Select the Workflow
This step is a preparation step for the rest of the audit. You will be selecting a workflow and then - if necessary - identifying the segments of the workflow in order to simplify the analysis and chunk the work into more manageable pieces.
Time to Perform is 15 minutes
+ Why
The simple part here is picking the workflow that will undergo the audit. You look through the list you made during the Define the Scope step and pick one. The potentially trickier part is segmenting this workflow, which is why I am dedicating this “Why” section to it’s importance.
The goal of segmenting the workflow is simplification. First it is easier to gather. If you don’t segment the workflow then you are either asking every person in the audit to know the entire scope of the workflow - not so realistic - or you are trying to chase the audited workflow across multiple groups - which becomes convoluted. Segmenting allows you to focus the gathering of information on a single piece, which means the person is more likely to know their entire piece and less time consuming and less convoluted for you.
Second, the analysis is easier to perform in segments. If a workflow takes an hour's worth of work, would you rather compare a full hour at a time or 15 minute segments of it? I’ll take the smaller 15 minutes. Additionally, because you are segmenting it based on the handoff points it’s easier to pinpoint the location of the discrepancies. If person A and person B perform the workflow differently, you have an hour's worth of work to review. If person A and person B perform section 2 differently, you have 15 minutes to review.