Process Mapping Tools for Management Consultants

4th September 2024

Guest blog by Analyze Consulting

by Reyer Meihuizen

A blunt axe can cut down a tree, but a sharper blade will lead to far better results. It’s the same in every line of work – the tools we choose are central to the outcome, as well as our overall experience of getting there.

At Analyze Consulting, a niche business management consultancy in Cape Town, we are using Liberty Spark, Netcall’s process improvement solution, to change the game and level up our clients’ process mapping abilities. As business analysts who seek to solve our clients’ most complex challenges, we’ve seen first-hand how the right tools help us to have a disproportionate impact.

For our team, Liberty Spark is one such tool. When it comes to process mapping, here’s why it’s our tool of choice:

It’s smart and simple

Whether we’re seeking to optimise business processes, determine a company’s ideal tech solution, or help to create a change-ready workforce, our methodology is always the same: to come alongside our clients, and together with them, work toward finding the smartest solution. Just like our services mould around our client’s needs, we need tools that do the same.

Spark enables us to co-create the optimal processes at the speed of conversation.  It not only maps

our engagements in real-time, while offering layers of detail we can ‘drill down into’ when needed.

“Lengthy diatribes and procedural handbooks won’t do. When it comes to the widespread adoption of new processes, pictures are worth a thousand words. That’s why we use Liberty Spark to map out processes. In a visual and easy to understand format – all stakeholders (regardless of position or language) can clearly see the proposed process, as well as who is responsible for what, where and when.“

Norma-Jean Samuriwo, Principal Consultant

Analyze Consulting

It means business

While many process mapping options exist, this one is business-centric instead of tech-heavy. The difference is slight, yet significant.

Traditionally, process maps have felt far more static, complicated and unwieldy. The net benefit of establishing better processes is then quickly lost – as soon as something changes, the process map becomes outdated.

Spark however, is architected for business (not tech). So, it’s intuitive and easy to navigate. As a result, it empowers those on the frontline of any particular business’ process to easily access, understand and tweak said processes whenever necessary.

In our line of work – this makes a big difference. It allows us, as business advisors, to guide our clients toward a cohesive, clear and optimised process. We can then to go far beyond this: enabling them to continue tweaking their processes as and when needed, long after we’ve left the building!

It enables sustainable change

One of our multinational clients needed to take existing practices and formalise them – clearly documenting it so that every stakeholder, in every region could quickly refer back when needed, and easily understand the process, as well as their various roles and responsibilities. They didn’t just want to document the current processes. They hoped to use this project as an opportunity to also address any misalignments, redundant steps, silos, and/or areas for improvement.

“Spread over multiple time zones, countries and cultures, our final solution needed to have a lot of flex built into it. At the same time, it could leave no room for undue influence or the overlapping of duties – ensuring compliance at the highest level. Analyze’s outside perspective, along with their use of Liberty Spark, allowed us to optimise our processes as well as mapping them out in real-time too..“

Head of Supply Chain, Multinational Mining Conglomerate

Speaking of real-time results, inspired by great tools like Spark, we’ve created our own tool: a five-minute assessment for organisations of any size to quickly rate (in real-time) how optimised their business processes truly are.

Here’s to sharper tools and better business, all round!

More about Reyer Meihuizen, Analyze Consulting and process mapping tools for management

As co-founder of Analyze Consulting, Reyer and his niche team of advisors and specialists provide a range of services all focused on helping businesses identify, address and eradicate their unique complexities and challenges. Over the past 15 years in operation, they’ve been instrumental in some of South Africa’s fastest growing companies not only getting ahead, but staying there.

This article was authored by Reyer for Analyze Consulting and Liberty Spark.