2. Streamlining Processes and Workflows for Better Business Practices
Greg Fowler, ERPA, QPA, APA, AIF®
National Benefit Services, LLC

3. Streamlining Processes and Workflows for Better Business Practices
Efficiency is a key component to successful business practices. Learn how to redefine and break down workflows and successfully implement improvements. Learn what process mapping and value stream mapping are, the difference between them, and how to effectively use both in your business.
Learning objectives:
Identify the key business flows in your business and what factors are slowing progress.
Differentiate between process mapping and value stream mapping .
Show employees how to contribute to the success of the process.

4. What is your current role in your business?

5. Understand where you are
What are the key business processes (flows) for your business?
What documentation do you have for your key business processes?
How do you improve upon these business processes?

7. What are your key business processes?
Form 5500
YE Testing
Loans / Distributions
Notices
Contribution Calculations

9. What documentation do you have?
Manuals
Visio Workflows
In your head?
Video trainings

11. How do you improve processes?
Client Demand
Daily change – front line EEs
Leadership Review

13. My Experience
Whose perspective….
From ours…
Or the clients?

14. Lean Operations
What is lean?
For the Service Industry?

15. Value Stream Mapping By Karen Martin and Mike Osterling
Prepare and engage leadership in the transformation process
Gain a deep understanding about current work systems and the related barriers to delivering value
Design a future state that enables outstanding performance
Adopt the new design and lay the foundation for continued improvement

16. Wherever there is a request and a deliverable, there is a value stream
Value Stream Mapping
Wherever there is a request and a deliverable, there is a value stream

17. Value Stream Mapping
Value Stream
Process
Step
A macro perspective – Provides the means for leadership to define strategic improvements to the work flow vs. a process-level mapping enables people who do .the work to design tactical improvements
A value stream map provides a highly visual, full-cycle view – a storyboard – of how work progresses from a request of some sort to fulfilling that request.

18. Value Stream Mapping
Reflect work flow as a customer experiences it verses the internal focus of typical process-level maps. Rethinking Tool Visual Unification Tool
Sales
Design
Service
Finance
Value Stream A
Value Stream B
Value Stream C
P. 11
VSM provide a clear line of sight to the external customer from every function and work area involved in the value stream.
When organizations see the interconnectedness of various departments and processes, they make better decisions, work together in more collaborative ways, and avoid the common and costly trap of sub-optimization. The mapping is an effective tool for rethinking how an organization is structured and achieving functional alignment that aids in the delivery of customer value.
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

19. Value Stream Mapping Other Benefits:
Practical Means to Drive Continuous Improvement:
Plan – Do – Study – Adjust
Post maps in strategic (visual) locations – Stand-up Meetings
Orient New Hires
PDSA – Individuals and teams can use VSMs to build and drive a culture of continues improvement

20. Value Stream Mapping What VSM is Not:
Using mapping solely as a work design exercise
Using the map to make tactical improvements
Using mapping during a Kaizen event
Using mapping with no metrics
VSM is most valuable as the experience – going through the effort of creating value stream map without experiencing its accompanying organizational learning, culture shifts, and leadership development benefits. “It’s like buying a Ferrari and using it only for city driving.”
Used to solely make tactical improvements –
VS Map vs. Process Map – How do you know when to use one over the other?
- Almost always begin with Value Stream Mapping to align leadership and set priorities
- We turn to process mapping for those sections of the value stream that require deeper exploration and for creating standard work and improvement requirements more specifically.
Kaizen Events – Kaizen events are tactical – heavily biased with the people who do the work benign improved vs. VS mapping activities should be heavily biased with the people who oversee the work being improved. The mapping team Individuals must include those who can authorize that level of improvement.
VS Maps include Information Flow, Work Flow and Time Line

21. Value Stream Mapping
VSM Is -
Information Flow
Work Flow
Time Line

22. Value Stream Mapping
VSM Objectives – Understand the current state of each Key Operational Process Identify Value and Waste Map a future state of common Key Operational Processes

23. Tips for a Successful Value Stream Map
Have all involved parties study the process
Identify attendees, including the executive sponsor and facilitator
Set rules for the group (and follow them)
Block out at least 2 days (1 for current state and 1 for future state)
Share some of the rules of the charter we have used.

24. Mapping Agenda
The key was having Senior Leadership involved as much as possible in as much of the mapping process

25. VSM – Rules for a Gemba Walk
Act like we don't know what's really happening on the front lines--because we usually don't!
Don't be patronizing
Use listening skills!
Don't attempt to solve problems or make suggestions
Don't judge
Be grateful
We're learning how work flows through a system (we're not assessing the people or process)

26. VSM – Value Mapping
Process Time (p.68, 88) Amount of time spent working on the activity
Lead Time (p.71) Amount of time starting when the work became available and when it became available for the next step (includes process time)
Activity Ratio (p.90) Indicator of flow (process time divided by lead time)
% Complete and Accurate (p.72) Percentage of work performed correctly in the current step (no rework or clarification required in later steps.) This is NOT the accuracy of work arriving at the current step. It is the accuracy of work performed in the current step.
Rolled % Complete and Accurate (p.90) Compounded effect of quality (multiply %C&A of each step in the stream)

27. Value Stream Mapping

28. VSM – Mapping the Current State
After going through the current state as a group – invite back the front-line employees and make sure you got it right. This feedback session at the end of the day will increase engagement with employees as they now feel leadership actually understands what they do each day, but it will also enable you to design a future state better (things will get better when you start getting honest).

29. VSM – Mapping the Future State
Determine the “right work”
Eliminate delays, eliminate waste, improve quality, reduce cost, reduce labor effort, reduce frustration
Removing steps
Adding steps
Make work flow - Make work flow effortlessly across the value stream
Determine the “right work” (p.101)
Eliminate delays, eliminate waste, improve quality, reduce cost, reduce labor effort, reduce frustration
Removing steps
Don’t remove work just for the sake of removing work
Can steps be “upgraded” (from waste or non-value add to value add)?
Treat employees with respect
Adding steps is discouraged but anything’s on the table if it adds value to the client
Make work flow (p.106)
Make work flow effortlessly across the value stream
Manage the work (p.109)
How will the value stream be monitored and managed ongoing? KPIs?
How can continuous improvement be embedded into the process?

30. VSM – Mapping the Future State
PACE Diagram for Setting Priorities (p.120)
Future State Design Questions (for a larger list see p )
What does the customer want?
What target conditions are we aiming for?
What waste cam be eliminated?
How can we reduce time and effort of non-value adding activities?
How can we reduce delays between processes?
How can we improve quality of work at each step?
Can unnecessary handoffs be eliminated?
Can we reduce or eliminate batches?
Where are the bottlenecks?
Is work being sequenced properly?
Can we level incoming workload to achieve better flow?
Can we reduce variation in client requirements?
Can systems be better interconnected?
Are people doing work computers should do?
Are there opportunities for standardization?
Do existing performance metrics encourage desired performance?
How will we monitor performance of the value stream?
What metrics or KPIs will help us know we’re “winning”?
How can we focus the efforts of employees on more value adding activities?

31. VSM –Future State Map

32. VSM –Future State Map

33. VSM –Future State Map

34. Value Stream Mapping
30,000 foot view
Process Mapping
On the front lines

35. Process Mapping
Zoom in on areas identified in the Value Stream Mapping Process
All about the details

36. Process Mapping Tool Belt
Functional Departments
The Current State Process Map is created in 3 phases:
Map/Define the process
Add Key Metrics to each step
Differentiate Value add from non-value add activities
Fence Post
Swim Lanes
Fence Post
Define Input/Output & Activities
Time Line

37. Process Mapping Tool Belt
Describe the Activity
(Verb, Noun)
# Workers who perform this step
Function who performs the step
(Role, not name)
= X
List barriers to flow here:
(i.e. batches, hared resources, motion/travel issues, etc.)
PT = Process Time
(“Touch” Time)
LT = Lead Time
(Turnaround Time)
LT = PT + Waiting
Percent complete & accurate
(Quality Measure) PT LT
% C&A

38. Tools, not rules
Adjust to make it fit your company

39. Free Webinars Online http://www.ksmartin.com/webinars/
Value Stream Mapping In Office & Service Environments
Lean 101 for Office & Service
Value Stream Mapping: What To Do Before You Dive In