Aligning Business Systems Through the System Alignment Workshop (SAW)

Traditional organizational charts are limited in their ability to define how work truly flows within a company. While they show reporting relationships between departments, they do not capture how business systems interact or where workflow breaks down. These gaps often result in process inefficiencies, communication breakdowns, and duplicated or missing work. Leadership wants to replace siloed thinking with interconnected workflows that align with the enterprise’s strategic purpose.

The Problem with Traditional Structures

Department-based organizational structures encourage siloed operations. This results in poorly connected processes, fragmented customer-supplier relationships, and a lack of accountability. Processes often overlap without clarity, are burdened with redundant effort, and suffer from unrecognized handoffs. Fixing these issues requires moving beyond organizational charts and embracing system-level alignment.

The Role of System Alignment

System Alignment ensures that business processes connect seamlessly both internally and externally. The goal is to remove disruptions at the boundaries between processes and systems so that workflow can proceed without interruption. Boundary alignment is critical. For a boundary to be considered seamless—or "mirrored"—four key criteria must be met:

1. The supplier process must correctly name the customer process.
2. The customer process must correctly name the supplier process.
3. The output from the supplier must exactly match the input expected by the customer.
4. The delivery method of that output/input must also match.

When any of these elements are misaligned, it creates inefficiencies, confusion, and missed expectations. Sometimes the fix is simple (e.g., correcting a process name), but in more serious cases, the supplier delivers inputs the customer neither needs nor uses. In one real example, a regulatory process was mapped with several connections, yet none of the corresponding processes acknowledged or linked back, revealing a fundamental breakdown in regulatory integration.

Conducting a System Alignment Workshop (SAW)

The SAW is a hands-on, collaborative event designed to identify and resolve these types of issues. It brings together System Owners, Process Owners, and team members in one room to review and validate the interconnectedness of their processes. This workshop often marks the first time such a cross-functional team has collaborated in real-time to assess their system’s workflow.

Step 1: Preparation

Key materials include:

• Process posters that show each process map laid out in flow sequence.
• External customer/supplier posters to document system inputs and outputs.
• Painter’s tape, clear tape, colored string, Post-it notes, markers, and scissors.

Posters are laid out in a 4x3 grid, each representing up to twelve pages of a process map. These maps focus on flow, not on the detailed documentation within each process. It is critical that maps be up-to-date prior to the SAW.

Step2: Layout

Before participants arrive, the facilitator tapes all materials to the walls in process sequence. External input/output posters are placed at either end of the room. The facilitator ensures there is sufficient space for people to work comfortably and interact with both the posters and each other.

When employees help shape how their work is done, they become more motivated and invested. Process mapping becomes not just an analytical tool—but a powerful vehicle for long-term engagement, satisfaction, and performance.

Step 3: Process Linkage

The workshop begins with training on customer-supplier boundary concepts and participant roles. Each Process Owner then walks through their map, explaining the work and answering questions. This is often the first time the broader team hears a firsthand explanation of how a given process functions. Valuable insights emerge as teams recognize disconnects, duplications, or misunderstandings.

Next, Process Owners and their assistants (Lieutenants) verify that internal map connectors reflect accurate process flow. Edits and annotations are made directly to the posters as needed.

Step 4: System Linkage

This exercise checks the connections between processes within the business system. Using colored string, Process Owners physically link their output to the corresponding input on the receiving process map:

• If the link is mirrored correctly on both maps, the string is taped down on both ends.
• If the receiving map lacks a mirrored connection, the string is left hanging to indicate a disconnect.

This is repeated for inbound connections, creating a web of color-coded connections that visually highlight the system’s integration—or lack thereof.

Step 5: Enterprise Linkage

Next, Process Owners identify any customer-supplier relationships with entities outside the mapped system, including other departments or external organizations. These are also represented using colored string, with notations about the nature of the input/output and the name of the connected external entity. These connections don’t need to be mirrored because the external processes aren’t present, but capturing them still informs future improvement efforts and potential strategic partnerships.

Step 6: System Opportunities

The final step is a collaborative review of the workshop’s findings. Process Owners share observations and proposed actions. The colored string crisscrossing the posters reveals a visual summary: connected strings represent working relationships, while hanging strings signify gaps. Broken connections must be resolved by working with the corresponding Process Owner and, where necessary, the System Owner. Updates must be documented and approved before incorporation into the formal process maps.

Unresolvable disconnects are marked using "Red Clouds," visual indicators on the map that signal deeper issues, such as:

• Missing or inaccurate customer-supplier links.
• Unclear boundaries or handoffs.
• Duplicated or omitted steps.
• Inconsistent terminology.
• Missing subject matter expertise.

SAW posters should remain on display until all updates are finalized.

Sustaining Seamless System Performance

The SAW is not a one-time event. Repeating it periodically helps maintain seamless connectivity as systems evolve. It can be used to test specific workflows before strategic planning or change initiatives. Notably, this level of system insight cannot be achieved with traditional tools like organization charts, SOPs, swim lanes, or standard flowcharts. Only through the SAW methodology can organizations visualize how work truly flows across processes and systems, ensuring better alignment, transparency, and performance.