Mastering ISO 9001: How to create effective process maps

For many companies, achieving ISO 9001 certification is a significant milestone. It demonstrates a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. An important part of ISO 9001 compliance is process-based management, which requires clear and comprehensive process mapping. In this post, we'll explore the art of creating effective process maps that not only meet the ISO 9001 standard, but also give employees a clear overview of your business operations.

Why Process Mapping is important: Before we dive into the details of process mapping, let's understand why it's important. Unlike traditional organizational charts, process maps show how your company operates as a dynamic system, showing the connection between customers, products and workflows. ISO 9001 places special emphasis on identifying and managing processes to meet customer expectations, making process mapping not just a recommendation, but a necessity for ISO certification.

Process categories: Process mapping usually divides processes into three groups: Core Processes, Support Processes and Management Processes.

1. Core processes: Core processes are the heart of your business. They are about meeting your customers' needs and ensuring their satisfaction. These processes generate direct revenue and involve the development and delivery of your products or services.

2. Support processes: Support processes exist to help the core processes. Even if they don't directly create value, they use resources to support the main functions. Examples include billing, IT support and HR.

3. Management processes: Management processes are responsible for setting strategic directions. Sometimes it can be challenging to distinguish between support and core processes. A thorough assessment is important to classify them correctly.

Process mapping in practice: Let's explore how you can create effective process maps. One methodology that has proven successful, especially in our work at 4human QM365, involves bringing together knowledgeable people from different parts of your organization.

Silent brainstorming:

Gather a diverse group of employees.

Ask the question: "What's happening in our business?"

Each participant writes key words on post-it notes in silence for about 10 minutes.

Place the notes on the wall: Place all the post-it notes on a wall or a whiteboard.

Silent sorting (Affinity method): Without discussion, group similar post-it notes together. Try to establish a natural order. Place the notes related to leadership at the top, support at the bottom, and core processes in the middle. Set aside 10-15 minutes for this step.

Label each group: Label each group of post-it notes using action verbs and nouns. For example, "remove paint" and "deliver quote" instead of "Paint removal" and "Quote delivery." This creates an active process map.

Building your process map: A well-formulated process map serves as the basis for a clear and understandable management system. Whatever specific standard you are implementing, thorough process mapping provides an excellent start. In our management system, this is made easy, with the possibility of customizing box size, color, icons and text. You can also use graphical elements such as arrows and lines to indicate connections between boxes.

Keep it simple: Although our software supports intricate process maps, we recommend keeping them as simple as possible. Remember, these maps should provide valuable information not only to certification bodies or quality managers, but perhaps most importantly, to every employee. For this reason, simplicity and clarity should be your guiding principles.

Additional benefits: Our software offers features such as sorting by job roles and responsibilities, so each user only sees the information that is relevant to them. It's also adaptable to larger organizations and departments, allowing shared processes to be included when necessary.

Need help with process mapping? If you need help with process mapping or need software to design and communicate your process maps effectively, you are welcome to contact us. Our experienced team can provide guidance on process mapping and help you implement a system that improves your organization's efficiency and quality.