What is process mapping and why is it useful?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Visual representation of steps, roles and decisions
- As-is and to-be maps
- Reveals delays, handoffs, rework and bottlenecks
- Common notations: BPMN, swimlanes, flowcharts
Model answer
Process mapping means drawing the steps of a business process, who does each step and where decisions happen. I usually use swimlane diagrams or BPMN, with one lane per role or team. I first create the as-is map with the people who do the work, to show how the process really runs today. This makes problems visible, like too many handoffs, waiting time, duplicate data entry or approvals that add no value. Then together we design the to-be process, which removes or automates those problems. The maps are also useful for requirements, training and explaining the change to stakeholders. For example, mapping a loan approval process once showed that applications passed through seven teams, and simplifying it cut the approval time by more than half.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed easy round and get scored on every answer.
More easy Business Analyst questions
- What does a business analyst do?
- What techniques do you use to gather requirements?
- Explain functional and non-functional requirements with examples.
- How do you write a good user story and its acceptance criteria?
- What is the difference between a business analyst and a product owner?
- How do you prepare for a stakeholder interview?
- What makes a requirement good?
- What is the difference between a use case and a user story, and when would you use each?
- What are the main documents or artefacts a business analyst produces?