---
title: "Process mapping"
course: "OPMT 130 · Run operations that work"
unit: "Seeing flow and constraints"
lesson: 10 of 37
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/run-operations-that-work/process-mapping
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Process mapping

Lesson 10 of 37 in **Run operations that work** (OPMT 130), unit "Seeing flow and constraints". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Create a labeled process map of a small-business workflow using a diagramming tool, showing steps, handoffs, and decision points with every branch (both the yes and the no path) resolved.
- Capture the actual flow accurately by walking the process end-to-end and recording who does what, in what order, and where handoffs happen.

## Teaching notes
Use the Bite scenario — map order placement → restaurant confirm → prep → driver assignment → pickup → delivery → customer confirmation. Build the map in Mermaid (the Mermaid Live Editor, mermaid.live): introduce the site and basic Mermaid flowchart syntax, show how to use the (+) icon to connect shapes, and have the learner paste Mermaid code back into the chat. Every decision diamond must include both exits — the 'No'/failure path as well as the 'Yes' path — and all steps must be connected (including the arrows into 'Send order to restaurant' and 'Restaurant accepts order') so the final map has no dangling steps. This map is the unit's running artifact, reused in the next lessons for the bottleneck hunt, utilization, service design, and AI critique.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 10 complete: Process mapping."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Bottlenecks and throughput" (lesson 11 of 37), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/run-operations-that-work/bottlenecks-and-throughput.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Process thinking
Next lesson: Bottlenecks and throughput