Value Stream Map: [Value stream name] at [Organisation]

Business architecture value stream map for one value stream: the triggering stakeholder and trigger, the value proposition, the stages with their entrance and exit criteria, the value items each stage produces, the cross-map from stages to business capabilities, the information concepts used, pain points, metrics and the improvement opportunities that follow. The concepts follow business architecture practice as described in the Business Architecture Guild's BIZBOK Guide (v15, April 2026). This is the business architecture value stream (how an organisation delivers value to a stakeholder, stage by stage), not a Lean manufacturing value stream map of material and information flow; section 1.4 explains the difference. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

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Revision history

Contents

1. Purpose and scope
2. Modelling conventions
3. Value stream definition
4. Value stream stages
5. Entrance and exit criteria
6. Value items and stakeholder value
7. Capability cross-map
8. Information concepts
9. Participating stakeholders and organisation
10. Pain points and issue assessment
11. Value stream metrics
12. Improvement opportunities
13. Traceability matrix
14. Governance and maintenance
15. Glossary and references

1. Purpose and scope

1.1 Purpose

This map describes how [Organisation] delivers [end value] to [triggering stakeholder] in the [value stream name] value stream. It is used to [locate the stages where value is lost, explain customer-visible problems in capability terms, prioritise the FY YYYY change portfolio, scope the target business architecture for programme X].

1.2 Scope

• In scope: [all channels through which a policyholder can report a loss, from first notice to final payment or closure].
• Out of scope: [subrogation and recovery from third parties, which form a separate value stream VS-07].
• Time frame: current state as of YYYY-MM-DD; target state for YYYY-MM-DD.
• Variants covered: [motor and household claims; commercial claims are a variant mapped separately because the stages differ].

1.3 Questions this map answers

1. Which stages deliver the value the stakeholder actually cares about, and in what order?
2. Where does the stream stall, loop back or lose stakeholders, and which capabilities sit behind each problem?
3. Which business units, partners and information concepts are involved at each stage?
4. Which improvement opportunities would raise end-to-end value most, and which initiatives already address them?

1.4 Business architecture value stream versus Lean value stream map

The term "value stream" has two common meanings. Choose deliberately and say which one you use, because the two maps answer different questions.

Use this template when you need to connect strategy and investment to the customer outcome and to capabilities. Use a Lean VSM when you need to cut lead time in a specific, repeatable operational flow. The two work well together: a business architecture stage that scores badly in section 10 is a good candidate for a Lean VSM of the processes that realise it. Software delivery teams often use a third variant (flow metrics across a delivery pipeline); treat it as a Lean VSM applied to software.

1.5 Related documents

2. Modelling conventions

2.1 Naming rules

2.2 ID conventions

• Value streams: VS-NN (for example VS-02).
• Stages: VS-NN.S (for example VS-02.3), numbered in the order of normal progression.
• Value items: VI-NN.S.n; pain points: PP-NNN; metrics: MET-NNN; opportunities: OPP-NNN; information concepts: INF-NNN.
• Capabilities: the IDs of the capability map, unchanged (CAP-NN.NN).

2.3 Granularity and boundaries

• Aim for four to nine stages. Fewer usually hides the stage that matters; more usually means you are mapping a process.
• A stage must produce a distinct value item that someone would notice if it were missing.
• Stages are sequential in the normal case. Show loops and alternative paths in the diagram only when they matter to a decision, and never as a stage of their own.
• A value stream ends when the triggering stakeholder has received the end value, not when the organisation has finished its internal work.
• Do not put organisation units, roles, applications or channels in a stage name; record them as attributes in sections 9 and 7.

3. Value stream definition

3.1 Value stream inventory

List the organisation's value streams so the reader can see where this one sits. Map only the ones that need decisions.

3.2 Triggering stakeholder and trigger event

3.3 Value proposition

Write the value proposition as one or two sentences the stakeholder would recognise.

[Example: When I suffer a covered loss, I can report it once, know what will happen next, and receive a fair settlement quickly enough to restore my situation.]

4. Value stream stages

4.1 Stage diagram

Draw the normal path left to right, from trigger to end value. Show an alternative exit only when a decision depends on it.

4.2 Stage catalogue

4.3 Variants and alternative paths

5. Entrance and exit criteria

Check every pair against these quality rules:

• The exit criteria of one stage imply the entrance criteria of the next.
• Each criterion is binary: it is either met or not met.
• No criterion names a specific application, screen or team.
• Exit criteria describe the value item being complete, not merely work having been done.
• Alternative exits (decline, dispute, withdrawal) are written down, so that metrics can count them separately.

6. Value items and stakeholder value

6.1 Value items by stage

6.2 Stakeholder value matrix

Mark for each stakeholder and stage whether the stakeholder receives value (R), contributes (C) or is unaffected (blank).

7. Capability cross-map

7.1 Stage to capability cross-map

The rows above repeat the VS-02 cross-map of the Business Capability Map (architecture/business-capability-map, section 7) with the same IDs and heat values; change them there first. A stage is only as strong as its weakest enabling capability. Use the third column to explain why a stage underperforms, and section 12 to decide whether to invest in that capability.

7.2 Capability reuse across value streams

Capabilities that enable stages in several value streams are leverage points: an improvement there pays off more than once. In the Example, VS-01 stages come from its own value stream map (VSM-002) and VS-03.2 is a provisional stage ID from the inventory in section 3.1, because VS-03 is not yet mapped; confirm both when those maps are approved.

8. Information concepts

Flag any concept with more than one authoritative source, or none, as a pain point in section 10. Detailed definitions belong in the Data Dictionary (architecture/data-dictionary).

9. Participating stakeholders and organisation

9.1 Accountability (RACI) for maintaining this map

10. Pain points and issue assessment

Define the severity scale before scoring: for example 5 means the stakeholder abandons the stream or a regulatory obligation is at risk, and 1 means a minor inconvenience with a workaround.

11. Value stream metrics

Rules for metrics:

• Every metric names its start and end points using stage exits.
• Report medians and a high percentile for durations, not only averages.
• Count alternative exits (decline, dispute, withdrawal) separately so that a rising decline rate does not look like a faster stream.
• Use the metric definitions from the Metric Definition template (ai-data/metric-definition) when a metric feeds a dashboard.

12. Improvement opportunities

12.1 Opportunity register

Agree the priority rule before scoring, for example "High when value is at least 4 and effort at most 3".

12.2 Opportunity to initiative mapping

13. Traceability matrix

Check that no row ends in "not yet funded" for a pain point of severity 5 without a recorded decision.

14. Governance and maintenance

• Owner: the value stream owner is accountable for the end value and for this map; the business architect maintains it.
• Review cadence: at each planning cycle and whenever the capability map changes a capability used in section 7.
• Change triggers: a new product, channel or regulation that alters a stage; a merger; a restructuring of the organisation units in section 9 (this changes section 9 only, not the stages).
• Quality checks before approval:
  • stage names pass the naming rules in section 2.1;
  • every stage has entrance and exit criteria and at least one value item;
  • every stage maps to at least one capability from the current capability map version;
  • every metric has a baseline and a source;
  • every high-severity pain point appears in the traceability matrix.
• Repository: store the map with the capability map in the architecture repository and record its location in the Zachman Framework Classification (architecture/zachman-classification).

15. Glossary and references

15.1 Glossary

15.2 References

Standard and licence note

Structure aligned with the value stream concepts of business architecture practice as described in the Business Architecture Guild's BIZBOK Guide (v15, April 2026): value stream, triggering stakeholder, stages, entrance and exit criteria, value items and capability cross-mapping. The BIZBOK Guide is copyrighted by the Business Architecture Guild; this template uses only the generic concept names, reproduces no text, tables, diagrams or reference models from it, and is original text written for this collection. BIZBOK and Business Architecture Guild are registered trademarks of the Business Architecture Guild. TOGAF is a registered trademark of The Open Group; this template uses only its name. The Lean comparison cites Rother and Shook for context only. Check the current BIZBOK Guide version at businessarchitectureguild.org before use. Template licence: MIT.