Mapping a paper-based workflow to an electronic-document workflow

Converting from a paper-based workflow to a workflow based on electronic documents is not a turnkey event, as many of us learned during the pandemic. To prepare well for a conversion such as this, it’s helpful to create a visual map of the current workflow and use it as a guide for envisioning the future workflow. It’s during the envisioning process that questions and potential issues emerge. Answering the questions prior to implementing the change eliminates confusion and inefficiencies.

Scenario: Your team is part of the Operations Department of a company that sells expensive equipment and offers loans to finance the equipment. Your team is responsible for entering new loans into the loan system. Your team’s workflow begins with paper documents received from the Relationship Management Department and ends when your team physically moves the paperwork to the Quality Assurance team. The company has made the decision to eliminate paper documents in favor of PDF documents, which will be saved on a shared drive. This decision supports the company’s goal for improved efficiency and reduced costs.

You have been tasked with documenting your team’s current-state workflow and identifying what your team’s workflow will look like in the future — after electronic documents are implemented.

You meet with your team and, together, map the steps of the current state. However, upon attempting to identify the steps of the future-state workflow, you and your team realize there are many questions that must be answered first. You record the questions in a spreadsheet and schedule a meeting with your supervisor to obtain answers.

The spreadsheet below documents steps in a fictitious current-state workflow. A side-by-side juxtaposition of current-state steps and future-state steps facilitates asking questions that will provide clarity regarding your team’s new workflow.

  Operational excellence begins with clarity on workflows and procedures.

This blog was written and edited by a human!

© 2025 Lori K. Barbeau