Employee satisfaction, financial impact, volume and efficiency measures among others provide a foundational data set, and teams who are tracking these are well above average operational maturity.
The Marketing and Creative charter has changed dramatically in recent years as businesses have become more digitally focused in the way they tell their stories and interact with customers. Operational maturity has improved as well. With technology becoming more pervasive and customer expectations for engagement growing, Marketers and Creatives must now focus on the increasing demand for deliverables while maintaining quality and efficiency.
By setting specific measurements for improvement in their operations, teams can identify areas of weakness and opportunities for improvement. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can provide an objective measure of a team’s performance, allowing them to act quickly and make necessary changes to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. KPIs also provide tangible data around operational performance which can be used to inform future decision making.
Which of the following apply to your team?
What are the most important operational metrics you capture/report on?
Which of the following does your organization/team utilize?
Which of the following does your organization/team measure?
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD
The Importance of Process
Madeline Kohler
Project Manager, Development and Fundraising
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
"Technology can automate and analyze in ways that are beyond our expectations. But all three components must work together: people, process and technology, with process always at the core."
Process matters. Whether you are implementing a new software, resolving a client issue, delivering a product or service, putting an addition on your home, or preparing a gourmet meal for friends and family, process matters. How you go about doing things can truly determine how successful your outcome or deliverable is!
But process doesn’t work alone. Yes, it is the key to understanding what your customers need by documenting the steps that are involved to get from point A to point Z. However, process needs a people component and a system component to give you the best results for deliverables and outcomes. Writing to you about how I describe the Importance of Process requires me to have my own process by which I follow and am happy to share with you.
So, what do I do? I follow a process! When I am asked to consult on a business problem, implement a new solution, or improve a process that already exists, but may not work optimally, I like using tools and methodologies from Six Sigma. Here’s what I have in my toolkit and how I go about solving a problem.
1. Voice Box
The first is a Voice Box. This is where I collect all kinds of “voices”: VOC (Voice of the Customer), VOB (Voice of the Business), and VOP (Voice of the Process). For example, when starting to document a process of any kind, you’ll want to know who contributes to the process? What role do they have in the process? Why? Because you want to have the right people in the room to walk through what they do and how they do it. And you’ll want to talk directly with or get information from your customers through a focus group or survey.
You can use a simple excel spreadsheet to list questions that get people talking or providing you information about their needs, desires, and what pain points they have. This will help you form some patterns of feedback, categories and trends where you may need to focus on when solving the problem in front of you!
2. SIPOC
The second tool in my toolkit is a SIPOC which stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers. After collecting all your information in your Voice Box, it’s critical to understand who all supplies you with what they need, what they give you (the tangibles such as an email, a spreadsheet, a phone call, etc.), what you output (again, the tangibles, such as a product or service), and who receives your output. And the “P” that refers to Process is how you produce your product or service, summarized in 5 – 7 key steps.
3. Process Map
Once you have gathered the information from steps 1 and 2, you are ready for a third step, which is capturing a detailed Process Map of all the steps that are involved in producing your product, service, or solving your problem. This is where I have lots of fun, and most of those contributing to the mapping exercise will, too! And ask lots of questions! Probe gently to make certain you have helped them think of everything that happens! You can use lots of applications such as Visio, PowerPoint, Lucid Chart, etc. Color code, comment, use icons and pictures to help represent the process as visually appealing as possible.
4. Value Stream Mapping
Once you have the first three steps accomplished, it’s time to find out what challenges there are with the current process, what improvements can be made, etc. I like to apply a fourth tool called Value Stream Mapping, (one of my favorites, too), where you ask whether a step is a value-added step or a non-value-added step? What would happen if that step wasn’t there? Will it make a difference in delivering your product accurately, on time or with the highest of quality? This is where the discussion has some substance to it! Sometimes, you may find that your contributors start to get nervous or fearful of their responses. “What if I say the step(s) that I am responsible for may not be valuable to the process?” I explain that this is a good thing because we are finding ways to improve or optimize a process with fewer hand-offs and non-value-added steps which is the only way opportunity arises to do bigger and better things!
A caveat to this is being careful not to cut out steps for the sake of streamlining a process! There may be a very good reason for keeping steps in a process, or even adding steps into a process. For example, if you produce a statement which has complex financial calculations, you may want to add a control step to verify its accuracy before you send it to your customer. Getting it faster doesn’t always mean getting it perfect!
5. Details, Details, Details
When you have what looks like a “future or better state” you can then begin detailing what specifics you need to make your process better! Remember to include what roles your contributors will have in the process, such as owning the work, being accountable or overseeing it, being a part of it, or just needing to be informed. This is typically called a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Contributing, Informed) chart, where you can list the general roles in the process, and who is performing at what role capacity. It is key that everyone understands what value they are adding, just like what value each step in the process has to the deliverable or outcome.
6. Process at the Core, Technology to Automate
And when it comes to the process itself, what system, application or equipment is needed to support your process to successfully produce your product or service? Technology can automate and analyze in ways that are beyond our expectations. But all three components must work together: people, process and technology, with process always at the core.
7. Control
And when you have implemented a full trifecta solution, make certain you have a control process in place. There is more detail involved in establishing a control phase once you have implemented a solution, or solved a problem, but keep in mind it is a critical last step that many times can be overlooked.
So, the last step in my process is really a piece of advice in my toolkit. When in doubt, or unsure of which direction to take, before you jump into a solution, always go back to the process! What is the process telling you? I have found in most cases, when you think a system or adding another resource is the answer, the process could be telling you something different. Listen to the process!