Organizational process improvement questions depend on the points of view.

From an executive perspective, fewer participants and lower costs indicate process improvement. However, from an employee or member point of view, getting more done quickly and easily, without losing people, indicates process improvement. Consensual answers to the process improvement questions below yield the type of improvement that everyone will support, from the board room to the boiler room.

Process Improvement Questions Lead to Coherence

Process Improvement Questions

• What input could be automated?
• What sources provide the inputs?
• Which inputs must be manually created and what is the source?
• What calculations need to be used?
• What are the discrete outputs and who do they go to?

Informational Needs

To better understand the term ‘in-formation’, add the hyphen. Now observe the dynamism of the term. As a result, rather than viewing the need as static data, see the active flow that results:

• What data supports each activity?
• Where does it come from?
• What does it look like (i.e., field, statement, table, etc.)?
• How does it apply?
• What data are we lacking?
• What data may have concerns around authenticity?
• Where is the missing data?

Display Format

Sensitize yourself on how to obtain the information. Thereby, noting potential inefficiencies when participants acquire the data:

• What screens, reports, or manual forms do you use to secure the data?
• Optimally, how should it look?
• Explain any flows or dialogs to obtain the data.
• What conditions dictate using it?
• What conditions dictate NOT using it?
• How is it used?

Environmental Considerations

Card access and ATMs provide examples of where ambient conditions affect optimal design. Therefore, consider the following:

• Describe and determine data generated and transactions performed
• What security requirements appear prudent?
• How frequently does it occur?
• What are the special considerations?

Relationships

Also, consider the dependent relationships on the process in scope. Therefore, do not optimize in a vacuum:

• Which relationships affected by the process require optimization?
• What starts, stops, or changes the relationships?
• What business policies affect them?
• Separately identify the one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many relationships between them.

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Facilitation Expert

Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.