Flow mapping
Make inputs, outputs, approvals and exceptions visible.
Process optimisation
Map flows, clarify responsibilities and identify useful controls.
Discuss this subjectThe challenges to address
Delays and duplicate entry often arise at team handovers. Procedures may describe an ideal workflow while real exceptions remain invisible and unowned.
Our response
We examine the end-to-end journey with the people who perform it. Unnecessary steps, waiting time and controls are discussed before automation.
What the engagement can cover
Ownership and controls
Define who acts, who approves and which evidence is retained.
Improvement plan
Prioritise actions and select simple tracking indicators.
A team handover sheet
Example order–delivery–invoice workflow: each handover identifies the required input and check.
| Handover | Transferred information | Receiving team check |
|---|---|---|
| Sales → warehouse | Approved order and references | Availability and quantities |
| Warehouse → delivery | Picking record and delivery note | Items and destination |
| Delivery → finance | Delivery confirmation and exceptions | Invoice and evidence reconciled |
How the engagement works
Field observation, current-state mapping, cause analysis and future-state design. A Plan–Do–Check–Act cycle supports testing and adjustment.
Prepare an initial scope.
A few practical points to make scoping and acceptance clearer.
What you can prepare
- One bounded process, from the initial request to the outcome expected by its recipient.
- Anonymised examples of smooth, blocked and corrected cases.
- The people, approvals and documents actually used between teams.
What we need to agree together
- Which team handover concentrates waiting, returns or duplicate entry?
- Who can authorise an exception without removing necessary controls?
Walk through a normal case and an exception with the teams involved. Check that each handover defines required information, ownership and rejection handling; observe waiting before concluding that an improvement has occurred.