Understanding your current business processes is the foundation of any successful improvement initiative. An as-is process represents the existing state of operations within your organization, capturing how work actually gets done today rather than how it should be done. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the essential steps of documenting, analyzing, and leveraging your as-is process to drive meaningful organizational change.
What Is an As-Is Process?
An as-is process is a detailed documentation of your current operational workflow, capturing every step, decision point, handoff, and resource involved in completing a specific business function. Unlike theoretical or idealized processes, the as-is process reflects reality, including inefficiencies, bottlenecks, redundancies, and workarounds that employees have developed over time. You might also enjoy reading about How to Calculate and Use Dispersion Measures: A Complete Guide for Data Analysis.
Think of it as taking a snapshot of your organization’s operations at a specific moment. This documentation serves as your baseline for comparison when you later develop your to-be process, which represents your improved, optimized future state. You might also enjoy reading about How to Implement Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) in Your Organization: A Complete Guide.
Why Document Your As-Is Process?
Before attempting to improve any process, you must understand its current state thoroughly. Organizations that skip this crucial step often implement changes based on assumptions rather than facts, leading to wasted resources and failed improvement initiatives.
Documenting your as-is process provides several critical benefits:
- Reveals hidden inefficiencies and waste that may not be apparent in daily operations
- Establishes a measurable baseline for tracking improvement efforts
- Creates shared understanding among stakeholders about how work currently flows
- Identifies bottlenecks, redundancies, and non-value-added activities
- Highlights gaps between documented procedures and actual practice
- Provides training material for new employees
- Enables data-driven decision making for process improvement
Step-by-Step Guide to Documenting Your As-Is Process
Step 1: Define the Process Scope and Boundaries
Begin by clearly defining which process you will document. Identify the starting trigger and the end result. For example, if documenting a customer order fulfillment process, your scope might begin when a customer places an order and end when the customer receives the product and payment is confirmed.
Establish clear boundaries by answering these questions:
- What triggers the process to start?
- What signals the process is complete?
- Which departments or teams are involved?
- What are the key inputs and outputs?
- What will you intentionally exclude from this analysis?
Step 2: Assemble Your Documentation Team
Gather the people who actually perform the work daily. These subject matter experts possess invaluable insights about how processes truly operate, including informal workarounds and unwritten rules. Your team should include representatives from each functional area involved in the process.
For a comprehensive perspective, include:
- Frontline employees who execute the process tasks
- Supervisors who oversee the work
- Internal customers who receive the process outputs
- A process facilitator trained in documentation techniques
Step 3: Observe and Document Current Activities
The most accurate as-is documentation comes from direct observation combined with interviews. Watch the process unfold in real-time rather than relying solely on what people say happens. Often, actual practice differs significantly from perceived or documented procedures.
Record the following information for each process step:
- Activity name and description
- Who performs the activity (role or department)
- What systems or tools are used
- How long the activity takes (cycle time)
- What information or materials are needed (inputs)
- What is produced (outputs)
- Decision points and criteria
- Handoffs between people or departments
Step 4: Create Your As-Is Process Map
Visual representation transforms raw data into actionable insights. A process map illustrates the flow of work through your organization, making patterns, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies immediately visible.
Common process mapping techniques include:
- Flowcharts: Simple diagrams showing sequential steps and decision points
- Swimlane diagrams: Maps organized by department or role, highlighting handoffs
- Value stream maps: Detailed maps showing information flow, timing, and inventory
- SIPOC diagrams: High-level maps showing Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers
Real-World Example: Order Processing As-Is Process
Consider a mid-sized manufacturing company documenting their order processing workflow. Through observation and interviews, they discovered their actual process involved 15 steps across four departments with an average cycle time of 8.5 days from order receipt to shipment.
Sample Data Collected:
Step 1: Customer Service receives order via email (average time: 2 hours from receipt to logging)
Step 2: Manual data entry into order management system (average time: 15 minutes, error rate: 12%)
Step 3: Order sits in queue awaiting credit approval (average wait time: 24 hours)
Step 4: Credit department reviews order (average time: 30 minutes)
Step 5: Order printed and physically delivered to warehouse (average time: 4 hours including mail delivery)
Step 6: Warehouse picks items (average time: 45 minutes)
Step 7: Items wait for quality inspection (average wait time: 48 hours)
Step 8: Quality inspection performed (average time: 20 minutes)
Step 9: Packaging and shipping label creation (average time: 25 minutes)
The documentation revealed that only 2.5 hours represented actual value-added work, while 6 days consisted of waiting time between steps. The manual data entry step had a 12% error rate, causing rework and delays. These insights, invisible before documentation, provided clear targets for improvement.
Step 5: Collect and Analyze Performance Metrics
Quantify your as-is process performance using relevant metrics. Numbers provide objective evidence of problems and establish your improvement baseline.
Key metrics to measure include:
- Cycle time: Total time from process start to finish
- Process time: Actual working time excluding wait time
- Lead time: Time from customer request to delivery
- Error or defect rates: Percentage of outputs requiring rework
- Cost per transaction: Resources consumed per process instance
- Capacity utilization: Percentage of available resources used
- Customer satisfaction scores: Feedback on process outputs
In our manufacturing example, collecting these metrics revealed a process efficiency of only 1.5% (value-added time divided by total cycle time), highlighting massive improvement opportunity.
Step 6: Identify Pain Points and Improvement Opportunities
With your documented process and performance data, systematically identify problems and opportunities. Look for these common issues:
- Bottlenecks where work accumulates and waiting occurs
- Redundant activities that duplicate effort
- Excessive handoffs causing communication failures
- Manual workarounds indicating system inadequacies
- High error rates requiring rework
- Unnecessary approvals or sign-offs
- Activities that add no value for the customer
Step 7: Validate Your Documentation
Before moving forward with improvement initiatives, validate your as-is documentation with stakeholders. Present your findings to process participants, supervisors, and management to confirm accuracy and completeness.
This validation serves multiple purposes. It ensures your documentation reflects reality, builds buy-in for future changes, and often surfaces additional insights as people see their work from a new perspective.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Documenting As-Is Processes
Documenting the ideal rather than reality: People often describe how processes should work according to written procedures rather than how work actually happens. Insist on observation and evidence.
Insufficient detail: Vague documentation like “process order” provides no actionable insight. Capture specific activities, times, and decision criteria.
Analysis paralysis: Perfect documentation is the enemy of good documentation. Aim for 80% accuracy and move forward rather than spending months pursuing complete detail.
Ignoring informal processes: Shadow systems, workarounds, and tribal knowledge often represent critical process elements that formal documentation misses.
Working in isolation: Documentation created by consultants or managers without frontline input invariably misses crucial operational realities.
Moving from As-Is to To-Be: Your Improvement Journey
Once you have thoroughly documented and analyzed your as-is process, you are equipped to design your future state or to-be process. This improved process eliminates identified wastes, streamlines handoffs, automates manual steps, and optimizes resource allocation based on the insights from your as-is analysis.
The gap between your as-is and to-be processes defines your improvement roadmap. Prioritize changes based on impact, feasibility, and resource requirements. Quick wins that deliver immediate benefits build momentum for larger transformation initiatives.
Transform Your Organization Through Process Excellence
Understanding and documenting your as-is process represents the critical first step in any improvement journey. Organizations that invest time in this foundational work consistently achieve better results from their improvement initiatives compared to those that jump directly to solutions.
The methodologies and tools for process documentation, analysis, and improvement are not innate skills. They require training, practice, and ongoing development. Lean Six Sigma provides a comprehensive framework for process excellence that has transformed organizations across every industry.
Whether you are looking to reduce costs, improve quality, enhance customer satisfaction, or increase operational efficiency, the journey begins with understanding your current state. Armed with accurate as-is documentation and the analytical tools to interpret it, you can drive meaningful, sustainable improvements that deliver measurable business results.
Enrol in Lean Six Sigma Training Today and gain the skills, tools, and methodologies to expertly document, analyze, and improve your organizational processes. Our comprehensive certification programs provide hands-on experience with process mapping, data analysis, problem-solving techniques, and change management strategies. Transform from someone who identifies problems to someone who systematically solves them. Visit our website to explore Yellow Belt, Green Belt, and Black Belt certification options that will advance your career while delivering value to your organization. The improvement journey begins with a single step. Take yours today.
