Improving systems and processes Stephen D. Spangehl Director, Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Chicago, Illinois USA

What is a system? It is a series of functions or activities (sub- processes or stages) within an organization that work together for the aim of the organization. --W. Edwards Deming

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Traditional organizations are structured around departments, and are not friendly to process. No one knows or cares that others are doing related work. Michael Hammer, The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade (New York: Crown Business, 2001)

What produces current results? Inputs (Resources) Outputs (Outcomes) Processes People Materials Equipment Methods Measurements Environment People Materials Equipment Methods Measurements Environment

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

Suppliers Providers Systems Processes Stakeholders Recipients Beneficiaries Customers INPUTSOUTPUTS Input Requirements Output Requirements

Questions for any process What is the goal of the process -- what value does it provide to those it serves, inside or outside the organization? What special or critical expertise is required to perform this task/operate this process? How effective is the process as it now operates?

How predictable or unchanging are the inputs, tasks, and outputs of the process? Can it be automated? How important is it that this process operate consistently? Is variation acceptable or desirable? What person or group is responsible and accountable for operating and improving the process? Questions for any process

Process improvement 4 Documenting and stabilizing processes 4 Simplifying processes 4 Removing “special” causes of variation 4 Deploying processes broadly 4 Improving connections among processes 4 Re-inventing ineffective processes

Michael Hammer, The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade (New York: Crown Business, 2001) Process design is a prerequisite for reliability; without it, processes are repeated differently each time. Hard work doesn’t overcome a flawed design, much less the burden of no design at all.

The AQIP Criteria

Michael Hammer, The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade (New York: Crown Business, 2001) With processes broken into disconnected pieces, each hidden in a separate department, no one is in a position to see the end-to-end process, much less to make it work smoothly. Departmental managers are narrowly focused on their own turf, while top managers are too far away from the action to comprehend the work being done on the front lines

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