communicate product related details to stakeholders and customers
• As a guiding document for strategic planning
• To coordinate the product development process
• To track your progress in achieving your objectives

How to create it

Step 1: Decide the duration of your roadmap and who you are designing it for. While you need to tailor your roadmap for your audience (i.e. if it is for your product development team the map should detail all specific tasks and features and dates), the timeframe should be reasonable.

Step 2: Collect the information you need to create the roadmap. These include goals, tasks, deadlines, key milestones etc.

Step 3: Using a product roadmap template like the one below, you can easily visualize these details for quick reference

More Roadmap Templates

Mind Map of Product Features

The initial phase of a product development process or any other project usually make up of brainstorming sessions. There are a lot of ideas and opinions shared and requests made. Business analysts can use mind maps to capture and organize these ideas shared.

Analyzing Systems and Processes

Activity Diagrams

Activity diagrams visualize use cases at a more detailed level. Business analysts can use them to illustrate the flow of events in a business process, or the flow activities through a system.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the various steps in your business process or the activities in your system

Step 2: Identify the actors involved in the process. If you know who they are, it would be easier for you to decide the steps performed by them

Step 3: Find the order in which each order the process steps flow

Step 4: Add swimlanes to your activity diagram to highlight the responsible actors

To learn about activity diagrams in more detail, refer to our Easy Guide to Activity Diagrams.

Activity Diagram Templates

Use Case Diagrams

Use case diagrams let you identify the different roles in a system and how they interact with it. These come in handy when you want to communicate how a system functions to your stakeholders etc.

Here’s our use case diagram tutorial to learn how to draw a use case diagram.

Use Case Diagram Templates

Navigation Map

The website navigation map helps you design your wireframes and UI mockups. It basically outlines how the user interface flows, or how your customer would interact with your website.

To draw a navigation map, you need to know the touchpoints your ideal website visitor would interact with upon visiting your site. You can use a customer journey map to identify these touchpoints and then use the following navigation map template to outline the website journey of your visitors.

Wireframe and UI Mockup Templates

User Interface Wireframes

Wireframes present a blueprint of your website or application screen. It will help you define the information hierarchy of your design and in turn letting you plan your website or app in a user-friendly way.

How to use it

Step 1: Decide on all the details you want to add to your design.

Step 2: Create the layout by drawing boxes on the grid. It would be easier for you if you start adding information from top to bottom and left to right. Or you can simply select a wireframe like the one below from the Creately UI mockup and wireframe templates to get a head start.

Step 3: Add text to define the information hierarchy. Here you can use different font sizes to see how it would look.

Process Maps

With process maps, it’s easier to understand processes and identify bottlenecks and blockers that might be slowing your business processes, as they visualize a process step-by-step.

You can use a current-state process map and future-state process map to identify gaps in your processes and communicate how your work gets done to your stakeholders.

Check out our process map tutorial to learn how to draw a process map. Our post on process map improvement techniques covers 9 process improvement methodologies that you can use to streamline your business processes.

Analyzing Stakeholders and Their Interests

Stakeholder Map

When planning a project, it’s important to know who the stakeholders are and why the project is important to them. It helps identify stakeholder roles and responsibilities.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the stakeholders of your project. These are the people who may be affected by your project directly or indirectly. Remember to consider those who come from outside your company as well.

Step 2: Based on the stake they have in your project, group and prioritize them.

Step 3: Using a stakeholder map, categorize your stakeholders.

Threats and Opportunity Matrix for Stakeholders

Threats and opportunity matrix is used by business analysts to examine how project stakeholders will be affected by implementing and not implementing a proposed solution. It helps to make better decisions with regard to your stakeholders as it helps you look at things from their perspective.

How to do it

Step 1:  Get a list of stakeholders and have a look at your project charter

Step 2: List down the reasons for the change you want to implement. Then list down the threats of not implementing the change, and the opportunities you can gain by implementing the change.

Step 3: Think of the reaction of stakeholders who would not like the change and list down the threats of implementing the change and opportunities of not making any changes.

Step 4: Get together your team and discuss the results. Arrive at a conclusion that won’t negatively affect your key stakeholders.

MoSCoW Method

MoSCoW method is used to understand priorities. With it, you can quickly decide which to prioritize when it comes to your customer requirements, projects, project tasks, and products etc.

While the o’s are added to make pronunciation easier the rest of the letters stand for

M – Must Have (a requirement you must have to meet a business need)

S – Should Have (a requirement you should have if possible)

C – Could Have (a requirement you could have if it doesn’t affect other project activities negatively)

W – Would Have (a requirement that you would like to have later)

By categorizing your requirements with a matrix like below, you can decide which requirements to prioritize, which you can do later and which to exclude.

Managing and Dealing with Change

In the context of business, implementing change is never easy, especially as it may affect so many aspects. By using the correct tools, you can make sure that you adapt to new changes seamlessly.

In our Guide to Change Management Tools, we discuss change management techniques that you can use to plan ahead for the changes in your organization.

Add to the List of Business Analysis Models

Whether planning a project, developing strategies, or improving business processes, you can use the business analysis models in this list, for quick solutions.  These are just a few business analysis techniques from those that are out there.

What other business analysis models do you use in your organization? Do add them in the comment section below so we can expand this list.

Whether it’s a multinational corporation or startup, risks cannot be avoided. It’s a part of any new or routine endeavor.

The best way to reduce the negative impact risks may have on your business is to incorporate risk management techniques into your business structure.

In this post, we will discuss visual risk management techniques that you can use during each stage of your risk management strategy.

What is Risk Management?

Risk management is a process in which risks are identified and controlled proactively. It allows businesses to improve their chances of success by minimizing threats and maximizing opportunities.

Risk management is essential to a business as it helps prevent financial losses and increase revenue.  Other benefits of risk management include,

• Help to identify projects that might be headed toward trouble and apply solutions
• Help to prepare for unexpected threats beforehand
• Help to provide enough data to make better decisions regarding projects/ events
• Help to improve communication between stakeholders and project teams
• Help teams stay more focused on the key outcomes

Key stages of a risk management process are identifying risks, analyzing risks and planning to mitigate risks. These are detailed below along with risk management techniques you can use.

Identify Risks

The risk management process begins with identifying risks in advance once you have set the goal. Identifying risks should be done early in a project and shouldn’t be done in the middle of or during a project, as it may be too late.

Identifying risks can be done in 2 ways

• By identifying root causes and the impact they may have
• By identifying the essential functions the company must perform to reach a goal and identifying how they can fail

The following visual risk management methods can be used to identify risks beforehand.

1. Decision Tree Diagram

Decision trees are used to make decisions when you are faced with multiple options. It allows you to assess the values of outcomes and possibilities of achieving them. This, in turn, helps make a better decision.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify decisions and create a decision tree diagram based on decisions, costs, and rewards of uncertain options available to you.

Step 2: Figure out the probability of a risk occurring and assign it

Step 3: In this step you have to identify the monetary value of the risk, or in other words how much it would cost you if the risk is to occur

Step 4: Calculate the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) of each decision path by multiplying probability and impact

2. Influence Diagram

An influence diagram is used to represent the summary of information of a decision tree. It shows variables that are known and unknown when making a decision and the relationships that exist among them.

Rectangles indicate decisions, ovals represent uncertainties and values or the required outputs are indicated by diamonds. The influence each variable have on the other is represented by arrows.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the decisions to be made to reach your objective

Step 2: Consider the risks and performance factors that may have an influence on achieving your objective.

Step 3: Recognize secondary factors that affect uncertainty associated with the performance factors.

Step 4: Identify second-order risk factors that can influence secondary factors.

Step 5: Continue to figure out what factors influence uncertainty until all key risks are identified.

3. SWOT analysis

Whether you are planning a new project or developing a new process, a SWOT analysis can help you get insight into any risks that may occur. It helps you identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities associated with the event.

How to use it

To learn how to use a SWOT analysis refer to our article SWOT Analysis: What, Why and How to Use Them Effectively.

4. Fishbone Diagram

Also known as the Ishikawa diagram and the cause and effect diagram, the fishbone diagram is used to break apart a problem and identify the root causes behind it. It works backward as it helps identify the causes of a certain effect.

How to use it

Our Ultimate Guide to Fishbone Diagrams covers how to use a fishbone diagram in depth.

5. Process Maps

Process maps help visualize the major steps and relationships between them in a process. By having the people who actually perform it outline the process using a process map, you can check for its accuracy. This also helps identify bottlenecks and blockers in advance.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the team you need to map – whether its a new process or a process being redesigned

Step 2: Bring together everyone who is involved in performing/ developing the process and brainstorm all information related to the process, such as inputs, outputs etc.

Step 3: Take the steps you identified and put them in a sequential order

Step 4: Draw a map that shows the current state of the process

Step 5: Identify the bottlenecks and flaws in your process

Check out The Easy Guide to Process Mapping to learn about what process maps are, process map symbols, types of process maps, etc.

Analyze the Identified Risk

Once you have identified the risks, the next step is to assess the risks to see what kind of an impact they have on your business and current projects. By correctly analyzing the risks, you will be able to prioritize as to which risk has the highest impact on your business.

Analyzing risks can be done in two ways

• Qualitative risk analysis  –  here the risks are analyzed based on the likelihood of them occurring and the impact they may have on projects, business etc.
• Quantitative risk analysis – quantifies the possible outcomes and evaluate the probability of achieving objects

Following are a few risk management methods you can use to help during the analysis phase of the risk management process.

1. Risk Probability and Impact Matrix

This is a tool that can be used to do a qualitative risk assessment. It helps to evaluate the relative impact (high or low) of a risk and the probability of its occurrence (high or low).

How to use it

According to the risk probability and impact matrix, there are two dimensions to risks

1. Probability- The probability of a risk occurring can range from 0% to below 100%, therefore it is an event that may occur.
2. Impact – A risk always has a negative impact

In the risk probability and impact matrix, you can rate potential risks based on these two dimensions. Based on where the risk is placed on the matrix, you can prioritize it as

• Low impact – low probability
• Low impact – high probability
• High impact – low probability
• High impact – high probability

While the risks on the bottom left corner can often be disregarded, the risks placed on the top right corner should be given top priority.

2. Pareto Chart

Pareto diagrams are a great way to identify which problems should be prioritized based on the cumulative effect it has on a system. While the length of the bars represents the frequency or cost (time or money), the bars are arranged with the longest bars to the right and shortest bars to the right. This way it depicts which situation is the most significant.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the categories you want to use to group the items, and the measurements (i.e. frequency, cost, time etc.)

Step 2: Decide the period of time (an hour, week or day etc.) you want the Pareto chart to cover

Step 3: Collect the data along with the category and subtotal the measurements for each category

Step 4: Determine the right scale for the measurements and mark the scale on the left side of the chart

Step 5: Label bars for each category, placing the tallest at the far left

Step 6: Calculate the percentage for each category

Step 7: Calculate and draw cumulative sums

3. Fault Tree Analysis

The fault tree analysis helps to identify the probabilities of various outcomes from given faults and failures. The fault tree analysis helps to identify the likelihood of an event occurring by visualizing a certain event at a top and the conditions causing that event.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the fault/ failure that should be analyzed

Step 2: List down the immediate or direct causes of the fault. Thoroughly examine each step until the root causes are analyzed

Step 3: Once you apply the data to the fault tree, use it to do the evaluation

Planning to Avoid Future Risks

In the planning phase of the risk management cycle, you need to pay attention to mitigating risks by finding solutions and controlling them.  Starting from the risks that have the most severe impact on your projects or organization, find out how to minimize their effect.

1. Futures wheel diagram

Futures wheel is a tool that you can use to identify direct and indirect results of a certain trend, event or decision.

How to use it

Step 1: Identify the change. This could be a problem or a potential risk.

Step 2: Brainstorm possible consequences of the trend.

Step 3: Brainstorm the secondary or “second-order” consequences related to the “first-order” consequences you identified earlier. You can continue to expand the diagram by adding several layers.

Step 4: Once the futures wheel is complete you can get an overview of the direct and indirect consequences of the change you want to implement.

Step 5: Take the negative consequences and identify possible actions you can take to control them.

2. Process Decision Program Chart

The process decision program chart (PDPC) help you look into what might go wrong in a plan that is under development. You can use the chart to alter your plan in order to prevent the problem from occurring and to prepare a contingency plan to mitigate the risk.

How to use it

Step 1: Create a tree diagram of the plan, listing the objectives, main activities and the tasks that should be completed under each activity.

Step 2: Take the tasks on the third level and brainstorm what could go wrong

Step 3: If the consequences of the problems identified earlier are insignificant leave them out. Add the significant problems related to each task on the tree diagram as a fourth level.

Step 4: Come up with countermeasures for each problem, and add them as a fifth level to the diagram

Step 5: Consider how practical each countermeasure is in terms of time, resources, cost etc. You can use an X to mark the impractical solution and an O to mark those that are practical.

Refer to this article on PDPC to learn more about the tool.

3. Risk-Reward Analysis

Risk reward analysis is a tool you can use to evaluate the risk and reward profile of different options.

How to use it

Step 1: List down the options and possible risks related to them

Step 2: Plot the risks and rewards on the risk-reward analysis chart

Step 3: While some options may have a positive risk-reward profile, take time to see whether you should spend time on mitigating risks of other options as well.

Step 4: Compare each option against one another to identify the best option for you

Add to the List of Visual Risk Management Techniques

The risk management techniques we’ve discusses above will help you identify, analyze and control risks that may occur during your projects or the development of new business processes.

Do you know of any other visual techniques that can be used to manage risks? Let us know in the comment section below.

A large part of maximizing your legal team’s productivity, reducing unnecessary costs and meeting the needs of your clients is based on how smooth and simple your processes are. If you have the correct tools, improving your legal processes for better results will be quicker.

Of the many possibilities of applying visualizations, we’ve chosen to focus on three main ways you can use visualization in your law firm; to inform and educate your clients, to optimize your internal processes and to prepare for litigation. Following we’ve listed a few visual techniques that you can use in each of these areas.

Explaining Processes to Your Clients

When it comes to explaining, showing really does more justice than describing, especially to a client who might be agitated or in distress.

Flowcharts/ Process Maps to Outline Legal Processes

When a client first engages a law firm for a case, they may expect a straightforward process to get to a judgment. However, there might be quite a few steps you need your client to be aware of. A flowchart that lists down the steps of the trial process can help you prepare your client for what’s to expect rather easily.

Accident Reconstruction Diagrams

A great way to revisit how a traffic crash occurred with your client is through an accident reconstruction diagram. While they help identify causes behind a collision, it’s the best way to clearly document your client’s claim.

A few tips you need to remember when drawing an accident reconstruction diagram are

• Add all the traffic signals and the speed limits
• Mention the street names
• Add text boxes and explain the reactive actions of the involved drivers

Flowcharts for Estate Planning

Another scenario that is quite confusing when defined in a legal contract as text is estate planning and wills. Your client may have several estate planning options. Wouldn’t it be easier, if you can just show him/ her they are with the use of a flowchart like the one below?

An estate planning flowchart would basically explain who will receive your client’s properties after they die and when they will receive it. It will give them a quick overview of what can happen and help them come up with a carefully considered plan.

Optimizing Internal Processes

Improving your internal processes is key to delivering high-quality work and remaining profitable. Visualization techniques are a great way to analyze what’s actually slowing down your progress and identify areas for improvement.

Process Maps to Outline Legal Procedures

The field of law is home to many processes that are both simple and complex. If there’s a quick overview or a synopsis of the process steps, it can help anyone who wants to refer to it. The ideal tool for the job is a Flowchart or process map.

Not only that of legal procedures, but you can use process maps to map out the internal processes in your law firm. It’s a great way to identify bottlenecks and blockers that may be slowing down your productivity and come up with a process improvement plan.

Diagrams to Highlight Duties of Assistants/ Paralegals

Each individual in your legal team has a duty to do and how efficient they are in performing that will have a significant impact on the success of your law firm. An effective way to make sure that everyone’s on the right path is to get them to track their work using a diagram that lists their duties like the one below.

Tip: You can use it as a guide to train new assistants and help them get hold of the internal processes. Along with it, you can hand them an org chart of your law firm that visualizes the reporting structure and the hierarchy among the employees.

Preparing for a Court Hearing or Trial

As a lawyer, there’s much to do when it comes to preparing for a court trial. From sketches, outlines of your key delivery to evidence preparation. And diagrams can help you do this efficiently.

Mind Maps to Do Research

It’s important that you have a greater understanding of the case than your opponents – if you are planning to win, that should be the case. Mind maps are an effective research tool that helps you organize information. And you can use one to help prepare yourself for the case. Some of the information you can gather with a mind map

• Who will be the key witnesses?
• What point will the opposing counsel make with each witness?
• What points should I make with each of these witnesses?

Mind Maps to Organize Your Evidence

The evidence you present during the trial will include all sorts of documents, witnesses, and their dispositions, as well as the witnesses who are likely to be presented by the other side. Using a mind map, you can list them down – use the mind map below as your evidence checklist.

Add More Legal Process Improvement Techniques to the List

We’ve covered how you can go about legal process improvement using diagrams like flowcharts and mind maps. Adding them in your briefs or using them to assist you when explaining your processes to clients will both streamline your work and save you time.

We’d like to hear from you about the various other ways you improve legal processes in your law firm. Contribute to our list by sharing your tips in the comment section below.

Also, don’t forget to check out our latest post on sales process improvement. If you are targeting to double your sales before the end of this year, these techniques can help you get there faster.

To understand what can go wrong with process maps, first, you need to know why they’re beneficial.

A process map exists to show how a certain task is completed. It is like a checklist, except allows for some contingencies to happen.

For instance, an employee might arrive at step 3, and depending on the outcome of that step, may need to choose between steps 4a or 4b. This is one of the primary advantages of laying out your systems in this manner.

Now that you know why they are so valuable to your organization, you’re ready to delve into the common process mapping mistakes operations people tend to make when creating them.

1. Making Process Maps Too Complex

It’s nice to know that a process map isn’t linear like a checklist is.

But all too often, the person responsible for drawing a process map gets carried away accounting for every contingency that could happen. Inevitably, they end up with a map that’s confusing and overly complicated for the end user.

A simple way to avoid this tragic mistake is to be more granular. Instead of cramming it all into one map, why not create several maps for the same task?

If there are that many possibilities that need to be accounted for, then it must be a complex task, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to create several maps covering the full spectrum of steps necessary to bring the task to completion.

2. Never Updating Your Process Maps

Systems should be living, breathing documents that are continually updated. What’s most efficient today may be inefficient tomorrow. What’s legal today may not be up to standards tomorrow. The use of a specific tool or app can also weigh heavily into how a task is handled.

Process maps often don’t get updated because:

• No one is responsible for updating them and keeping them current.
• No time or resources were set aside to update the maps periodically.
• They’re too complex and hard to understand (also see the first point).
• No reminders were put into place to review the maps and update them.

The solution, then, is to do the opposite. Find someone (or hire someone) to manage and oversee the process maps. Dedicate some time to regular review and put reminders in place (i.e. in your calendar app) to ensure the process maps are reviewed as necessary. Keep your process maps as simple as possible.

3. Trying to Create Them Too Quickly

Systems may not be the most exciting aspect of running and building a business. And yet, those who understand their power and value tend to get a little excited about creating them.

But whether it’s because of the dread of having to create the process maps, or because of the initial excitement of creating systems for your business, going too fast can be a problem.

Inevitably, you end up missing steps or fail to provide sufficient information to the end user.

Instead of rushing the process, allow yourself some time to develop the process maps. Get a second and third pair of eyes on them. Test them out with your employees and get their feedback. Finalize your process maps after you’ve gone through these steps.

4. Not Using Standardized Notation

This can go hand in hand with mistake number three. You may not have a standardized way of notating your process maps across the board. This will certainly create confusion, especially if the same employees are utilizing various process maps that all look different.

The text, the shapes (i.e. boxes, ovals, diamonds, etc.), the specific language used in each document – if these things are not consistent, they can end up confusing your workers and can even result in costly mistakes.

So, decide on conventions early and refer to them as you’re creating your process maps. If one person is responsible, then ensure they have their notation document at their side always. If multiple people are creating and managing process maps, then ensure the style guide is shared, and easy to find (i.e. with the use of Dropbox or Google Drive).

5. Being Too Specific or Not Specific Enough

Process maps aren’t meant to be encyclopedia entries. Conversely, saying too little could end up confusing the person responsible for using the process map and completing a specific task.

Words like “Start” and “End” are obvious and don’t necessarily require explanation. You might want to consider if they even need to be present in your documents. If they add clarity, leave them. If not, then consider removing them.

Phrases like “move die into position” could be vague, and insufficient in explaining what should happen next. If you are planning to provide supplementary documents, this is fine, but otherwise, you might consider being more specific.

The best way to avoid this mistake is by getting regular feedback from those who are utilizing your process maps. You can then adjust based on what they’ve told you and fine-tune your maps until they’re solid.

What Other Process Mapping Mistakes Do You Know Of?

Process maps are incredibly valuable tools that can help you put your business on autopilot and help your employees carry out their work more efficiently.

But the time and effort required to create working process maps should not be underestimated. You may need to sit with certain maps for several weeks until they are ready for use by your employees. There’s no need to rush the process, so take your time and get it right. It will be worth the effort.

Author Bio:

Eric Czerwonka is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Buddy Punch, an employee time tracking software company founded in 2013 that provides employee management solutions for any small and large companies alike – anyone with employees from startups right to corporations and anyone with a remote team to manage.

In the future, Eric hopes to continue to fit each problem with the correct solution through the use of technology as well as innovation. Eric also holds a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.