What ITSM Practitioners Need to Know About Value Stream Mapping

The introduction of ITIL 4 in 2019 brought a focus on value co-creation and value streams over the traditional process-based approach to IT service management (ITSM). It called out the need for value stream mapping, with detailed guidance for ITSM practitioners provided in the ITIL 4: Create, Deliver and Support publication.

However, value stream mapping is something that ITSM practitioners might still be unaware of or perhaps have heard about but know too little to “use in anger.” To help, this blog explains what value streams are, how they can help, and how to adopt and benefit from value stream mapping in your organization.

This blog by @Joe_the_IT_Guy explains what value streams are, how they can help, & how to adopt and benefit from value stream mapping in your organization. #ITSM Share on X

Value streams

While this blog is about value stream mapping, I’m not going to assume that readers know what value streams are. ITIL describes a value stream as “A series of steps an organization undertakes to create and deliver products and services to consumers.”

However, there are many other definitions freely available on the internet. For example, Wikipedia states:

“Value streams are a component of the business ecosystem that describe how a stakeholder – often a customer – receives value from an organization.”

It’s important to appreciate the above definitions’ nuances and understand that value streams usually differ from processes. For ITSM, the value streams will use different ITIL management practice or ITSM process aspects to move from a demand-based trigger to the delivery of value.

Value stream mapping

Value stream mapping is a Lean (manufacturing) practice designed to help organizations create more value for customers using fewer resources. ITIL defines it as:

“A Lean management technique to visualize the steps needed to convert demand into value, used to identify opportunities to improve” and a value stream map as “A visual representation of a service value stream which shows the flow of work, information, and resources.”

Again, there are lots of similar definitions available on the internet. For example, Wikipedia states:

“The purpose of value-stream mapping is to identify and remove or reduce “waste” in value streams, thereby increasing the efficiency of a given value stream.”

While the first of these definitions might give the impression that it’s the documentation of value streams, i.e. the resultant value stream map, that’s important; the real business value comes from the technique’s use to create value stream maps. Whether an organization is documenting a value stream’s current or desired future state, the key benefits come from the collaboration of different business stakeholders in identifying the waste in value streams, such as inefficiencies, bottlenecks, quality-related issues, and the need for reworking.

While definitions give the impression it’s the documentation of value streams that’s important; the real business value comes from the technique’s use to create value stream maps - @Joe_the_IT_Guy #ITSM Share on X

How organizations benefit

As stated in the previous section, the creation of the value stream maps is valuable, but this could be considered the “means to the end” rather than the “end” itself. This difference is evidenced in the following list of value stream mapping benefits:

• Greater customer focus
• Improved collaboration between different teams and potentially business functions
• A shared understanding of the end-to-end value stream
• The identification of operational, service, experience, and outcome improvements
• Greater appreciation of how an individual or team’s work impacts others
• New operational insights that were hitherto unnoticed
• The identification of wastage, such as bottlenecks, delays, and reworking
• The identification of low or non-value-adding activities
• Risk identification
• Operational optimization, including time efficiencies and cost reductions
• People resource optimization
• Automation opportunities can be identified and justified in value terms.

Here @Joe_the_IT_Guy looks at 12 benefits of value stream mapping, along with how to undertake it. #ITSM Share on X

How to undertake value stream mapping

It’s collective and collaborative effort. Otherwise, the resultant value stream map will likely be created from a limited set of perspectives, inaccurate, and ineffective. This collaboration is commonly via meetings or workshops that document the work that different teams take to turn the demand request into value, with people writing what they know about value stream elements on Post-It Notes.

There’s a lot of publicly available value stream mapping guidance, but as I have the ITIL 4 Create, Deliver and Support publication to hand, here’s my paraphrasing of what it says:

1. Describe the demands, triggers, and outcomes and value to define the value stream being worked on
2. Move from the demand through to value delivery, documenting what’s needed and what happens in each activity step
3. Divide the steps into actions and tasks if necessary
4. Document what’s required to complete the steps, actions, or tasks successfully.

But this is very much the mechanics of value stream mapping, with people and their involvement key to its success. This need relates to the following:

• Appropriate value stream mapping knowledge (to apply the technique)
• Personal skills to engender people’s participation and eventual consensus
• Value stream knowledge from the people playing different roles in the end-to-end stream.

Value stream mapping is a collective & collaborative effort. Otherwise, the resultant value stream map will likely be created from a limited set of perspectives, inaccurate, & ineffective - @Joe_the_IT_Guy #ITSM Share on X

The consideration of people also brings with it other factors that can make or break a value stream mapping exercise. First, they’re vital to the accuracy of the resultant value stream map(s), especially in ensuring that what’s documented and agreed upon reflects the operational reality. Second, there are motivational aspects that shouldn’t be overlooked. For example, that participants feel able to share their knowledge without adverse consequences – perhaps in stating that real-world operations deviate from the agreed or mandated ways of working.

That’s my potted guide to value stream mapping. If you’d like to share your experiences of value stream mapping or any recommended sources for additional reading or viewing, please leave a comment below.