Process Mapping Workshop Toolkit

What is in the toolkit

Prepare, capture and validate a small current-state process before proposing a change.

Facilitators, business analysts and small teams exploring how work currently happens.

The coordinated pack contains three original RDE tools, blank working forms and a fictional worked example. Allow 45–60 minutes for a first practice pass; real work may require further discussion.

Use the pack in sequence

1. Define a narrow start and end point. Invite people who perform and receive the work.
2. Complete the workshop brief and gather a real, suitably anonymised example.
3. Capture the actual steps and handovers with observation IDs. Separate observed facts from assumptions.
4. Validate the map with participants and select one question to investigate rather than redesigning everything.

Preview the three tools

Workshop brief

Keep the scope small enough to discuss using a real example. State whose perspective may be missing.

Fields include: Workshop ID and process name; Start trigger and end result; Included work and excluded work; Participants and their process roles; Example record and permission to discuss; Questions, preparation and session timing.

Step and handover capture

Use S01, S02 and similar step IDs. Record exceptions where they occur instead of hiding them in a note at the end.

Fields include: Step ID and preceding step; Person or role performing the step; Input, action and output; Next recipient and handover channel; Waiting, exception or rework observed; Evidence or assumption label and source.

Validation and investigation plan

Read the sequence back to people who do the work. Record disagreements and evidence needed to resolve them.

Fields include: Workshop ID and map version; Steps confirmed and by whom; Missing steps or disputed sequence; Question to investigate and linked step IDs; Evidence to collect, owner and date; Validation result and next review.

Worked example

W01 maps a fictional course enquiry from receipt to reply. S02 is checking available places; S03 is sending a reply. One participant assumes checks happen immediately, while another describes a daily batch. The capture sheet labels the timing as disputed. The validation plan asks the administrator to observe five practice enquiries and record when S02 starts. The team postpones a software recommendation until the current sequence is understood.

Check your learning

Can another participant follow the boundaries, step IDs, handovers and unresolved questions without your explanation?

Before sharing the pack

Keep IDs consistent between tools, separate facts from assumptions and assign open actions. Remove confidential information and credentials before sharing. Save a dated version so a reviewer can follow later changes.

The toolkit supports a workshop and an evidence record. It does not establish a measured improvement or a Lean Six Sigma certification.

Choose your file

Use Word to type into the forms and duplicate pages for additional records. Use PDF for printing or reading. The PDF is not an interactive form. Both versions contain the same five-page toolkit, including the worked example. Version 1.0, 8 October 2026.

Cover image: AI-generated illustrative scene created specifically for this resource.

Download and use the toolkit

Download the complete toolkit (printable PDF)

Download the complete toolkit (editable Word DOCX)

Coordinated toolkit files in the formats shown. Version 1.0, 8 October 2026. Personal and internal organisational adaptation permitted with Jefferson Otonbara Imgbi author credit retained.