Visual Process Mapping for Inspiration Software^® Features

Overview
Inspiration is the premier tool for graphic thinking and organizing ideas, so it was inevitable that it would be applied to the visual mapping of work. Visual Process Mapping with Inspiration shows how to use Inspiration to capture, annotate, analyze, and communicate work process maps. It supports the basic strategies for mapping that would normally be found only in tools costing hundreds or thousands more! Inspiration's ease of use makes it accessible to a much broader range of workers than more complicated tools that require weeks of training.

Regardless of your level of proficiency, you will find the explanations and examples in this eBook as invaluable tools to begin your process mapping. You will quickly notice yourself returning again and again with a greater insight and appreciation for the benefits that mapping provides, such as efficiency, productivity, and profits.

Basic conceptual understandings explained
What's a process? Are there different types of work processes? How should process improvement be tailored to different organizational cultures? The answers to these questions define the context for a successful process improvement effort.

How to select the right process improvement target
A typical organization could have dozens or hundreds of work processes. The first step is to select the right improvement target that will have the greatest strategic value for the company.

Two options for mapping work
There are two approaches for mapping. The first is the easiest to apply. It is easily understood and applied by the broadest range of workers. The second drives a deeper reflection on the purpose and structure of any work activity. Depending on the reason for your improvement questions, one approach or the other will provide the greatest and quickest returns on your effort.

Step-by-step instructions with examples
Real life examples are provided along with the conceptual explanations. Some examples are literally "built right before your eyes", with notations about the questions and issues that framed each step in the flow of building the map.

Detailed examples for all concepts
Examples from a wide range of actual clients make the concepts in Visual Process Mapping come alive! See how the tools and concepts appear in for-profit firms and public sector agencies.

How to analyze a map to find process improvement opportunities
Creating a map is not an end in itself, but merely a tool for focused thought on how to work faster, smarter, and better. The criteria for a successful process provide the reference points for working smarter.

The critical role of the process owner
Most processes start to erode immediately after they've been redesigned! The Process Owner is the new organizational role required to secure the performance gains from a process improvement effort.

"This comprehensive program, which is delivered on CD-ROM, provides a rich set of resources to help newcomers to understand the basics of process management, strategies for mapping business processes in Inspiration, and how you can improve a process once you have created an initial map of it….

The book is presented as a series of linked Inspiration maps and outlines (the medium is the message!), and offers numerous examples of the different types and applications of process maps. I found Jerry’s instructions and explanations to be concise, informative and clearly written. He also is very proficient at making Inspiration sit, beg and roll over – I didn’t realize the program could be used to present this much information, with such clarity. Bravo!"

- Chuck Frey, Innovation Tools