How to map processes for implementation in Asana

16. 01. 2022 by Honza Pav

1 - Make a list of all processes in the company

Take a few people who know your company and brainstorm. Try to write down together - without any necessary structure - all the processes in your company.

Think of a process as a repeating series of activities with the same intention, goal or outcome.

For each process, write down whether it is a process:

key (or core, it creates the principal value of your organization), or supportive (supports critical processes). You may also find it helpful in the following steps to prioritize them by importance (low, medium, high priority). It isn't easy to map all the processes in the company at once, and you need to move towards a better structure, not just a map.

2 - Map the processes

You can repeat these steps for each process.

The more complex the process is, the longer the list of steps will be. Again, it's helpful to involve more people in the mapping and description - ideally, those working on the process (to identify overlooked steps, gaps, etc.).

How to do it

1. Describe the process: what is it for and who is responsible for it.
2. Make a list of all the steps in the process.
3. For each step, indicate the department and role of the person who should perform the action. Add this information even if you do not have a department (for example, a small company). Departments effectively separate different areas of activity in the company, such as product design, sales, distribution, or marketing.
4. Mark the steps in which a decision or approval takes place. These steps can indicate where you can break down the process into smaller parts.
5. Try to find the so-called sub-processes within the whole list of steps. How can you identify them? This may be work done in other processes, e.g., product listing in an e-store happens for new and existing products (if only something changes). It can be creating graphics - these are done both for new products and for recurring campaigns, for example.
6. In Asana, but from experience outside of it, it's nice to split larger processes into smaller ones. Asana's user interface is ready for more tasks, but you need to find the correct scale.

💡 For mapping, you can use this google spreadsheet (make a copy).

How to work with the table?

1. Map one process per sheet at a time.
2. If you need more processes, duplicate the sheet.
3. Work with the "status" of the process: pending, in process, finished, cancelled.
4. Use comments to communicate around each step. This will allow us to track what is done and what still needs to be addressed.