Understand the Service

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Continuous Improvement & Benchmarking

Understand the service

Analyze

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2 Continuous Improvement & BenchmarkingUnderstand the service

Learning objectives

To have the skills to:Interview service staffReview documentationMap process flowsPlay the customerWalk the processIdentify opportunities forimprovement

InterviewReviewMapPlay cust’

WalkOpportun’




Interview staff

To gain an initial understanding of the service,you will need to interview staff.Interviews can be with:

individuals („experts‟ on the service, or „owners‟ – i.e.managers with responsibility for the service); or groups – usually the people who are directly involvedin delivering the service.




Interview staff

Steps in interviewing staff:1. Prepare

Review all the information available on the service, including operationalplans, annual reports or project reports.Make up a list of questions (refer to the Guide for this section).

2. Request the interviewMake a time to meet, preferably at the interviewee‟s workplace.

3. Conduct the interviewExplain your purpose.

Ask questions. Ask to see examples of documents to verify what you are told.Follow new lines of inquiry, as suggested by the interviewee‟s answers. Thank the interviewee, offer them a copy of your report.

4. Make a reportPrepare a brief summary of your findings, for discussion with your team




Interview staff

Front line counter staff being interviewed on howthe current processworks. All counter positions were staffed tothe same level all of theday – staff were idle at off peak times, and lengthyqueues when peak times.Observation – counter

staff not rostered to meetchanging demand levels.




Review documentation

Seek out copies of these documents:strategic plansannual operating plansannual reportsmonthly reportsrelevant legislationoperating policies or instructionstransaction recordsrecords of customer complaints and their resolution




Map processes

1. Confirm process to map.2. Define process boundaries.3. Identify process steps.4. Draw the map5. Verify the map




Train teachers

Maintain schools

Inspect teachers

Supply textbooks & basic materials

Transfer operating funds to schools

Administer provincial education

Inputs Outputs

Outputs

Outputs

Outputs

Outputs

Outputs

Inputs

Inputs

Inputs

Inputs

Inputs

Basic Education

1. Confirm which process you will map

Teach students OutputsInputs

Post teachers to schools Inputs Outputs

Establish new schools Inputs Outputs




2. Define the Process

Define the boundaries

Identify the owners of the process

Identify the experts – those whowork in it

Identify key measurements - what is important about the Outputs of thisprocess




Letter received by

Records

Need torecord?

Identify Dept& Officer

Deliver toDept

Register letter Deliver letter

Director reviews

Director marksto relevant

section

Director'ssecretary placesin file movement

tray

Clerk marks torelevant sectionhead & delivers

Sectionoff-site?

Wait for mail run

Site superintendentpasses on tosupervisor responsible

Supervisor actions

Officer actions

Other sections toaction other

items?

Send for action

Waitresponse

Response inwriting

required? Draft letter Send to WP Wait

Review draft

Section headreviews

OK?

OK?

Director reviews

OK? Sensitivematter?

Sendresponse

Refer toCouncil

Councilapproves?

Wait for Councilmeeting

FILE END

N

Y

Y

N

N

Y

Revise

Yes

N

Y

Y

N

N

Only bite off as much as you can chew

Define the boundary




3. Identify the Steps

Interview the “Process Experts” Obtain key measurementsQuestion for Delays, Hand-overs, Decisions

Ask WHY something is done – don‟t assumeanythingMap the Process AS IT IS




Indicates direction of flow

Process Step:Operation or Activity

Processstep

Indicates directionof flow

Delay

Delay2 weeks

Decision

Yes

No

Decision?

Process continuedelsewhere

Linkedprocess

Document created

DocumentProcessstep

4. Draw the map




Use lines to show roles -who does what.

HealthSvcs Mgr

Centrestaff

DistrictHealth

Receiverequest Review

Appr oved

?

Re-evaluate

Modifyprogram

OKto

proceed?

Planactivities

Receiveapproval

Planningprocess

Order materials

Distributeto clients End

Steps done by Health Services Manager

Steps done by District Healt

Steps done by Centre staff

Yes

No

Yes

No



sendmaterial

Aid post

Health Centre

District HealthEducator

ProvincialHealthEducator

National - HealthPromotion &

Education section

Client - targetgroup

fill order

formorder form

check stock available?

distribute toclient

send order on

check stock 1-6mths

sendmaterials

storematerials

organisefreight

1-3mths

distributematerials

distributematerials

2d -1mth

usematerials

check stockavailable?

sendmaterial

send order on

distribute toclient

distribute to

client

End

sendmaterial

Yes

Yes

No

No

organisefreight

Finance issues: freight &productiojn of materials

Example

Start




Indicates direction of flow

4. Draw the map

Using a white board willaid in the process map

design. When analysingthe process, anddiscussing ways of improving it, the whiteboard provides an openand public view of thewhole process which aidsthe debate.




Map the process

Process chart initiallycompleted using yellow

“sticky notes”. This gaveflexibility in movingprocess pages around toget the sequence correct.Once all paper sheetswere sorted into their correct position, the finalprocess map was drawnup.




Verify the map

Verify the map by:1. reviewing it with the process „owner‟; 2. reviewing it with the process „experts‟; 3. acting as a customer;4. „walking‟ the process.




„Walk‟ the process

It is best to do this as part of the process mappingexercise, after you have the first draft of the map.Follow these steps:

1. Start at the starting point of your map.2. Literally walk along the path of the transaction, following the

steps shown in the process map.3. If a document is involved, follow the path the document takes

between departments or units and their staff.

4. Talk to the people involved at each step and check the mapfor accuracy and completeness.

5. Look for opportunities to streamline and improve the process6. Make notes and report back to the team.




„Walk‟ the process

Walking the currentgarbage collectionprocess reveals slogansand phrases that can berevived for the “new”service. Often good ideashave been thought of before hand but recedefrom our awareness over time.




Walk the process

Broken footpaths and

construction debris; bothmajor problems that needattention. These hazardspose danger for pedestrians and motoristsand extreme accidentscould bring the city into alitigious position. Clearly

this is not a goodcondition to be in.




Walk the process

Road trenching that hasbeen open for manymonths and well past thetolerance limit of the Cityand its community. Faultlies with both the City for not managing thesituation well, and the

utility company for notmeeting its permitconditions.




Walk the process

Walking the process andobserving the condition of footpaths in India. Clearlythe condition is extremelydangerous, with opengaps in the planking to adepth of one metre. This“walk” revealed thedegree of danger that

exists, much to thesurprise of the Cityofficials.




Walk the process

Man hole covers thathave been incorrectlyconstructed and/ or maintained. Thiscondition poses a hazardfor pedestrians andmotorists. The “walk theprocess” task, will reveala number of issues such

as this and they should allbe noted asunsatisfactory conditions.




Walk the process

Open trenching and

construction rubble thatnow encouragespedestrians to “dump”rubbish in the trench. Thisis a good example of oneproblem leading toanother problem. Oncegarbage dumping startsthe community mayaccept it is OK toperpetuate the problem.




Walk the process

Footpath reconstructionforces the pedestrian towalk onto the motorway.However, there is no

safety barrier to protectthe pedestrian frommotorcars andmotorbikes, so the hazardworsens. Reconstructionis also commenced over a long length of pathway,resulting in extensive newhazards for a longer period of time.




Walk the process

Walking the process of Community toilets revealswet floors, water leakagesand laundry drying in anunsatisfactory position.Poor maintenance of thefacilities is obvious.




Walk the process

Walking the process of Inspecting food vendorsreveals a number of issues. Poor foodhandling, poor refrigeration, staff withweak knowledge of correct food handling, andno policies or proceduresfor the staff to follow.

Cleanliness is a major problem that is shownhere.




Walk the process

The front reception of CityHall in the Philippinesshows customers, staff,IT equipment andemployee cards, all mixedtogether. There is noclear separation betweenCity staff and thecustomer, and no order of

processing individualcustomer requests.




Walk the process

Front reception at CityHall in the Philippinesshows staff cards in anopen public area,electrical cords lyingaround the floor ready for a customer fall, and“personal” fans, situated

in an air conditionedbuilding.




Walk the process

Front reception in CityHall in the Philippinesshowing the men‟s toiletin full public view. May-bethe result of poor design,but the free swinging door is the final weakness. A

door closer would be asatisfactory solution.




Walk the process

Front reception at CityHall in the Philippines,that is a new building andonly open for six months.Old filing cabinets andcleaning equipment lie inthe corner. The keyproblem here is why dothe staff tolerate such amess, and why does theculture accept this

condition. Surely pride inthe workplace wouldresolve this condition ?




Walk the process

Motor parking inIndonesia isconducted in anorderly fashion.However it seemspedestrians use thepark as a footpathposing a danger tothem selves and the

motorist.




Walk the process

Children's‟ park in SriLanka, showing somereconstruction with theslide. Guard rails are notinstalled and should theslide be used by youngchildren, there may be adanger of them fallingfrom the slide. Barriersaround the constructionthat prohibits children

from accessing the slidewhile under reconstruction is notevident.




Walk the process

Open drains and garbagecollection bin, withaccompanying rubbisharound. Construction sitethat has no fence or barrier to prohibit childrenfrom playing around thestructures. Open drainshave not been cleaned

and are blocked withplastic items that are non-biodegradable.




Walk the process

Tree pruning in Australiashowing the occupationalhealth and safetypractices. Hard hat, ear

muff, safety belt, safetycable and using a rope torestrict the falling treelimb; all add up to a safeworking environment.Looking at the situationcarefully reveals that onlyone operator by themself was performing theoperation. It may be safer to always have two staff doing this process.



36Continuous Improvement & Benchmarking


Act as a customer

To better understand the service, tryexperiencing it as a customer.

1. Gain agreement of the manager responsible

beforehand.2. Act as a customer, anonymously (you may need

help from the service manager to organise this).3. Report on your experience.





Act as a customer

Managing customers in ahealth clinic in thePhilippines shows thedemand on City staff.Customer courtesy,speed of response andprioritising cases may beareas of weakness. Roleplaying the customer willreveal how the processworks and the style of

interaction between Citystaff and the customer.





Identify opportunities for improvement

Role playing the customer at the City InformationCentre, particularly atbusy times, will revealhow the Information

centre works and theamount of informationthat can be provided tothe customer within ashort period of time.Glass windows and smallopenings may give thecustomer the wrongimpression about“service”. Prioritisingcustomers when there isa queue may be another issue to investigate.






Customer service centrein the Philippines shows aclear “barricade” betweenthe City staff and the

customer. Glassdivisions, wooden planksacross the counter andposters stuck onto theglass petition, all add to adegree of customer isolation. Moderncustomer servicecounters now have opencounters and a policy of openness, accessibilityand customer curtsey.






A modern and opencustomer service centre,that does not have glassbarriers and restrictivefurniture. Portablebarriers are positioned tocontrol queues and toprioritise customers asthey arrive. Chairs facingaway from the counter staff will not allow visualinteraction between

customers and counter staff, and could be better positioned.






With all of the information you now have,tabulate all the opportunities you see to improvethe service or processes:

1.eliminating non-value adding steps;2. reducing delays and backlogs;

3. improving the quality of service outputs;4. increasing efficiency;5.

increasing accessibility for residents and customers;6. eliminating multiple levels of responsibility;7. reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.






A group discussion on allof the opportunities for improvement is a usefultechnique to get a

consensus of opinion asto what are the mostimportant issues toaddress. All of theproblems can bedisplayed using “stickynotes” and then groupedinto like problemcategories. Manyproblems may be theresult of a singular rootcause.



Continuous Improvement & Benchmarking

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this Toolkit are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), or their Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADB and ADBI do not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this CD-ROM and accepts no responsibility for

any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

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Understand the Service