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.

______

Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.

Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)

Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.

Facilitation Expert

Terrence Metz, president of MG RUSH Facilitation Training, was just 22-years-old and working as a Sales Engineer at Honeywell when he recognized a widespread problem—most meetings were ineffective and poorly led, wasting both time and company resources. However, he also observed meetings that worked. What set them apart? A well-prepared leader who structured the session to ensure participants contributed meaningfully and achieved clear outcomes.

Throughout his career, Metz, who earned an MBA from Kellogg (Northwestern University) experienced and also trained in various facilitation techniques. In 2004, he purchased MG RUSH where he shifted his focus toward improving established meeting designs and building a curriculum that would teach others how to lead, facilitate, and structure meetings that drive results. His expertise in training world-class facilitators led to the 2020 publication of Meetings That Get Results: A Guide to Building Better Meetings, a comprehensive resource on effectively building consensus.

Grounded in the principle that “nobody is smarter than everybody,” the book details the why, what, and how of building consensus when making decisions, planning, and solving problems. Along with a Participant’s Guide and supplemental workshops, it supports learning from foundational awareness to professional certification.

Metz’s first book, Change or Die: A Business Process Improvement Manual, tackled the challenges of process optimization. His upcoming book, Catalyst: Facilitating Innovation, focuses on meetings and workshops that don’t simply end when time runs out but conclude with actionable next steps and clear assignments—ensuring progress beyond discussions and ideas.