Experiences with print processes lead to unique mental models  — or perspectives — about print. In other words, how each of us works with print shapes how we understand it. Most of our mental models of printing are limited to tasks that we can perform with multifunction printers (MFPs) and similar printing devices.

By taking a step back and looking at the part that print plays in information workflows across your organization, you can disrupt this mental model and begin to see print as a business strategy rather than a collection of tasks.

During a digital transformation, this is a more valuable perspective because it leads to a better understanding of how your employees move information today — providing insight into how you can make these processes more efficient.

Reverse engineer print workflows to help improve business processes.

This new way of looking at print can help you reverse engineer how information moves throughout your organization — providing insight into changes you can make to improve the flow of information. To help hone your new mental model, you can start with a simple question:

Processes are changing all the time, thus asking simple questions such as : How do our employees print? Can lead to better visibility and insight in you gola ofaligning process with execution.

Answering this question can lead to more awareness about the cultural and organizational structure of your company. And, as with any serious investigation into business processes, it can lead to more questions that provide additional insights specific to your company, such as:

• Visibility into current state as-is processes
• Improving Handoffs: It is the moment when the responsibility for a particular task passes from one person to another.
• Competing Priorities - with people & systems.

Although print can initiate data streams, it's not helpful to look at printing processes as linear. Print-related tasks show up everywhere in the output management process, and employees use print in a variety of ways, depending on a number of factors, such as:

• Preferred or New work-styles
• Client expectations
• Approaches to collaboration

By Reverse engineering print workflows, you can get a much better understanding of how your employees like to work. You can also uncover the variety of ways information is shared throughout your organization, as well as areas where legacy processes and procedures are holding your organization back.