Warren Harkness
OVERVIEW
It is crucial for IS managers to understand current implementation problems in order to focus their systems development efforts on winners. Time and effort spent on resolving implementation problems prevents organizations from applying that energy to critical new system applications. The goal is to free up resources, reduce wasteful activities, and dramatically improve business performance. The results mirror those sought in all aspects of business performance: faster cycle times and increased customer satisfaction.
This chapter is designed to help IS executives understand performance improvement within the information systems domain. It is critical to the success of an enterprise that its ability to meet or exceed the needs of the customer is driven by an ability to do so for the right expenditure of effort and resources, thereby meeting or exceeding the needs of the enterprise. For IS groups to demonstrate “effectiveness,” they must address in the affirmative the following two questions:
1. Are the installed information systems capable of the level of performance required by the business processes?
2. If so, are the installed information systems currently performing at that level of performance?
If the answer to either of these questions is no, then the correct response is to evaluate the systems portfolio and analyze which systems need to be enhanced or replaced.
For IS groups to demonstrate “efficiency,” they must address in the affirmative the following two questions:
§ Can the projects currently underway be delivered on time, within budget, and to the client’
s requirements?
§ Can the process by which the systems projects are delivered be improved to better meet client needs, reduce delivery costs, or meet the delivery schedule?
If the answer to either of these questions is no, then the correct response is to launch a directed systems delivery process improvement effort.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT APPROACHES
There are a number of approaches for improving the IS process. Organizations need to understand which approaches would best meet their goals within schedule and resource constraints. Approaches range from ad hoc and just-in-time methods to TQM approaches and structured intervention. This chapter focuses on a process management approach to IS improvement.
Process Management Approach
A process management approach to focused improvement is characterized by creating a capability throughout the IS organization (see Exhibit 1). Initiating a successful change effort requires:
Exhibit 1. Process Management Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Weaknesses
Focuses on long-term systematic Takes a long time to see significant understanding of problem-solving within results
process framework
Builds a deep organizational learning of Difficult to sustain the effort over a long process
period of time
§ Understanding the current business processes within IS
§ Selecting key processes to be improved
§ Developing process metrics
§ Managing processes long-term using process owners who report key metrics In the short term, the management group of an organization can select the key processes to be improved and then launch improvement efforts. In the long term, the process owners have the responsibility to put in place process metrics, assess the current processes using these metrics, and launch improvement teams based on the gaps between targeted performance levels and actual performance levels. The process management approach is often a logical evolution from the TQM approach, which tends to focus on empowering teams continually to fix problems.
Process Mapping
The process management approach is based on a continual understanding, refining, and uncovering of the linked activities that form the process layers of an organization.
This approach uses process mapping to provide straightforward assessments of how organizations get things done. A modified process-mapping technique is applied to minimize the problems associated with traditional process-mapping techniques.
Process-mapping exercises often fail. In an effort to document the detail of the process steps, the individual or team doing the documenting gets lost in the overwhelming detail of the process steps. The resulting process maps look like detailed logic flowcharts, with dozens or even hundreds of activity steps. Unable to
comprehend or keep in mind the details of the processes, those doing the documenting often fail to grasp the essence of the overall process. The key to effectively executing process mapping is managing and displaying the levels of detail.
At the highest level, a set of enterprise processes are described and then decomposed to lower levels of detail.
A detailed examination of the major steps for successful process mapping is provided next.
Eight Major Steps for Successful Process Mapping
1. Identify major processes.
2. Determine key process for focus.
3. Understand existing key process at lower level of detail.
4. Choose area for focus (quality, cost, or delivery).
5. Find bottlenecks, waste, and defects in existing process.
6. Eliminate delays, waste, and defects.
7. Document the new process.
8. Deploy to organization.
Identify Major Processes The high-level process chart shown in Exhibit 2 is from a nonprofit enterprise. It depicts key business and support processes necessary for the organization to be managed effectively. To create this Business Process diagram, the group performed the following steps:
Exhibit 2. Business Processes
1. They brainstormed the processes in the enterprise.
2. They grouped similar processes.
3. They titled process groups by creating a higher level name.
4. They divided the titled groups into those that were considered to be key business processes and those that were considered support to the key processes.
Determine Key Process for Focus This high-level process map is used to prioritize and choose the area for focus and improvement. Ideally, metrics have been created for each process block (e.g., cycle time or quality level expected). The metrics provide actual data and the ability to set and track target levels. The data collected drives the determination of which processes to focus on, by providing a means for selecting the largest gaps between target and actual. Without metrics and actual data, management groups typically choose improvement targets based on qualitative data or by discussion and consensus.
Understand Existing Key Process at Lower Level of Detail If, for example, the management group selects the Leadership Process to focus on, the task now becomes drilling down into the next level of detail for this process. There is now a reason to really understand this process, so one can map the process as shown in the diagram in Exhibit 3, moving to a greater level of detail.
Exhibit 3. Leadership Process
The documentation of the process should describe the major steps in no more than seven to ten blocks on a single page. When more than ten blocks are created, combine some of the blocks and create a higher level block that replaces the three to four blocks that are detailed at a lower level.
For example, for the following steps:
1. Receive pledge forms
2. Sort pledge forms into different methods of payment
3. Summarize totals by method
this could be described as one block called “consolidate by method of payment.”
Choose Area for Focus (QCD) Once the lowest level of detail process map has been drawn for the existing process, then metrics are created for the process at hand and data is collected to depict actual performance versus target level. Quality, cost, and delivery are typically major categories.
Suppose that for the Leadership Process, the key metrics are:
§ Quality: accuracy of completed pledge forms (measured by percentage of forms without errors in key fields such as name, address, total pledge amount, etc.)
§ The target is 95 percent accuracy and the actual is
currently 45 percent to 65 percent.
§ Delivery: Cycle time of Leadership Process (measured by elapsed time from when pledge forms enter process to when pledge data is in database)
§ The target is less than 24 hours and the actual is
currently 14 to 36 hours.
There are now two explicit areas from which to choose: decreasing defects (increasing accuracy) or decreasing cycle time — or, perhaps, even both.
Find Bottleneck, Waste, and Defects in Existing Process If the team chooses to focus on one area (e.g., decreasing defects), then barriers inherent in the existing process are explored. The cross-functional team “walks the process” in the detail process maps. As the processes are reviewed in ever-increasing detail, the people on the team gain a greater understanding of how the process currently works and begin to suggest improvements in the way the process should work in the future. A blend of experience and insight is offered by open discussion.
For example, a team member might say, “You mean you don’
t do anything with the
green copy we have been sending to you?” Process changes can be suggested and discussed with managers and employees throughout the enterprise to test the concept of proposed changes.
Document New Process The new process is usually built upon the design of the existing process, replacing major blocks with new ones, dropping redundant steps, consolidating multiple overlapping tasks, and streamlining the process. It is also possible to redesign the total workflow if changing the total process can make significant improvements. The new process maps with detailed steps and metrics become the basis for the new work process.