Please note: by using the information on these pages you agree to the ActionMap Inc. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these document, please do not use this information

Click here for the
Why Map Your Job!
slide deck

Table of Contents of This Page

Why "Map That Job" instead of "Map Your Job"?

Why this Might Be Challenging for Some People

Why Map Your Job?

**Why Map Any Job?**

Part 1: because:

There's a 50%+ job dissatisfaction rate
- People want to advance in their current jobs, improve their job conditions or move on to a new job
People cannot clearly see a job when they are:
- Outside the job, or
- Deep inside the job
- It's the difference between assigning a job, doing the job and describing how to do the job.
You cannot effectively change what you can't see
SO: you need to map a job in order to effectively change a job

Part 2: because people may know how to:

put jobs on organization charts
write job requirements
hire people into jobs
conduct job training
supervise jobs
coach and manage job performance
and even perform jobs

all without being able to step back and

describe in detail the work inside the job
see how the work affects the person doing the job and
find ways to improve the job, OR
decide finally that it's not the right job for the person doing the job (which could be you.)

In short, people can be dissatisfied with jobs for a long time without understanding where the pain comes from and how to fix it.

Mapping a job helps solves that problem by creating detailed understanding of:

the work inside the job
the value produced by the job
how the job connects to the rest of the organization
how the job is being managed
how the person doing the job feels about every single part of the job, and
every idea that can be thought of for changing the job.

**Why "Map That Job" instead of "Map Your Job"?**

The best way to learn how to map jobs is to map your job.

The article at this link provides instructions on how to do that.

After you learn to "Map Your Job", you may then want to map:

Your next job
Your first job
Your dream job
Your staff members' jobs
Your manager's job
Your recruiting candidate's last jobs
The job you are interviewing for
Your project, or someone else's project
Your department, or someone else's department
Your company, or someone else's company

Once you learn to map your job, you will have learned 90% of what you need to know to map, evaluate and create action plans for all of the above jobs, processes and organizations.

This is a skill that you can use throughout your career, both for yourself and to help others.

That's why we say "Map That Job" instead of "Map Your Job"

Why this might be challenging

It's not the method

The ActionMap method has been proven in hundred of engagements and many trainings.
The procedures and format are nearly completely mechanical.
The procedures include questions to ask yourself to help access what you know when you need to know it.
The formats for recording the answers are simple to draw and write.
The procedures are very "forgiving" if they are not done exactly according to the guidelines.

It's all about a person's willingness to take a clear, hard look at their job.

It's understandable why people might not want to take a clear, hard look at their jobs.

People may know they need to change jobs and don't want to face it right now.
It's painful to think about their jobs, and people don't want to experience the pain.
People may intuitively understand that this will really cause them to change the way the look at their jobs, and they are afraid of change.
People may be afraid to share knowledge of their jobs for fear that the job will be replaced (possible answer - don't share your map!)
And there may be other reasons as well.

One approach: if you really aren't comfortable mapping your job, map something else, and then come back and map your job.

Ideas:

A home or community activity
A business process
A hobby activity
Buying a couch
Planning a party
Enrolling for a class
Running a pizza parlor

Additional examples of ActionMap process maps are shown at this link.

Bottom Line

Job Satisfaction: Mapping your job is one of the best things you can do for job satisfaction, because it gives you the understanding you need to make change happen.

Professional Development: Learning to map jobs in general is one of the best things you can do for your professional development, because it gives you the ability to contribute to and/or lead process change.

Future of Your Career: Job change is accelerating. Learning to map jobs is the best way to prepare for the future of your career.

This is the place.

This is the time.

You're the person.

Go for it!