Process Maps & Documentation

Process Maps & Documentation (CSSGB BoK III.A — Create)

Quick Answer: In Measure, Green Belts document how the process really works—process maps, flowcharts, written procedures, and work instructions—so the team knows where to sample, what to measure, and which handoffs create defects. Create-level skill means you can build these artifacts and use them to expose gaps between “what we say we do” and “what we actually do.”

Why Documentation Belongs in Measure

Define gives you a charter, SIPOC, and CTQs. Measure turns that intent into a data-ready picture of the process. Without a shared, accurate map:

• Sampling plans miss rework loops and “shadow” steps that never appear in the SOP.
• Operators and supervisors argue about which step owns a defect.
• MSA and capability studies get applied to the wrong Y or the wrong location.
• Improve solutions fix the documented process while the real process keeps producing defects.

ASQ’s CSSGB Body of Knowledge places process analysis and documentation under Measure at the Create cognitive level. You are expected to construct maps and controlled documents, not merely recognize their symbols on a multiple-choice item.

Process Maps vs. Flowcharts

Teams often use the terms interchangeably; exam and project language should stay precise.

Standard flowchart symbols Green Belts should know:

• Oval — start / end (or terminal)
• Rectangle — process / activity step
• Diamond — decision (yes/no or multi-way branch)
• Parallelogram — input / output (data, forms, material)
• Arrow — flow direction
• Circle or connector — off-page or continued flow

Build the map at the right altitude. A project on invoice cycle time may start with a 6–8 step SIPOC process column, then drill into a swimlane map of AP → Approver → Treasury, then into a detailed flowchart of the exception path that creates 70% of delays.

Written Procedures and Work Instructions

Maps show flow; controlled text tells people how to execute and when the method is valid.

Written procedure (SOP / process procedure)

• Audience: trained staff and auditors; may span roles
• Content: purpose, scope, definitions, responsibilities, sequence of activities, records, related documents, revision history
• Tone: controlled, complete enough to reproduce the method under the quality system

Work instruction (WI)

• Audience: the person performing a specific task at a station or screen
• Content: step-by-step actions, photos or screenshots, tools, specs, reaction plans for defects
• Tone: actionable and local; should not bury critical steps in paragraphs

Green Belt rule of thumb: If two trained people following the document would still do the work differently in ways that affect the CTQ, the instruction is incomplete or the process is under-specified—both are Measure findings, not “operator error” by default.

Document control matters for Six Sigma handoff: revision number, owner, effective date, and approval. Improve often changes the WI; Control requires the new version is the only live version at the Gemba.

Building an As-Is Process Map (Create Skill)

1. Walk the process (Gemba). Observe start-to-finish for several cycles; note waits, batching, and unofficial shortcuts.
2. Interview multiple roles. Suppliers and customers of each step often disagree with the process owner’s mental model.
3. Draft steps and decisions on sticky notes or digital boards before “pretty” software.
4. Add data hooks: where time is stamped, where defects are logged, where samples are taken, and where IT systems create records.
5. Validate with the team. Walk the draft map; mark disputed steps in red until resolved.
6. Version and store the agreed as-is map as a project baseline (before Improve invents the should-be map).

Worked mapping scenario — lab specimen accessioning: A Green Belt maps “receive specimen → log accession → aliquot → store.” Observation shows a fifth step: “call physician for incomplete order,” occurring on 18% of specimens and adding a median 42 minutes. The official procedure never listed that call loop. Measure data collection must include incomplete-order rate and time-to-clarification—or baseline cycle time will be wrong and Analyze will chase the wrong bottleneck.

Finding Gaps and Misalignment

Gap means something required is missing. Misalignment means artifacts disagree with each other or with reality.

Misalignment red flags for CSSGB projects:

• “We always do it this way” but the controlled document says otherwise (tribal knowledge).
• Multiple WIs for the same task with different tolerances (measurement and capability will look unstable).
• Decision diamonds with no documented criteria (operators invent rules → variation).
• Rework loops drawn as “optional” when volume data shows they are the main path.
• Customer CTQs that never appear as checks on the map (you cannot improve what you never inspect or measure).

Treat gap analysis as measurement design input: every missing control or ambiguous handoff is a candidate for operational definitions, check sheets, or automated data capture in the Measure plan.

Linking Documentation to the Rest of Measure

• Operational definitions attach to specific map steps (“defect = wrong ship-to on pick ticket at pack station”).
• Sampling plans specify which boxes on the map supply units and at what frequency.
• MSA studies the measurement step on the map (gage, form, inspector), not an abstract “process.”
• Control plans (later) reuse the map structure: step → CTQ → method → sample size → reaction plan.

Practical Checklist Before You Collect Baseline Data

1. Is the as-is map validated at the Gemba by people who do the work?
2. Are start, stop, and unit of measure unambiguous for the project Y?
3. Do procedures and WIs match the map on critical steps and specs?
4. Are rework, scrap, and exception paths drawn and counted, not idealized away?
5. Is document ownership clear so Improve can update controlled copies?

When those answers are yes, process analysis and documentation have done their Measure job: they made the process measurable, teachable, and improvable. When they are no, fix the map and documents first—collecting weeks of data on the wrong process is an expensive form of false precision.