Process Mapping in Continuous Improvement of Public Service

Process mapping completes the utility of a public service administrator’s management toolbox. In initiatives of continuous improvement, process mapping gathers the attention of project members into a simplified visual representation of the complexity that defines service delivery. It encompasses all facets of public service, yet expresses this in shorthand, making it amenable to sketching by hand. The benefits are enormous. It eases the burden of communicating quality and productivity initiatives at levels understandable to stakeholders yet eases the presentation of the voice of customer issues to program executives. It allows the development of hiring specifications, training and enumeration of skills inventory as well as unifies and speeds up goal setting, planning, execution, review, and analysis. Finally, the cataloging of results and best practices found and learned is facilitated.

Once data is collected, continuous improvement activities enter the phase when two distinct but complementary sets of analytical tools come into play, first to find causal factors and secondly, to reduce these to root causes with process dysfunctions identified and clues of possible solutions found. The data analysis track proceeds when discrete or continuous data are stratified and visually examined. The influence of causal factors on process output is measured and effects and results tested for significance.

Levels of Process Mapping

Process maps are drawn according to levels of detail with some correspondence to the hierarchy of the service organization. Level I maps concisely the service delivery process of the whole agency or service area. Level 2 maps each step in Level 1 in greater detail and so on. The illustration below begins at the top with Level 1, the core process of an agency providing case management services to the elderly and disabled for a state. The process proceeds in the following sequence of intake, assessment, case management, and billing. Level

2 sub-process of the Level 1 INTAKE process begins with the client calling in with a certain need. An intake worker consults with the caller and if determined to be qualified, the caller now a client, enters the Level 2 intake process. The last step of Level 2 sub-process involves the recording of intake data and ends when the case is handed to the Level 1 ASSESSMENT core process.

For more examples of Level 1 process maps, modern web-enabled fulfillment service organizations such as Amazon and Wayfair start their high-level process as the order is taken from the customer. This step is then followed by an assessment, assignment, delivery and finally, customer receipt of the purchase. In social services in general, high-level case management process may be sequenced as intake procedures, assessment, referral, service delivery, and billing. Similarly, management consulting services are mapped as project opening, discovery, assessment, analysis, recommendation and project closing.

Referring to the illustration above, a continuous improvement project may seek to improve service intake. While the whole continuous improvement team may use the Level 2 process for inter-project communications or presentations to senior management, it may be necessary to increase mapping detail and drill down to Level 3 or below.

Levels of Process Mapping and Phases of a Continuous Improvement Project

During the execution of continuous improvement projects, different levels of process maps have appropriate roles at each phase of the project:

1. In project planning, the level of the map that goes with the plan should always agree with the scope of the project. If the project seeks to improve the intake processes of the agency, Level 3 process maps may be indicated. In all cases, higher level maps, i.e. Level 1 and levels 2 maps in the above example.

2. Process maps adopted in project planning are often referred to in team session during the phase when client needs are translated to measurable requirements.

3. In this phase of the project when sub-requirements have been identified, “as-is” process maps are developed at a level of detail necessary for graphical analyses in the next phase. This is also the point when data is collected for data analyses.

4. During the root-cause-analysis phase, there are three commonly used methods to identify causal factors that may lead to opportunities for improvement. These are:

5. Disconnect matrix. This chart tabulates points in the process map where disconnect exist based upon team generated criteria. These may be where rework is created, where improvement opportunity is expressed, where delay exists, etc.

6. Moments of truth. A set of encounters between client and process by which the client makes a positive or negative impression about the service based upon experiences with that service.

7. Value-added or non-value added. These are tasks, actions or steps that are vitally important for the delivery of the service that meets the client’s needs and requirements to occur. Clients or third-party payers are willing to pay for these steps.

8. In the phase when the vital few improvement opportunities have been selected and designed, “to-be” process maps are drafted for each. These maps will contain enough detail to enable workers to deliver public service in the new improved way. At this point, standard-operating-procedures are written as an organic but permanent supplement to process mapping. The maps developed here are also instrumental in cost-benefit analyses and process pilot campaigns.

9. The final phase proceeds as the new improved service delivery is being implemented. Workers monitor the process with the use of control charts and are guided by the final "to-be" process map and accompanying the standard-operating-procedure.

Common Process Mapping Methods

Standard flow mapping is the most often used method of recording and presenting diverse processes in manufacturing and service delivery. A process map in manufacturing follows raw materials as they are converted in so many steps to an end product. In the services sector, the process progresses through planning, preparation and the delivery of the service to the point of contact when the client’s need and requirements are fulfilled. Modifications from the standard flow map are made to respond to the manager’s perception of the project’s analytical requirement. The three common process mapping methods are:

1. The standard flow map. This approach has its roots in manufacturing with which the flow of goods, fluids, electricity, etc. are best described. The popularity of this method is a testament to its relative simplicity and development ease.

2. The alternative flow map. This method is powerful when there are several distinct flows of significance that may result in a single or multiple process output. The process map indicates the quantitative relationship of one of the parallel process flow to another.

3. The cross-functional flow map. The horizontal axis of this flowchart is the process flow timeline while the vertical axis represents the functions or workers who perform a certain step in the process. This method is favored in the development of process maps for services organizations.

The following are some process mapping rules-of-thumb based upon actual experiences of mapping session managers:

1. All employees, including senior managers, should receive training in rudimentary process mapping skills. Thirty minutes of training will benefit agency many-fold. A spill-over benefit includes higher workplace morale.

2. Deploying dedicated process mapping software to all is expensive and unnecessary. Larger organizations use Microsoft PowerPoint for this reason. The worker should at least know how to modify existing archived PowerPoint process maps.

3. Involve only workers trained in basic process mapping skills.

4. Emphasize the difference between “as-is” and “to-be” process maps. There must be no “problem solving” while developing the “as-is” map.

5. The boundaries or the beginning and end points of the process under improvement must be made clear to the members of the process improvement project team.

6. It is prudent in brainstorming sessions to take advantage of the repeated stick and peel flexibility of Post-It Notes.

7. The session manager referees the process ideas generated, record the result in PowerPoint and present the document to the session.

8. Items 6 and 7 repeat until the product of the session is validated and refined. A group decision-making tool may have to be used at certain points in the session.

By Mgmtlaboratory.com staff, 2019