Circulating the map so it changes something in the business

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Introduction

A journey map is finished and sent to everybody. Most people open it, recognise it as a marketing document, and close it. The person who answers the phone does not connect it to how they answer the phone, and the person who delivers the work does not connect it to the handover, and nothing changes.

Circulation is not distribution. A map changes things when specific people receive the part that bears on what they do, with the finding stated rather than implied. That is a different activity from attaching a file to a message, and it is where most of the value of the exercise is either realised or lost.

1. Circulating the map so it changes something means giving people the relevant part

The principle.

Nobody needs the whole journey. Whoever answers the phone needs the two stages they touch and the finding about response time. Extracting that takes five minutes and it is the difference between reading and acting.

2. State the finding, do not imply it

The communication point.

"We lose four in five enquiries before a quote, and most of that is response time" is a finding. A diagram containing the same information is not, because it requires interpretation nobody performs. Say the sentence out loud in the meeting.

3. Tell each person what it means for them

The translation.

The same map implies different things for reception, for whoever quotes, for whoever delivers. Doing that translation is the work, and skipping it is why maps do not land. Nobody translates it for themselves.

4. Attach one change to each conversation

The action.

Not a list. One thing that person could do differently, agreed with them. A map producing a single change in three roles has done more than most. Agreement matters more than instruction.

5. Show the people who do the work first

The sequencing.

They will correct it, which improves the map, and they are the ones whose behaviour has to change. Presenting to management first produces endorsement rather than change. It also avoids the impression that the map is being done to them.

6. Put it where they already look

The placement.

In the operations document, beside the enquiry log, in the handover template. A separate file in a shared folder is not circulation. Embedding it in an existing document is more effective than any announcement.

7. Repeat the finding more than once

The realistic expectation.

One presentation changes nothing. The finding needs restating at the weekly conversation until it is part of how people describe the business. Expect to say it six times.

8. Report back on what happened

The reinforcement.

If response time improved and conversion followed, say so, to the people who changed it. This is what makes the second map worth doing. Attribution to the people involved is what sustains the habit.

9. Keep the whole document for reference only

The realistic role.

The full map is a reference. The circulating artefacts are the findings and the changes, which are far shorter and are the things that actually move. Keep it accessible and stop expecting it to be read.

Be careful about circulating findings that read as criticism of individuals. A map showing slow responses is a statement about a process, and presenting it as a performance problem stops the honest recording the next map will depend on.

Conclusion

Give each person the part that affects their work, with the finding stated.

Extract the relevant stages for each role rather than sending the whole document, say the finding in a sentence rather than expecting it to be read off a diagram, translate what it means for each person, agree one change per role, present to the people doing the work before management, put it where they already look, repeat the finding until it is part of how people talk, and report back when something improves.