Process hierarchy
A process hierarchy organises all of an organisation’s processes into levels, from broad strategic processes down to the individual tasks that carry them out.
Where an org chart shows how departments and roles relate to each other, a process hierarchy shows how work relates to itself: strategic processes at the top set direction, core processes in the middle create and deliver the product or service, and support processes underneath – IT, admin, HR – keep the core processes running. It maps everything from how a receptionist takes a call up to how a new department head gets hired.
The payoff is visibility: once work is mapped this way, it’s obvious who owns what and where the waste is, which is the necessary first step before any improvement effort – you can’t fix a process you haven’t located in the hierarchy.
See why a clear process hierarchy keeps organisations from unravelling as they grow.