---
title: "Where your process loses time (before you buy AI for it)"
slug: mapa-desperdicio-proceso
lang: en
situation: operar
format: plantilla
minutes: 25
updated: 2026-10-19
---

# Where your process loses time (before you buy AI for it)

> For office and back-office managers about to evaluate an AI tool who want to know first where the time actually goes.

## When to use it

- Someone offered you a tool that "speeds up" a process and nobody has measured which part of the process is slow.
- Your team says it never has enough time but cannot say where it goes.
- You are about to ask for budget to automate and want to arrive with estimated hours, not impressions.

## The sheet

Process: [name, and where it starts and ends] · Map owner: [name] · Date: [ ]

| Waste | What it looks like in your process | Hours/month (estimate) | Eliminate, simplify or automate? | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting | [Work stalled while someone replies or signs] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Rework | [Work done twice because the first pass was wrong] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Extra approvals | [Sign-offs that never change the decision] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Copy-paste between systems | [Data retyped from one system into another] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Incomplete information | [Requests that arrive missing what is needed and bounce back] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Over-processing | [Reports or formats nobody reads] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Searching for information | [Time spent hunting for files, emails or the right version] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Handoffs | [Each time the work changes hands and gets explained again] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| **Total** | | [sum] | | |

Illustrative example (supplier onboarding): "Extra approvals: three sign-offs for low-value suppliers; the third never rejects. 12 h/month. Eliminate. Owner: head of purchasing."

## How to fill it in 25 minutes

1. Define the process with a concrete start and end: "from the moment the request arrives until the supplier is set up".
2. Walk through the eight rows with two people who do the work, not only with the person who supervises it. They know where the waiting happens.
3. Estimate hours per month with a round number and mark it as an estimate. An honest range is worth more than a precise invented figure.
4. Decide the action in this order: eliminate first, then simplify, and only at the end automate.
5. Give every row a named owner. A row without an owner is a complaint, not a plan.
6. The most common mistake: writing "automate" in every row of the action column because a tool is already in mind.

## The line that is almost always missing

First eliminate, then simplify, and only then automate. Automating waste turns it into faster waste: the report nobody reads now generates itself, the extra approval arrives sooner and still changes nothing. AI is a tool for what remains after the process is cleaned up, not a substitute for cleaning it up.

## If this becomes a big decision

If the map ends in a purchase or a change of roles that carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They do not replace a formal review.

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Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution.
This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.