# Process analysis: how to map a business process URL: https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/process-analysis-mapping-a-process Language: en Last updated: 2026-09-24 Provider: Goudbeek — Almere, the Netherlands — samgoudbeek2007@gmail.com > Process analysis records how a process really runs: who does what, in which system, how often and where work waits. It shows you what to improve first. 24 September 2026 6 min read [Sam Goudbeek](https://goudbeek.com/en/about) Business processes Process analysis records how a process really runs: who does what, in which system, how often and where work waits. It shows you what to improve first. Process analysis means recording how a business process actually runs: who does each step, in which system, how often, how long it takes and where the work sits waiting. It shows where time is lost and errors arise before you change or automate anything. At Goudbeek in Almere, it is always the first step. This article shows how to do it yourself. You do not need special software. You do need the people who do the work, and the willingness to write down what really happens. ## What exactly is process analysis? A business process is a chain of steps from a trigger to a result: from quote request to quote sent, from incoming invoice to payment. Process analysis describes that chain step by step and then looks at it critically. So pick one process with a clear start and end. "From return request to refund" is workable. "Our admin" is too broad, because you end up drawing ten processes at once. Process analysis is not a goal in itself. It is the foundation for [improving business processes](https://goudbeek.com/en/process-improvement): only once you know how the work runs can you choose what should change. ## Why does the real process differ from the documented one? Many businesses have a version of the process on paper and a version people run from memory. That is not carelessness. People solve small problems every day that no description mentions: a customer who calls instead of emailing, a system missing the right field, a colleague who is out. So do not start with the manual. Start with the work. Sit next to someone who runs the process and walk through a few real cases together. Look at the inbox, the forms and the spreadsheet everyone keeps alive. Keep asking: what are you doing now, and why? Picture an installation company where, according to the description, scheduling happens in the planning system. In practice the planner keeps a list of their own, because technicians send their availability as text messages. That list is the real process, and it is written down nowhere. ## What do you ask at every step? Walk the process from start to finish and record the same six things for each step. A table with one row per step is enough. Who does it: note the role, and who takes over when that person is away. What happens: describe it with a verb. "Checks the VAT number" says more than "processes the invoice". Which system: where does the step happen, and where does the information come from? Watch for retyping, the same data entered into two or three systems. How often: daily, weekly, or only around a peak? A step that comes back all day weighs differently from one that happens now and then. How long: the time someone actually spends on it. A rough estimate from the people themselves is good enough for now. Where it waits: the time nobody is working on it, like a request in a shared inbox or an invoice waiting for approval. The customer feels exactly that waiting time, yet no description mentions it. Picture an accounting firm that processes receipts from its clients. The first row reads: the client sends receipts, by email, as a phone photo or in a paper folder, and they sit there until someone goes through the mailbox. One row, and you already see three entry points for the same work. ## Why write down the exceptions? The main path is usually the easy part. The exceptions are where the time goes: the order with the wrong address, the invoice without an order number, the customer who pays twice. They take manual work and back-and-forth. At every step, ask: what goes wrong here sometimes, and what do you do then? Note the exception, who resolves it and how they know what to do. Often it turns out only one person knows. That is a risk and an improvement point at the same time. Exceptions are also often why automation disappoints. A system that only knows the main path quietly hands everything else to a person, or does the wrong thing with it. If you know the exceptions, you can decide up front what a system handles itself and what waits for a person. ## Where do the time and the errors go? Put the rows side by side and look for patterns. Steps that happen often and take long are where most of the time goes. Where data is retyped, errors creep in. Watch the handovers between people or teams too. At every handover something can stall, and nobody feels they own the waiting time in between. Picture a webshop where returns come in through a form. The refund only starts once the warehouse has ticked the parcel off in a spreadsheet and customer service has gone through that spreadsheet. Nobody does anything wrong, and still the customer waits. The bottleneck is the handover, not the work. ## Optimise or automate: which comes first? Optimising comes first. Automating a messy process only makes the mess faster. So first check whether a step can go, be merged with another or be made simpler. Sometimes a required field on a form, a standard email template or one agreement on who picks something up already solves it. Then look at the repetitive work that remains. Data that has to move from one system to another can often be connected; that is what [workflow automation](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/workflows) covers. If the real problem is that nobody has an overview, a [dashboard that shows what your processes are doing](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/dashboards) can help more than automation. Always choose the simplest thing that works. AI suits steps involving text or documents that differ slightly each time, such as sorting email or reading invoices. Decisions with consequences, such as paying, making a commitment or turning a customer down, stay with a person. ## What do you have when the analysis is done? You have a description of the process as it really runs, with who, what, which system, how often, how long and where it waits for every step. Alongside it, a list of exceptions and who handles them. More important is the choice that follows: which part is worth improving, and which is not. You can back that choice with what you have seen rather than a hunch. That map is worth something on its own. Even if you decide to build nothing, your team understands the work better, and a new colleague has a description that matches reality. ## How does Goudbeek approach process analysis? We always start with the process, not the technology. Before anything is built, we sit with the work itself: the inbox, the forms, the spreadsheet. We map where the time goes, what it costs and which part is worth improving, and which is not. Then we build the simplest thing that works. Often that is an integration, a form or a dashboard, sometimes an AI agent. That starts with one working prototype on one real piece of work, using your data, so you can see whether it holds up before investing further. For every system we set down in writing what it may see and do, and what always waits for a person. After a short intake, we agree a fixed price up front. If something then runs with us, managed hosting starts from €39 per month. Read more about the approach under [process analysis and process improvement](https://goudbeek.com/en/process-improvement). Want a process looked at? [Get in touch](https://goudbeek.com/en/contact) or [request a quote](https://goudbeek.com/en/pricing). ## Sources 1. [Object Management Group: Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) specification www.omg.org](https://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between process analysis and process optimisation? Process analysis maps how a business process runs today and where time and errors go. Process optimisation is what you do next: removing, merging, simplifying or automating steps. The analysis is the precondition for the optimisation. Start without it and you can easily improve a step that was never the problem. How the two fit together is explained under [improving business processes](https://goudbeek.com/en/process-improvement). ### Do you need special software or BPMN to map a process? No, you do not need special software or BPMN for a process analysis. For most processes in a small or mid-sized business, a table with one row per step is enough: who, what, which system, how often, how long and where it waits. A notation like BPMN is useful when you want to record processes formally or share them between departments, but it is not a requirement. What matters more is that the description matches what people really do. ### Who should be involved in a process analysis? The first people to involve in a process analysis are those who do the work every day, because they know how it really runs and which exceptions come up. Next, someone who can decide what changes, and at handovers the people on both sides. An analysis drawn up only with managers usually describes the process as it was intended, not as it actually runs. ### Which business process should you analyse first? The business process to analyse first is one that comes back often, has a clear start and end, and that people already complain about: entering data twice, searching the inbox, waiting on each other. A process that rarely happens pays off less, however messy it is. If in doubt, start small, for example with one type of request, and expand once the approach works. ### When is automation not worth it after a process analysis? Automation is not worth it after a process analysis when a step rarely happens, when the exceptions outweigh the main path, or when a simple change solves the same problem, such as a required field or a fixed agreement. Steps that need a judgement with consequences are better left with a person. A good analysis also shows when building nothing is the right call. What can be automated is covered under [workflow automation](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/workflows). ### What does a process analysis by Goudbeek cost? What a process analysis costs depends on the scope: how many steps, systems and people the process involves. After a short intake we agree a fixed price, so you know where you stand before the work begins. If a system then runs with us, managed hosting starts from €39 per month. You can [request a quote](https://goudbeek.com/en/pricing) or [get in touch](https://goudbeek.com/en/contact) first. About the author: Sam Goudbeek Sam Goudbeek is the founder of Goudbeek in Almere, which improves business processes with AI and software. [More about Sam and Goudbeek](https://goudbeek.com/en/about) ## Further reading Where this article meets the work. - [Improving business processes](https://goudbeek.com/en/process-improvement): First map how the work runs, then build the simplest thing that works. - [Process automation](https://goudbeek.com/en/solutions/workflows): The repeat work between your systems, handled. [All articles](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes) ## More from the knowledge base ### [Which business processes can you automate — and which should you leave alone?](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/which-processes-to-automate) Which business processes can you automate? How to spot a good candidate, what to keep with people and what happens when an automated step fails. 24 Sept 2026 6 min read ### [Implementing AI in a small business: where do you start?](https://goudbeek.com/en/notes/implementing-ai-small-business) Implementing AI in a small business starts with one recurring job, not a tool. Here is how to pick the process, set boundaries and test on real data. 24 Sept 2026 5 min read