Improving business processes (20%)

Question 1

Where can problems with processes arise?

Answer 1

The current process may have problems with:
Flow through the process
Individual tasks that make up the process
Staffing performance issues
Business rules that constrain the process

Question 2

Possible Process Flow Problems

Answer 2

Many hand-offs
Hand-offs create delay and may cause errors
Value Time Percentage
Real work on the process goal is often a small percentage of the elapsed time
Queues, Bottlenecks
Resource and timing issues, workload fluctuations
Looping
Unnecessary looping – e.g. error checking late, rather than early
Sequential tasks
Many processes merely replicate ‘manual’ systems, historic customs
IS/IT problems
Lack of integration, legacy systems, re-keying, paper intensive

Question 3

Possible Process Flow Solutions

Answer 3

Hand-offs
Reduce the number of departments/teams/actors involved. Simplify, re-skill, change authority levels.
Value Time Percentage
Investigate where ‘dead time’ can be reduced, flow improved
Queues, Bottlenecks
Plan appropriate resources to deal with queues and bottlenecks
Critical Path Analysis can help identify where the problems are
Looping
Can we eliminate the loops – does the process need to go ‘backwards’?
Sequential tasks
Re-sequence tasks; could tasks be done in parallel?
IS/IT
Modify applications to promote integration (consider alternatives first, v expensive)

Question 4

How can processes be affected by staff?

Answer 4

Staff are poorly or incorrectly trained
Inadequate, poor supervision (too much/not enough)
Lack of leadership by management
Low morale, poor motivation, lack of incentives
Too much change can lead to loss of morale
Measuring the wrong things – engenders inappropriate behaviour
People tend to be behave according to how they are measured

Question 5

How can processes be affected by Business Rules?

Answer 5

Processes are often constrained by business rules
It’s often worth challenging these rules
Where does the rule come from?
Is the rule still relevant?
Could the rule be relaxed?
What would happen if we didn’t apply the rule?

Question 6

Real Value Add

Answer 6

Tasks that contribute to customer requirements

Question 7

Business Value Add

Answer 7

Tasks that do not contribute to customer requirements but contribute to business need

Question 8

No Value Add

Answer 8

Tasks that do not contribute to customer requirements or business needs

Question 9

Typical NVAs

Answer 9

Copying /Storing / Rework / Searching / Counting

Question 10

What technique can be apply to NVAs

Answer 10

5 whys - identify root cause and look at eliminating it

Question 11

The Seven Wastes

Answer 11

Transportation
Inventory
Motion
Overproduction
Over processing
Defects
Skills

Question 12

How could we analysis tasks for potential improvements

Answer 12

Non-Value Adding (NVA) Tasks
Could they be reduced or eliminated completely?
Redundant Tasks
Work not needed! Historic or legacy tasks e.g. reports, storage, filing
Duplication
Effort duplicated e.g. in data capture
Measurement
Wrong/useless things being measured – affects effort and behaviour!
Governance
Inappropriate decision rights, control points, redundant business rules…

Question 13

Cycle time vs Value time

Answer 13

Cycle Time: the total elapsed time from the initial request for goods or services (input) to the eventual delivery of those goods or services (output)
Value Time: the amount of time spent doing ‘useful work’, work of direct value to the process customer

Question 14

Value time percentage

Answer 14

(Value Time ÷ Cycle Time) * 100
usually v low

Question 15

How can scenario analysis be used to improve business processes?

Answer 15

Think through real world scenarios and identify gaps in our processes

Question 16

How can we challenge business rules or assumptions?

Answer 16

Critical Analysis - looks at as is / why / could be

Question 17

How can IT be part of process improvement?

Answer 17

Make new activities and processes possible
* Create or add value, change service styles
* Provide widespread access to scarce information resources
* Reduce process/activity cycle time
* Compress geographic distances, eliminate their effect * Eliminate or re-sequence activities
* Prevent errors, validate data, implement business rules * Reduce output variation, improve predictability
* Support decision making
* Support process control and measurement * Alter the process design/logic

Question 18

What is RPA

Answer 18

RPA software robots, or “bots” can mimic the actions of humans to perform jobs
such as: * Data entry
* Transaction processing
* Response triggering
* Communicating with other digital systems

Range from chat bots to fraud detection jobs

Question 19

RPA Benefits

Answer 19

RPA technologies are meant to enhance, not replace, the human workforce, and can: * Boost efficiency
* Helps humans shift focus and resources away from low-value, high-volume tasks such as data entry and focus on ideas, innovation and higher-value work
* Reduces employee burnout and workforce churn
Reduce operational risk
* Eliminates human errors due to everything from lack of sleep to carelessness
* Ensures heightened accuracy and consistency of outputs
Reduce costs
* Speeds transactional work and enhances the productivity of the human workforce
* Helps organisations do more with less.
*Improve scalability
* Since robots don’t take breaks and can work 24x7, processes can be scaled easily across
countries and business units or entities.
Simplify compliance
* By minimising human access to sensitive systems and information, helps reduce a number of compliance and audit challenges

Question 20

BPI vs BPR

Answer 20

BPI - Work forward from the existing situation - often done at process/task level
BPR - Work backwards from the desired objective

BPI – gradual incremental change - usually start at organisation level via process map
* To-be processes will be similar to what they are now
* Some small changes in procedures
* Minor enhancements to IT applications
* Optimisation
BPR – radical revolutionary change
* To-be processes could be radically different * Perhaps little relation to the as-is
* New IT, new technology
* Re-design
These are the extremes – any given change is somewhere along a continuum
between these extremes

Question 21

When is BPI suitable?

Answer 21

Processes are ‘under control’ (new/recently looked at)

Question 22

When is BPR suitable?

Answer 22

A major revamp of strategy, and new processes are needed

Question 23

DMAIC approach to process improvement

Answer 23

Define the problem
* Measure the data
* Analyse the problem
* Improve the process
* Control the improved process

Question 24

Outsourcing approach to improvement

Answer 24

Let the ‘experts’ do it

Question 25

Why is it important to take an overall view for process improvement

Answer 25

Optimising the part may sub optimise the whole

Question 26

Gap Analysis

Answer 26

Once we have confirmed what the To-Be process should look like, we can
then carry out a gap analysis
This might consider two different kinds of gap:
* The functions required from an IT system to support the To-Be process
* The gap between functions required of an IT system and those available in
Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) package

Question 27

Generic Improvement Strategy: Simplification

Answer 27

Eliminate redundant Tasks by combining or removing them

Question 28

Generic Improvement Strategy: Redesign

Answer 28

Redesigning work carried out within tasks to incorporate the scenarios

Workarounds are often created to deal with business scenarios not covered by as is process

Question 29

Generic Improvement Strategy: Change task sequence

Answer 29

Sequence is tasks can be changed to improve performance (even parallel)

Question 30

Generic Improvement Strategy: Automate Processing

Answer 30

Automation - processes with greater reliability and speed

Can be achieved via bespoke software / COTS / Workflow management system

Question 31

Generic Improvement Strategy: Bottleneck removal

Answer 31

Bottlenecks result when there is a mismatch in the capacities of
related tasks.

Question 32

Generic Improvement Strategy: Bottleneck removal

Answer 32

Bottlenecks result when there is a mismatch in the capacities of
related tasks.

Question 33

Generic Improvement Strategy: Redefine boundary

Answer 33

• Extending/reducing tasks within a process (outsourcing tasks or complete processes)
• Technology can redefine boundary so external SH (cust/sup) carry out tasks in place of business staff i.e. booking rooms online

Question 34

What are process measures used for?

Answer 34

to monitor the organisation’s performance when delivering products and services and to identify
where improvements are required. Should be at all three levels

Question 35

Process measurements should be defined at …

Answer 35

the three levels of the process hierarchy

Question 36

Process performance measures areas:

Answer 36

Financial: Such as cost to perform a process or task, income generated by a process or task.

Customer experience: Such as levels of customer satisfaction or net promoter score (NPS) that help to determine whether customers will engage further with the organisation or will recommend the organisation to others.

Process efficiency: Such as timing and accuracy requirements related to the work
of the process or task.

Question 37

What two perspectives should be considered for performance measures?

Answer 37

Internal and external

Question 38

Why is it important to consider both perspectives when considering performance measures?

Answer 38

Internal measures are helpful when monitoring performance but often focus on what
the organisation itself wants to achieve rather than on what the customer values.

For example, the organisation may define ‘low cost of operation’ as a CSF for the
organisation, setting KPIs that measure specific aspects related to costs, but a focus on
costs can conflict with the delivery of the required customer experience.