In today’s competitive business landscape, proving the financial impact of your processes is more essential than ever. While traditional diagramming tools provide visuals, they lack the ability to clearly quantify the value of your process improvements. Puzzle's innovative Step Cost Calculator bridges this gap, enabling you to easily calculate and visually demonstrate the exact dollar savings of each step in your processes.
With the Step Cost Calculator, you can effortlessly provide stakeholders and clients with transparent, precise evidence of the return on investment, elevating your workflow mapping from simple visuals to powerful, data-driven value demonstrations.
Benefits of Using Step Cost Calculator
🔢 Automatic Cost Calculation: Instantly calculate accurate costs per process step based on time, frequency, and hourly rates.
🚀 Enhanced Transparency: Clearly demonstrate measurable financial impacts, strengthening stakeholder trust and buy-in.
⚖️ Better Decision Making: Provide actionable insights into the financial impact of potential process improvements.
⚡ Increased Efficiency: Reduce manual cost-tracking efforts, streamlining the evaluation of process improvements.
🏆 Competitive Edge: Stand out by delivering clear, quantifiable value alongside visual diagrams.
Step-by-Step of Using Step Cost Calculator
🎥 Watch a full video walkthrough on how to use this feature:
Or follow written step-by-step instructions here:
1️⃣ Access the Step Cost Feature
1️⃣ Access the Step Cost Feature
🔓 Log In: Sign in to your Puzzle account and navigate to your workspace.
🖱️ Select Step: Click on the specific workflow step you want to analyze.
🚨 Important: If the Step Cost Calculator is not visible in your Step Sidebar, you may need to enable it first.
How to Enable the Step Cost Calculator in Step Sidebar Configuration:
Go to Workspace Settings in Puzzle.
Navigate to Step Sidebar Configuration.
Toggle ON the Step Cost Calculator input.
Click Save, and your Step Sidebar will update automatically.
Now, when you open a step, the Step Cost Calculator section will appear, allowing you to input financial details and track costs seamlessly.
2️⃣ Input Time and Frequency
2️⃣ Input Time and Frequency
🕒 Enter Completion Time: Input the total time it takes to complete this step.
🔄 Specify Frequency: Indicate how often the step is executed (e.g., per run, monthly, annually).
🚨 Ensure the responsible role is assigned to the step and has an accurate hourly rate configured in the Team Canvas.
3️⃣ Automatic Cost Calculation
3️⃣ Automatic Cost Calculation
💵 Once time, frequency, and the responsible role’s hourly rate are set, Puzzle will automatically calculate:
Labor hours per run
Monthly labor hours
Annual labor
Cost per run
Monthly cost of the step
Annual cost of the step
🚨 The calculator requires all three inputs—time duration, frequency of the step, and the assigned role’s hourly rate—to accurately calculate these costs.
👤 Setting Up Roles & Rates (Team Canvas)
To ensure accurate cost calculations, complete this one-time setup:
👥 Access Team Designer: Navigate to the Team Canvas in your Puzzle workspace.
➕ Create and Assign Roles: Clearly define roles and associate them directly with workflow steps.
✅ Assign Hourly Rates: Set accurate hourly rates for each role to enable precise cost calculations.
Strategic Tips: Maximizing Step Cost Insights
🧐 Analyze Manual vs. Automated Costs:
Compare manual execution costs against automation solutions to identify clear opportunities for efficiency.Example Scenario:
Manual Process: Conducting a live discovery meeting (higher cost).
Automated Process: Using automation tools like VideoAsk to collect initial discovery information (lower cost).
📈 Optimize Processes:
Identify costly or inefficient manual steps, targeting them for automation to reduce expenses and increase efficiency.
🎬 Clearly Showcase ROI:
Present your calculated savings visually to clients and stakeholders, effectively demonstrating the financial benefits and the value of your process improvements.
💡 Best Practices & Tips
🎯 Regularly Update Rates: Consistently update role hourly rates to maintain precise and accurate calculations.
📊 Input Accuracy: Always use accurate and realistic estimates for completion time and frequency for trustworthy cost assessments.
🔍 Prioritize High-Cost Steps: Identify and optimize the most expensive steps first to quickly realize significant cost reductions.
⚙️ Consistent Documentation: Regularly document and track cost data to simplify analysis and strategic decision-making.
🎨 Visual Communication: Clearly present calculated step costs in presentations to communicate value, support decision-making, and drive stakeholder buy-in.
Conclusion
Puzzle's Step Cost Calculator transforms how you communicate the financial value of your workflows. By clearly demonstrating measurable cost savings, you'll effectively showcase ROI, gain stronger stakeholder alignment, and confidently drive smarter operational decisions.
Start leveraging the Step Cost Calculator today to elevate your process improvement initiatives, stand out among competitors, and clearly illustrate the tangible benefits of your work.