MAP

AS-IS Mapping

Used in STEP 4

A glimpse inside

Preview of the MAP worked example — structure and colouring shown, detail deliberately softened

3 tabs: Cover · blank tool · Meridian worked example. One row per process step with owner, systems, hand-offs, rework rate, volume, touch and elapsed time and a severity-rated risk; the baseline totals and flow efficiency at the foot calculate themselves.

In a sentence — map how each priority service actually works today — step by step, system by system — and produce the touch-time, elapsed-time and risk baseline everything else measures against.

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What this tool does

Most transformations start arguing about the future before anyone agrees what's actually happening today. This tool forces that conversation first: one row per step, the real systems, the real hand-offs, the real volumes and the real waiting time — not the version that shows up in a process diagram nobody's checked against reality.

The baseline totals at the foot build themselves from the rows above, so total touch time, total elapsed time, flow efficiency and the count of high-severity risks are always a live reflection of what's actually in the sheet, not a number someone typed in once and forgot to update. Flow efficiency under roughly 15% is normal for a process that hasn't been redesigned yet — that's the finding this baseline exists to expose, not a sign the sheet is wrong; north of 40% is genuinely strong for admin-type work.

WHY THIS HELPS

Touch time and elapsed time are tracked separately. A step can look fast on paper — low touch time — while the real gap sits in the elapsed time: hours or days spent waiting for someone else to pick it up. Splitting the two is what makes the eventual ‘quick win’ actually quick.

READING THE BASELINE

Touch time and elapsed time use exactly the same unit — set once for the whole sheet (hours, for example). Flow efficiency is simply touch time divided by elapsed time: the share of the total time that was actually being worked, rather than sitting in a queue or waiting on someone else. As a rule of thumb, under about 15% is typical for an unreformed back-office process — that's not a mistake in the sheet, it's the opportunity this baseline exists to expose. 25–40% is a well-run process; above about 40% is genuinely strong for admin-type work.

HOW THIS FITS WITH VCA

This sheet and VCA answer different questions at different altitudes. VCA walks the whole chain, from first demand to customer outcome, and shows where the damage sits; this sheet then maps exactly how that part of the operation works, step by step and minute by minute. If you’re not yet sure which services or stages deserve this level of detail, walk VCA first and map the ones it points to. The baseline you build here is also what the DES TO-BE checklist later measures improvement against.

What's included

MAP · AS-IS Mapping — the blank tool

Ready to complete for your own engagement. Blue-tinted cells are for you to fill in.

Worked example

The same tool completed end to end, using the fictional Meridian Wealth Management scenario — see what ‘done’ looks like before you start your own.

How it's used

A quick walkthrough of the sheet:

Using this tool

1Map each priority service on its own worksheet (copy the tab for each one), in sequence — one row per process step, each labelled with a verb and an object.

2Name every system touched and every hand-off between teams; flag any rework loop, and record the volume entering each step and the share sent back.

3Set your timing unit once, then log touch time (active work) and elapsed time (door-to-door, including waits) for each step.

4Record the operational-risk issue each step exposes and rate its severity — High and Critical risks highlight themselves automatically.

5Check the baseline totals at the foot before moving on — they're built from your rows, not typed in separately.

Matches the sheet's own columns exactly: Step, Activity, Owner, System(s), Hand-offs, Rework loops, Rework rate, Volume, Touch time, Elapsed time, Operational risk issue, Severity.