This War Map shows how we turn an operational review into an implementation plan. The company, people and figures are fictional. The dates show a possible sequence; the scope and schedule of a real engagement are agreed with you.
Operational Reality
This is what we deliver: a map of where the business is fragile, what it costs, what to automate first, and which systems should exist so leadership can stop carrying the operation by hand.
Illustrative five-week work plan, March 3 to April 4. Twelve interview roles across eight departments and six systems. The final week is split into synthesis and handover.
Five-week sample timeline · six work blocks
Defined engagement scope. Mapped org chart. Identified priority workflows for shadowing across operations, finance, and logistics.
Shadowed the complete order-to-cash cycle. Documented 14 actual steps vs 8 in SOP. Identified 3 manual exception paths.
Observed daily inventory reconciliation. Marc runs a custom CSV export from WMS, manually cross-references with SAP counts.
Mapped the PO approval chain. Discovered CEO approves ~40 POs/week over the €5K threshold. Average approval delay: 2.3 days.
Escalation routing is entirely memory-based. Céline routes all escalations personally. No rules engine, no documentation.
Reviewed all SAP integration points. Found 3 of 6 integrations disconnected since a failed update 8 months ago.
David maintains a reconciliation macro he built 6 years ago. No documentation. No backup. Runs monthly close through it.
Mapped all inter-department handoffs. Found 11 points where information transfers via email or Slack with no system record.
Observed how exceptions (damaged goods, short shipments) are handled. Process is ad-hoc, varies by shift, and undocumented.
Catalogued all system-to-system data flows. Built gap matrix showing where data is duplicated, missing, or manually bridged.
Analyzed 6 months of exception data. Found recurring patterns in order errors, shipment discrepancies, and invoice mismatches.
Built comprehensive data flow diagram across all 6 systems. Identified 14 manual bridges and 3 data dead-ends.
Analyzed calendar data, meeting patterns, and task logs across 12 interviewees. Quantified time spent on manual vs. strategic work.
Built detailed process maps for all 19 documented workflows. Compared SOP documentation against observed reality.
Scored each workflow on conformance (SOP vs reality), automation potential, and business impact. Prioritized by ROI.
Identified 8 automation opportunities across 4 departments. Scored by complexity, impact, and dependency chain.
Catalogued all undocumented processes carried by individual team members. Identified 3 critical single points of failure.
Designed 4-phase implementation plan. Sequenced initiatives by dependency, complexity, and quick-win potential.
Built financial models for each automation initiative. Conservative and optimistic projections based on time recovery and efficiency gains.
Full quality review of all findings, process maps, and recommendations. Cross-referenced every data point with source interviews.
Assembled War Map deliverable. Structured findings into three chapters: Operational Reality, Findings, Implementation plan.
Reviewed findings with department leads. Validated accuracy of process maps and friction points. No corrections needed.
Final quality assurance pass. Verified all numbers, timelines, and recommendations. Prepared handoff materials.
Walked leadership through key findings. Aligned on priority initiatives for Phase 2. Confirmed budget and timeline expectations.
Delivered final War Map. Presented implementation roadmap. Agreed on next steps and governance structure for Phase 2.
What We Heard
“When I’m out sick, nobody knows how to run the monthly close. That terrifies me.”
“I spend my first hour every morning just figuring out what happened overnight. By the time I know, it’s too late to act.”
“We have six systems but zero single source of truth. Everyone has their own version of reality.”
“I approve 40 purchase orders a week. Most of them I just rubber-stamp because I don’t have time to review them properly.”
“The WMS export script? I wrote it 3 years ago. It’s on my laptop. No one else knows it exists.”