The five process map symbols
A small plain set taken from common flowchart shapes. The word on the note carries the meaning, so nothing depends on colour or shape. It is not BPMN or any full notation.
| Symbol | Write on the note | Draw it as | Use it for | Example from the enrolment map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start or end | START or END | Rounded box | The trigger that starts the case, and the result that ends it. One of each. | START: the employee fills in the request form. END: the trainer checks the list. |
| Step | STEP | Rectangle | One action by one role. Write a verb and an object. | Re-key the request into the booking log. |
| Decision | DECIDE | Diamond: a square note turned on its corner | A yes or no question. Draw both paths and say where each goes. | Cost code given and a seat free? No: back to the line manager. |
| Wait | WAIT | A note with WAIT and a number of hours, placed before the step | Time when nothing happens to the case. Write working hours, or est. | WAIT 24 h: the request sits in the manager’s inbox. |
| Hand-off | An arrow | An arrow that crosses a lane line | The case moves to another role. Write on the arrow what is passed on, and how. | Approved form, by email, to the coordinator. |
Six rules for an as-is map
Read the rules aloud in the opening and keep them on the wall.
| Rule | Words to say when it is broken |
|---|---|
| 1. Map what happens now | “Is that what happened in our case, or what the procedure says should happen?” |
| 2. Follow one real case | “Let’s stay with the request from 5 October. What happened to it next?” |
| 3. One step, one role, one verb | “Who does that? What do they do: check, send, approve?” |
| 4. Numbers, or est. | “Roughly how long? Write est. if you are not sure. A guess marked est. is useful.” |
| 5. Pain points name a step, not a person | “At which step does that happen? Write what happens, not who.” |
| 6. No fixing yet | “Good idea. It goes on the parking list. We look at checks once the map is complete.” |
Filled example: swimlane map
The fictional enrolment case by lane. The learning coordinator holds five of the ten steps and 28 of the 76 hours of waiting; the longest single wait, 24 hours, is before the line manager’s decision.
| Lane | Steps | Number of steps | Work (min) | Wait before (h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | 1, 8 | 2 | 22 | 8 |
| Line manager | 2 | 1 | 10 | 24 |
| Learning coordinator | 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 | 5 | 38 | 28 |
| Finance team | 5 | 1 | 5 | 16 |
| Trainer | 10 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
Filled example: step list
Ten steps, two decisions, seven hand-offs. Work 90 minutes, wait 76 working hours, elapsed 77.5 working hours (9.7 working days), 98.1% of it waiting. Times are from one fictional case.
| # | Lane | Type | Step: verb and object | Work (min) | Wait before (h) | Hand-off in | Pain point | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employee | Start | Fill in the course request form | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Line manager | Decision | Approve the request? No: back to the employee with a reason | 10 | 24 | Yes | P1 | 6 |
| 3 | Learning coordinator | Step | Re-key the request into the booking log | 10 | 8 | Yes | P2 | 3 |
| 4 | Learning coordinator | Decision | Cost code given and a seat free? No: back to the line manager | 5 | 0 | P5 | 3 | |
| 5 | Finance team | Step | Approve the charge to the cost code | 5 | 16 | Yes | P3 | 5 |
| 6 | Learning coordinator | Step | Book the seat and update the booking log | 10 | 4 | Yes | ||
| 7 | Learning coordinator | Step | Send the joining instructions and calendar invite | 8 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Employee | Step | Accept the calendar invite | 2 | 8 | Yes | ||
| 9 | Learning coordinator | Step | Send the attendee list to the trainer | 5 | 16 | Yes | P4 | 4 |
| 10 | Trainer | End | Check the attendee list and the entry needs | 15 | 0 | Yes |
Filled example: totals
Working hours of an eight-hour day. One case shows where to look; it is not an average.
| Measure | Value | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Steps on the main path | 10 | Count of the rows in the step list |
| Decisions | 2 | Steps 2 and 4 |
| Lanes | 5 | Employee, line manager, learning coordinator, finance team, trainer |
| Hand-offs | 7 | Each time the next step sits in a different lane |
| Work time | 90 minutes (1.5 hours) | Sum of the work column |
| Wait time | 76 working hours | Sum of the wait column |
| Elapsed time, start to end | 77.5 working hours | Work in hours plus wait |
| Elapsed in working days | 9.7 | 77.5 divided by 8 working hours a day |
| Share of elapsed time spent waiting | 98.1% | 76 divided by 77.5 |
| Longest single wait | 24 hours, before step 2 | The request in the line manager’s inbox |
| Votes cast | 21 | Seven people with three votes each |
Filled example: pain points and next checks
Seven people cast 21 votes. The top three get a next check with an owner and a date; the rest are parked. As at Tuesday 10 November 2026 the dates are 10, 15 and 24 days away.
| P# | At step | What happens (not who) | Votes | Next check or small try | Owner | By when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 2 | Requests wait in the manager’s inbox. Nothing reminds anyone. | 6 | Count how long the last 20 requests waited for approval, from the dates in the booking log. | Learning coordinator | Fri 20 Nov |
| P3 | 5 | Finance checks cost codes once a week, on Thursdays. | 5 | Ask the finance lead whether a team’s code can be approved once for the year. | Finance assistant | Wed 25 Nov |
| P4 | 9 | The trainer gets the list on the Monday before the course, too late to check entry needs. | 4 | For the next two courses, send each booking to the trainer the day it is made. | Learning coordinator | Fri 4 Dec |
| P2 | 3 | The coordinator types the form again. Names get misspelt. | 3 | Parked for the review. | ||
| P5 | 4 | About one request in four comes back for a wrong cost code (est.). | 3 | Parked for the review. |
What you'll leave with
By the end of 120 minutes the group has an as-is swimlane map of one real case with decisions and hand-offs marked, work and wait time per step and in total, the share of time spent waiting, pain points ranked by vote and three next checks with an owner and a date.
Before the session
- For trainers and team leads who map one work process with the 5–10 adults who each do part of it. As-is only: no redesign.
- A week before, fill in the scope sheet with the sponsor and choose one real case from the last month. Invite one person per lane and ask them to bring the dates they have: emails, form entries, log lines.
- In a room: a wall or long table with lanes marked by tape, sticky notes, pens, the symbol cards and the swimlane sheet at A3. Online: a shared board, or the workbook on screen.
- Send the scope sheet, symbols and rules as plain text a day early. Each note carries a word, not a colour. Work seated; anyone may write instead of speak, or pass.
The run of show
Open, scope and rules
Four minutes: read the scope sheet aloud. Say: “Today we map how one process really works now, from this first step to this last step, by following one real case. We will not redesign it today. We leave with the map, the times and three things to check.” Four minutes: read the six rules and ask for questions. Two minutes: say how people can take part: aloud, on a sticky note, in the chat or by passing. Name the person who decides the next checks.
Symbols and lanes
Three minutes: show the five symbol cards and fix one of each to the wall as the legend. Say: “Every note gets a word at the top: START, END, STEP, DECIDE or WAIT. The word matters, not the colour or the shape.” Three minutes: name one lane per role on the scope sheet, top to bottom in the order the case first reaches them, and write each lane name at the left edge. Two minutes: place the START note and the END note at the two ends of the wall.
Silent writing: my steps in the case
Two minutes: say: “Write each thing you did for this case on its own note: a verb and an object, like ‘Re-key the request’. Write STEP or DECIDE at the top. One note per action.” Eight minutes of silence: each person writes the steps of their own lane and places them roughly in their lane. Two minutes: each person counts their notes and checks that every note starts with a verb.
Build the main path
Fifteen minutes: walk the case from START. Ask: “What happened next, and who did it?” Move each note into order from left to right. Where two notes say the same thing, keep one. Where nobody knows, add a note with a question mark and a name to check. Five minutes: for each DECIDE note, ask: “What happens on No?” Write the No path in a few words on the note or under it. Five minutes: draw an arrow each time the case crosses into another lane, and write on it what is passed on and how: a form, an email, a system entry.
Break
Ten minutes away from the wall or the screen. The facilitator numbers the steps 1, 2, 3 along the main path and copies them into the step list.
Walk the map aloud
Ten minutes: one person per lane reads their steps aloud in order, as the case reaches them. A checker reads the map check sheet and marks each line Yes or Fix. Ask after each lane: “Is that what happened, or what should happen?” Correct the notes as you go. Two minutes: read out any line marked Fix and agree who corrects it now.
Work time and wait time
One minute: say: “Work time is the time someone spends on the step. Wait time is the time the case sits before the step starts. We count both in working hours of an eight-hour day. Use the dates you brought. If you are not sure, write est.” Eight minutes: each lane writes the work minutes on each of its notes and puts a WAIT note with hours before each step that waited. Four minutes: the facilitator types the numbers into the step list, or adds them up on paper. Two minutes: read out the totals: work time, wait time, elapsed time and the share spent waiting. Say: “These numbers describe one case. They show where to look, not how every case goes.”
Pain points and votes
Five minutes of silent writing: each person writes pain points on notes, one per note, and places each one at the step where it happens. Say: “Write what happens, not who does it.” Number the notes P1, P2 and so on, and read them out, merging the ones that say the same. Five minutes: each person has three votes for three different pain points: marks on the notes, a slip to the facilitator or a message in the chat. The facilitator does not vote. Five minutes: count the votes, write the totals on the pain-point sheet and read out the top three.
Top three: what to check next
Eight minutes: for each of the top three pain points, ask: “What do we know, and what would we need to check before we change anything?” Write one next check or one small try, an owner who says yes aloud or in writing, and a date. The decider confirms each one. Two minutes: name the date of the review and move the other pain points to the parking list for it.
Read back and close
Two minutes: read back the totals, the top three pain points and the next checks with owners and dates. Say who will type up the map, and by when. One minute: each person says or writes one sentence about something in the process they did not know before today, or passes.
Participant worksheet
Copy this table into a document, or print the worksheet from the bundle. Share only what you choose.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scope sheet | The process, the trigger, the first and last step, the one case you follow and the lanes |
| Symbol cards | START or END, STEP, DECIDE, WAIT and the hand-off arrow, with a rule on each card |
| Swimlane sheet | One lane per role, steps from left to right, with a row for wait time and pain points |
| Step list | Lane, type, step, work minutes, wait hours, hand-off, pain point and votes |
| Pain points and next checks | What happens at which step, votes, one next check, owner and date |
| Map check | Eight checks a checker marks Yes or Fix while each lane is read aloud |
Debrief questions
- Which step or wait surprised the person who does the step before or after it?
- Where did the map differ from what the procedure says, and who would need to know?
- Which hand-off carries the most risk of something being lost, and what is passed on there?
- Whose view is missing from this map, and how will we check the steps in their lane?
Adapt it for your group
- For five people, one person per lane, the facilitator places the notes during the main path and the group skips the merging of duplicate notes. Keep three votes each.
- For a 90-minute version, collect each person’s steps in writing the day before and place them on the wall in advance. Cut the silent writing, shorten the main path to 18 minutes and the break to 5, and take the top two pain points only.
- Online, use a shared board with five drawn lanes, or the step list in the workbook, which builds the swimlane view by itself. People type their steps in the chat or the document, votes go to the facilitator as three P-numbers in the chat, and cameras are optional.
- For quiet participants and people who use a screen reader, send the scope sheet and the step list as plain text a day early and accept steps in writing. Read every note aloud with its number and lane. The whole map can be built seated at a table on A3 sheets, and anyone may pass.
- If the people disagree about what happens, map the case you chose first, then mark the other version as a branch with “sometimes” and a name to check. If the process is large, map 10 to 15 steps at this level and give one busy step its own session.
After the session
Type up the map and the step list within two working days and send them to everyone in the room for corrections. Each owner reports the result of their check in writing before the review. At the review, look at the checks and the parked pain points, and decide which changes to try, with the problem-solving activities kit when a pain point needs a cause and a small test. When the process is agreed, write the steps people need at their desk with the job aid template. Map the process again after a change, with a new real case.
Questions people ask
What should a process mapping template include?
A scope with a clear first and last step, one lane per role, the steps in order with a verb and an object, the decisions with both paths, the hand-offs between lanes and the time each step takes. A template for improvement also needs the wait before each step and the pain points. This kit has a sheet for each, plus a step list that adds up the times.
What symbols do I need? Is this BPMN?
Five are enough for an as-is map: start or end, step, decision, wait and the hand-off arrow. They are a plain subset of common flowchart shapes, and each note carries a word for its type. This kit does not use BPMN or any full notation; if your organisation needs one, redraw the agreed map in it afterwards.
How is this different from the problem-solving activities kit?
This kit maps a whole process as it works now and finds where the time and the trouble are. The problem-solving activities kit starts from one known problem and works through facts, causes, options and a test. Use this map first when nobody can see the whole process; then take its top pain point into the problem-solving workshop.
How do we measure wait time when nobody knows it?
Follow one real, recent case and use the dates people already have: emails, form entries and log lines. Count working hours of an eight-hour day. Where there is no date, write an estimate marked est. and name who can check it. The result describes that one case; to know how often a wait happens, count it across more cases afterwards.
Can we design the new process in the same session?
Not in two hours, and not well before the facts are checked. This session ends with an agreed as-is map and three next checks. Redesign is a second session once the checks are back. Swimlane maps are often traced to the cross-functional maps in Geary Rummler and Alan Brache’s Improving Performance (1990); the sheets and wording here are written for this kit.
What is included in the free and editable files?
The open PDF has the scope sheet, the map check, the symbol cards, the swimlane sheet, the step list, the pain-point sheet, filled examples of the scope sheet, swimlane map, step list and pain points, and the 120-minute facilitator script. Subscribers also receive the editable Word file, an Excel workbook with a step list that totals work and wait time, counts hand-offs and ranks votes, a swimlane view that builds itself, a next-checks log and a filled example of each, and a CSV of the workshop plan.
How to use the files
Print the PDF, edit the Word file in Word or Google Docs, or open the CSV or XLSX in a spreadsheet. Open files need no email.
Can I use this with paying clients?
Yes. Use and adapt this original Superglue kit in your own training, including paid client sessions. Please share this page rather than redistributing the unmodified kit. Read the full usage terms.