Tomorrow Marketers – Flowcharts is used for visualize the steps in a particular process. Process flow diagrams depict the flow of information and data, visualize the tasks involved in a process, show decisions that need to be made along the chain, and show essential relationships between steps of the process.
At first glance, this job sounds quite simple, but actually, to build an accurate and logical process flow chart is not easy, especially for businesses with a large number of processes. linked together. To understand clearly how to make process flowchart Let’s find out with Tomorrow Marketers in the article below!
Table of Contents
Why create flowchart – process flowchart?
The process flow chart helps to arrange the steps in the operation process and makes all information transparent and clear, everyone can understand. The process flow chart is a complete document that helps employees understand how the business works, especially new employees (how many steps, what tools to use, this part needs support from other parties). any,…).
Process flowcharts can be a reference for process redesign, thereby uncovering limitations, potential sources of problems, unnecessary redundancies, and unproductive activities. added value to eliminate or improve the process.
Building a detailed process flow chart also lays the foundation for business digitization, and initially builds a data-driven decision making culture in the enterprise.
Read more: Data-driven Marketing: A guideline for business strategies in the digital era
Process flow charting steps
When creating a process flow chart, make sure it covers the duties of everyone involved in the process: employees, suppliers, customers, and supervisors… These factors need to be understood. process goals, step-by-step timelines, and a basic understanding of the workflow.
To create a flowchart, you need to do the following 6 steps:
Step 1: Identify the problem
What is the goal of this process? What is the exact name of the process?
Step 2: Make a list of all the activities required in the process
What are the steps to be done in the process, who is in charge, what data does that person need to enter, how long does it take to complete the task. At this step, you may not yet need to specify what the outcome of each stage in the process will be, but remembering this way will help you not miss out on what needs to be done in the process.
Read more: What is operational data in the enterprise? Examples of KPIs and metrics for each department
Step 3: Define process limits
- When and where/in what department does this process begin?
- When and where/in what department does this process end?
Step 4: Determine the sequence of steps
Describe each step starting with a verb. (For example: Making quotation, approving contract, announcing results…). In this step you will begin to arrange the tasks to do in the order they happen, you can describe the general flow or specific to each task in the process.
Step 5: Set the notation rule in steps
Each element in the flowchart is represented by a graphical symbol:
- Oval: The start or end of a process
- Rectangle: Action steps in the process, taken over by a particular individual.
- Arrows: Indicates the connection of steps in the process.
- Rhombus: Used when decision-making or approval is required.
Step 6: Finalize the process flow chart
Review the flowchart with other stakeholders (employees, supervisors, suppliers, customers, etc.) to ensure that everyone agrees and understands the process. At the flowchart completion step, make sure you have the answers to the following questions:
- Are there events that could cause you to deviate from a standard procedure?
- How was the test run?
- Is the process clear enough for team members to follow it easily?
- Are there any redundant steps?
- Are there any steps missing?
How to draw a flowchart
You can plot your business process flowcharts in 2 different ways:
The first way: Use a pen and paper
This is the simplest way, you just need to take a piece of paper, a pen and start drawing a flowchart. After drawing, you can take a photo to save in memory, or keep a hard copy to keep in storage after photocopying and distributing it to everyone directly involved in the process.
The second way: Use the tool
A flowchart drawn as a digital soft copy will make it much easier for you to edit, store, and share it, etc. At a basic level, you can use Microsoft PowerPoint. , Paint or specialized graphic design software such as Adobe Illustrator (Ai), Adobe Photoshop (Ps),… More advanced, online flowchart creation tools like LucidCharts are a perfect choice if you want your product to be professional or a business with a large amount of flowchart to build.
Read more: How do SMEs build their internal data systems?
Case Study: Flowchart of working with Client in Marketing Agency
In Marketing, there are 2 types of companies that “industry insiders” call Client and Agency. Marketing at the Client is “doing many things for one person” (doing all activities to “nurture” a brand), and doing Marketing at an Agency is “doing one thing for many people” (doing only one service for many brands). ).
To better understand the actual work in an agency, let’s learn the process of cooperation between the client and the agency from the initial step of receiving the brief to the final step of completing the project and accepting it.
The cooperation process between Client and Agency will include the following steps:
Briefing: A cooperation deal between Client and Agency will always start from the brief from the Client.
Brief is the document that the Client (Client) provides to the Marketing service company (Agency), which includes the necessary and condensed information to help the Agency fully understand the Client’s requirements. Brief is the beginning of the story of any project. Brief guides the agency’s execution department on what they need to do to meet client requirements, ensure campaigns are delivered on time, and provide a basis for evaluating results.
The contents of a brief include:
- Describe the problem, clearly stating the cause and solution orientation: Business situation, problems Client is facing
- Product information
- The goal to be achieved from this campaign, the message the Client wants to convey
- Characteristics and insights of target customers: clearly state the drivers and obstacles that prevent them from buying products and using services
- Budget, time
Pitching: After receiving the brief, if they decide to participate in pitching, Account and Planner will work together to make a proposal (strategy proposal) and attend a pitching session for the campaign. If pitching is successful, the Agency will be selected as the partner to implement the Marketing campaign for the Client’s brand.
Price list for each item: After agreeing to cooperate, Account will rely on the budget from the Client’s brief to make a detailed quote for each item to be done in the campaign. After the Client closes the quotation and the KPI corresponding to each item, the account will transfer the brief to the Creative department to run the campaign, according to the committed timelines.
Project Execution In the process of running the project, the products made by Creative Team will have to be approved by the Client before being published on the media channels. When the Client wants to modify, they will also discuss and respond directly to the Account so that the Account can continue to work with the Creative Team to edit. Reporting, acceptance and payment: At the end of the project, the Account needs to make a report on the acceptance of the campaign results, a successful campaign is the campaign that achieves the KPIs given in the initial brief. Upon completion of the acceptance report, the Client will disburse the remaining contract value to the Agency.
Thus, the factors involved in this process include:
- Client: the person who hires the agency and gives the agency a topic
- Account: the representative implementing the cooperation deal between the client and the agency, belonging to the agency.
- Creative team: the person who performs the work according to the agreement between the Account and the Client.
Limitations of this process:
- The process begins when the client submits a brief and the agency receives pitching for this topic
- The process continues to run when the Agency wins pitching and starts implementing the project
- The process ends when the agency completes the project and the client pays
The process flow diagram for the marketing agency will be drawn as follows:
Ending
Process flow mapping is the step that lays the groundwork for digital transformation. When having a detailed process map in hand, businesses can digitization process to the appropriate software. When process digitization is successful, businesses can get the data generated when running that process on the software.
In other words, when digitizing, data will no longer be scattered on paper, information is no longer fragmented in each email or in separate storage places, difficult to aggregate and search. Data will be gathered in one place, automatically updated continuously and easily managed panoramic view of the business picture through the Real-time data dashboard.
Capture businesses through the data system is what every business wants to aim for. To get to this destination, businesses need to start thinking and defining:
- What are the important metrics to track in the team?
- What tools/software to collect those data with?
- How to design data warehouse and data transmission line so that data is always updated continuously?
- From the real-time updated data warehouse, how to get the real-time dashboard?
This is an important part that Tomorrow Marketers’ Data System course wants to convey, to help businesses build a data culture and unlock the growth potential right from internal data. The Data System course will help you understand:
- The importance of internal data systems for the long-term growth of the business.
- Structure of the internal data system: Understand the components of a complete data system.
- Process thinking and business process digitization to capture data over time
- Thinking about building data pipelines and data warehouses, helping businesses standardize data early.
- Mindset exploits data to build management reports, provide a business panorama and monitor operations.
Find out about the course right here.
