Process improvement begins with assessment of the current state. A solid understanding of how a process is actually functioning within the business is necessary before any change that will make a difference can be designed.
PPI's Current State Assessment services are always tailored to the client's program objectives.
The assessment is generally comprised of three components, but client circumstances can dictate variations:
1. CSA Program Design
This stage delineates the program objectives, governing and focusing the project. It addresses the question, What are the core objectives of your program?
Different clients have different needs. Some typical objectives are to improve:
- Productivity of key business processes
- Utilization of appropriate Performance Metrics
- Effectiveness of resource allocations
- Synergy between core processes and organizational goals
- Ability of IT to enable operational efficiencies
- Process's ability to deliver customer value
- Efficiency of inter-departmental hand-offs
2. Process Selection & Workflow Development
Once the objectives of the program are established and its focus is clear, it is necessary to select which processes are going to be assessed.
Process selection is framed by a variety of considerations, including:
- Program design
- Scale and timing
- Process prioritization
For each selected process, PPI consultants will develop workflows that capture how the process is currently working. Workflow development gathers information on process performance, activity-based productivity and procedural dependencies. Workflow development utilizes best practices in:
- Information gathering approaches (e.g. interviews)
- Leveraging client documentation
- Collective PPI expertise
3. Operational Analysis
After the current state of the process has been identified, operational analysis seeks to identify process improvement opportunities.
The operational analysis typically examines various stages of the workflows that have been developed in comparison to:
- Productivity measures
- Performance metrics
- Organizational competencies
- Process costs
- Program objectives
- Best practice comparisons
Some sample findings from CSAs performed by PPI include:
Operations
- Significant number of resources are engaged in non-standard processing
- Current structure of batch processes causes material delays in processing
- Metrics and management processes are not driving the right behaviors
- Current operating structure is insufficient to support effective scalability
Infrastructure
- Core IT systems are out of sync with key operating processes
- IT has not kept pace with operational evolution
- Process checks & balances are based on quality control and not quality assurance
- The Performance Management system doesn’t adequately enforce accountability & commitment
Organizational
- Numerous manual processes are largely aimed at moving documents not information
- Processing is based on a people-capacity model not a technology-capacity model
- Job roles are defined by an individual’s characteristics rather than by formal
job descriptions
- Weak linkages exist between strategic objectives and departmental priorities
Desired State Assessment
Based on the results of the Current State Assessment, it is possible to gauge the possibilities of short and/or long-term improvements that address the weaknesses or opportunities that have been identified in the current process. The Desired State Assessment consists of the
design and prioritization of practical process improvements.
The Desired State, once designed, becomes the goal that the Implementation phase of the project is driving toward.
The Desired State Assessment is intertwined with the implementation of actual improvements, as described in the
Improvement Implementation section.
