Process hierarchy
A process hierarchy organises a company's processes in levels, from a few top-level process areas down to individual processes, sub-processes, activities and tasks. It gives an overview of everything the company does, and a place for each detailed map, owner and instruction.
What is a process hierarchy?
A common split at the top separates management processes (strategy, planning, review), core processes (the work that earns revenue, such as quote to order or service) and support processes (purchasing, finance, HR, IT). Each area is broken down into processes, each process into sub-processes, and so on until the level of a single task.
Cross-industry reference frameworks exist for large organizations. Smaller companies usually need only two or three levels.
Not to be confused with an organization chart. A process hierarchy structures the work, not the people or the reporting lines — one process usually crosses several departments.
Why it matters for SMEs
For example: a manufacturer with a few dozen people lists three areas on one page — management, core and support — with about a dozen processes under them. Only the core processes that depend on a few people are mapped in detail; the rest stay a line on the overview until they need more.
For SMEs, a one-page hierarchy is the easiest way to decide which process to map first and who owns what. See business processes.
Process hierarchy in the MentX approach
MentX captures how your company really works: the knowledge of your key people and the processes they run. We offer both a hands-on service approach — mapping your processes and capturing the knowledge behind them, from meetings, workshops and a guided intake — and our own personality-aware knowledge base, with full source attribution, in your own Knowledge Space. We build on the tools you already use and add best-practice solutions where they fit.
A one-page overview of your core processes is where most engagements start, before one process is mapped end to end. See which process should we map first?