The Challenge

Departments understood their own activities, but the organization lacked a consistent way to examine processes across teams. Delays, duplication, and unclear handoffs were difficult to resolve because no shared approach connected the different perspectives.

Harald’s Contribution

An executive-sponsored workshop provided the starting point. Harald helped turn that initial work into an organization-wide initiative, establishing a process-management team and a common method for describing and evaluating work.

Every department was involved and asked to identify and map its five most important processes. The maps were used to examine how work moved, where responsibilities changed, and where recurring problems affected performance.

Cross-functional issues were brought to the relevant teams and, where necessary, executive leadership. This connected operational concerns with the people responsible for addressing them.

What Changed

Departments gained a shared language for discussing processes and responsibilities. Process maps provided a practical basis for identifying bottlenecks and examining problems beyond individual team boundaries.

Issues that had previously been difficult to address received more structured attention, supporting improvements across departments.

What We Learned

Process maps are useful when they support decisions and improvement. Their value comes from making handoffs, bottlenecks, and responsibilities clear enough for teams to act on them together.