# Map my process step by step and find the waste

Breaks a workflow into steps and flags waste: duplicate work, unnecessary handoffs, waiting, rework, and steps that add no customer value.

- Topic: Projects & Operations
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Rewrite & Edit, Analyze, Fill-in Template, Step-by-step
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/map-my-process-step-by-step-and-find-the-waste

## Prompt

```text
Analyze this process step by step and identify the waste in it.

**Process name and purpose:** [e.g. "new vendor setup", "monthly reporting", "customer refund"]
**Who the customer of the process is:** [internal or external - who receives the result]
**Steps as they happen today:** [PASTE THE STEPS, notes, or SOP - include who does each step, tools used, and typical time or wait if known]
**Volume:** [e.g. "about 200 a month"]
**Pain points people mention:** [OPTIONAL]

Steps:
1. Rewrite the process as a numbered step list with: role, action, system, work time, and wait time. Mark unknown times [UNKNOWN].
2. Classify each step: value-adding (the customer would pay for it or notice if it disappeared), necessary non-value-adding (required by law, control, or policy), or waste.
3. Tag the waste type: duplicate work (same data entered or checked twice), unnecessary handoffs, waiting, rework or corrections, over-processing (more detail or polish than needed), motion between systems, and excess approvals.
4. Count handoffs and calculate the share of total time that is waiting versus working, where times are given.
5. Suggest a fix for each waste item: eliminate, combine, simplify, reorder, standardize, or automate.

Return:
1. A step table: # | Step | Role | System | Work time | Wait time | Value type | Waste type | Fix.
2. Summary: number of steps, handoffs, value-adding share of time, and the 3 biggest sources of waste.
3. Quick wins that need no new tools or approvals.
4. Questions to ask the people doing the work before changing anything.

Work only from the steps I gave. Don't assume a step is waste if it could be a compliance control; mark it [CHECK - possible control].
```

## What to fill in

- internal or external - who receives the result
- e.g. "about 200 a month"
- OPTIONAL
- UNKNOWN
- CHECK - possible control

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.