In this video you're going to learn what is a SIPOC and the exact steps that I use when I conduct mine.
And if you want to be a project Ninja, stick around to this end of this video where I'm
going to share with you all about my new online, world-class project management course.
Hi, if you're new here, welcome. My name is Adriana Girdler.
I'm a productivity specialist and efficiency expert, and a project management professional.
And if you're like me, you want to do things well, and you want to do them right, and when
it comes to improving any process or way of working, SIPOC is the first tool that you want to use.
So let's get to it, where I'm going to show you how to do just that. SIPOC meaning
SIPOC actually is an acronym, and that acronym stands for supplier input process, output and customer.
And the SIPOC meaning really is to take a look holistically, at a process,
from true start, to true finish, and everything in between.
And that in between, are your inputs, and the outputs, the people who are going to receive,
whatever it is that process has, and those people, the stakeholders who input into it.
So it's really holistic in its approach.
How to create a SIPOC
Well first you need the tool, and that could be very simply an Excel spreadsheet, a word
document, Google sheets, Vizio, whatever it is that you can have.
And you actually put the acronyms in each column.
Now you also want to pick a team to, uh, yeah, you can do SIPOC on your own, but there's
a lot of value when you're really trying to understand everything, to get the right people involved.
So get people involved.
We're going to be part of the process that's really important cause they're going to know nuances that you just don't know.
Okay, let's get to it.
So the process that I'm going to use for you, just to make it really simple, is a sandwich making process for lunch. All right?
I know there's tons of processes out there that can be a lot more complex, but that doesn't matter.
It's really just to give you an idea as to what we're gonna be doing.
So step one, with the acronyms that you're going to have.
The first process or the first column you want to go to is the P column.
So capturing the process steps, and that's really start to end.
It's a series of high level action items.
So you really need to ensure with the people that are working with you, to capture that,
is high level five to 10 steps max, are the action items as to what that process is all about.
And in our example, here's what our process steps are about.
First step is decide what to eat. Second is getting ingredients.
Third, get tools, make your sandwich, eat your sandwich and last but not least clean up.
So get that process first, cause that establishes everything.
It is your baseline, and that's how you're going to create everything else.
So that process, high level, all needs to be captured.
First step, is do the P in the middle of your SIPOC.
Step two, is you now want to go to the right of the P column, which is outputs.
And that's really important because again, you do your process, and now what's the output of that process?
We usually do it that way because it's really easy.
It's like after that process, what is it that you are going to get from it?
So, in our example of sandwich making for lunch, let's look at our process steps.
Now those process steps are anything that we get at the end of that particular step.
And sometimes there's multiple things that you may get.
So what I recommend is, do label them one,two, three.
If you do have multiple for that one particular process step, cause you may down the road need
to go to it from an improvement perspective, project perspective, you need to have that information.
Don't generalize it too much. Really be specific here.
So in our example, outputs for deciding what to eat, is a decision on the type of sandwich.
For the second step, get ingredients.
Our outputs are the actual ingredients, and we're going to use whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jam.
And for the third step get tools.
Part of our outputs is, cutting board, knife plates, etc.
So you can see with example, the type of outputs that we have for this particular process and
just go through until you finish them all.
Step three is the customer column.
Again, you want to go from the middle, and move your way outwards.
So we did the process, we did the outputs. Now it's the customer of those particular outputs.
Now there's a couple of things you can do here.
The example I'm giving you is, you're going to genericize it, okay?
Because it's such a simple process.
There's no need to be detailed, but sometimes you want to do just what we did, is you want
to, for every output, tell me who the customer is.
So in our example of sandwich making, for lunch, let's go through it.
When we take a look at our process steps of the sandwich making and all the outfits, who is the customer for this?
Well, based on who I'm doing the process for, it is going to be the parent.
And by the way, I have two kids. I have a eight year old and a five-year-old.
So, those are just pieces of information for you, so you understand who it's being delivered
to, and depending on how you use a SIPOC, that becomes very valuable.
Step four, you now want to look to the left of the process column.
So this is where you now go to the input section.
So what are the steps that you need to e enable this process step?
What's going to kick it off for you to have it happen, and just like you did with the output,
you want to be very specific here, and actually number each one.
It becomes again, very helpful for projects, a itself from task perspective or even from
improvements, the things you need to work on. So let's take a look at our example.
So if we have a process step of deciding what to eat, the inputs for us to even know that
that step has to occur is, we have a hungry child or children, and it's lunchtime.
Now if we look at our second process step, and that is getting ingredients,
one of the inputs into getting ingredients is sandwich selection.
We got to select our sandwich in order to get our ingredients, and so on and so forth.
So now this becomes a very specific, you want to isolate it, so you understand per process step, what are those inputs?
Because again, the value of the SIPOC is when you're in improvements, projects, a lot
of things can sometimes get missed, because people don't understand inputs and outputs.
So this is why this SIPOC is so cool.
Now, we only have one column left, and that is stakeholders.
So we now want to find out who the stakeholders are that supply the inputs.
So in our example here, it really is genericize.
I just kinda did it overall, and it is the parent, and the two children that are going
to dictate, and give the inputs into what's happening.
Now, like I said earlier on, on the customer side is you can be very specific per input if you'd
like to, depending on the complexity of the process that you're looking at.
And as well as how you want to use it.
When do you use a SIPOC?
Well, the cool thing about SIPOC is, you can use it for many different things.
So if you have a problem within a process, like, let's say, you have a customer service
issue, and your clients or customers aren't getting what they need, you can do a SIPOC
to understand the process, the ins and outs, the customers, stakeholders
to really start to go at a high level, what could potentially be the issue, so you can
kind of zoom in, and deal with the right thing.
You can use it for understanding of a scope of a project.
So if you have a project coming up, and it's process oriented,
or way of working oriented, you can take a look at a SIPOC so you can ensure that
you have all the right aspects you need to be successful.
I've also used a SIPOC for change management,particularly when I want to have a really
good understanding as to who my customers are, and who the stakeholders are, because I
need to do change management around them.
And when you do a SIPOC you'll be amazed at the people you've forgotten in your project.
And that's a really important tool.
I've also used it, which is pretty cool, when you have a futuristic idea of vision, you
know you want to create a project around it.
And before I go into what I call the future state, we need to do a SIPOC to have an understanding.
Okay, what exactly do you want to do here?
I then use that as the springboard needed in order to create the full process future state map.
So there's a lot of cool ways you can use SIPOC.
Now that you know how to do a SIPOC, are you now wondering how to be a project Ninja?
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but could use this project management course that I was talking about.
On that note, I would love to hear from you if you use a SIPOC or if you've ever done
a SIPOC, and if you ever need any other tips or tricks that you may want to share
overall, thank you so much.
Look forward to hearing from you and see you at the next video.