My observation is that in the transaction-based service sector, people are not really used to describing the process in terms of the work that gets done. When asked to describe the process, I typically hear a description of the work routing from the IT Tool and the phase or status of transactions (such as active or inactive or on-hold). My observation is the actual mechanics of what gets done is missing from the lexicon. With a little bit of probing, people begin to describe the actual work. This distinction is important.
W. Edward Deming said “if you can’t describe what you are doing in terms of process then you don’t know what you are doing”. While work-routing is important, it is not enough to actually standardize process at the point of work. Process standardization is actually based on four basic elements that make up the anatomy of process. Those elements are:
- Work Content
- Inputs/Outputs
- Work Content Time
- Total Quality Control Criteria
The term “work content” refers to the actual work that gets done in each step of the process. The work content itself is made up of the actions that are taken; it is the steps involved with doing the work. It contains value-add, business value-add and even actions that might be considered waste. The key here is to define the actual work that gets done at the step. Since the work content describes work, it is action-based and it is usually articulated using verbs.
The second element that we need to understand in order to standardize process is related to the inputs and outputs. What inputs are needed to-do each step of the process? An input can be a material or information. Inputs are usually nouns.
Similarly, we need to be able to describe the output that gets generated. What output or outputs result from having taken those actions described in the work content? Further, there might be more than one output generated at a given step; not all the outputs generated upstream move to the next step downstream. Sometimes an output generated upstream might not be used until well downstream in the process. Like inputs, outputs are usually described as nouns.
The third element that we need to understand in order to standardize process is related to time. As you know, time is very important in the practice of LEAN. So it is no surprise that we need to understand the time it takes to do the work described in the work content. This is called the work content time. Sometimes this is called the touch time. Sometimes it is called the effective processing time. It includes the time for value-add, business-value-add, and non-value add work.
The fourth basic element that we need to understand in order to standardize process is what John R. Costanza calls Total Quality Control Criteria (TQC). Sometimes in practice this is referred to as critical to quality criteria. What is critical to quality about the output that is generated at a given step? It is a question that needs to be answered. Sometimes TQC might be related to inputs also. Critical to quality criteria need to be defined.
These four elements make up the basic anatomy of the process. In order to standardize process, we need to understand these basic elements. The savvy LSS practitioner will recognize that some of these elements are found in the SIPOC diagram, in the Sequence of Events diagram, and even in the Operating Method Sheet. Which tool to use to capture the basic anatomy of the process depends on what you are trying to do.
For now, let us simply introduce the basic building blocks to understanding the anatomy of the process. It is on these building blocks that process can be standardized at the point of work.
Blog-6 References & Recommended Reading:
Costanza, John R. The Quantum Leap. In Speed to Market. CO: John Costanza Institute of Technology, Inc. 1996
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