Process Improvement at the University of York

Session2a – Tim Franklin

Making it easy....

Change initiatives

TheBusiness Plan

TheStrategic

Vision

Time years2011 2016

Tactical initiativesDepartmentally driven

Departmentally driven

Strategic initiatives

Info

rms

De

velo

ps

De

liver

s

Customer

needs

Employee

needs

Institutional

needsNew opportunities / sandpit output

Institutionally / Departmentally driven

Greater certainty More uncertainty

Using our Vision, Strategy and Medium Term Planning to inform our

business and process change agenda..

Warning!

• Some changes can / will be tactical but most should be strategic

• If we make tactical decisions without the guidance of strategic oversight we will lose direction

Take care...as the scope expands so does the risk!

From JISC Infokit – process review

Any change initiative should ….

• Fit to the organisational strategy• Support one or more of the following:

– Improved customer experience– Improved institutional value– Improved employee experience

Why review processes?

• Increase effectiveness• Reduce waste (rather than cost)• Enable scalability• Increase capacity• Enter new markets• Increase revenues

Planning for Process Review

Prioritising issues for review

Prioritising issues for review....

• Focus on:– Customers– Innovation– Creativity– Processes– People – Developing teams

of interdisciplinary change agents

• Rather than:– Rules– Regulations– Policies– Procedures– Tasks– Individuals

What ‘Business’ factors can we use to drive decision making (1)?

• Focus on:– initiatives which will deliver change linked

to strategic plans.– where change is most needed?– business critical activities?– areas of perceived ‘high wastage’ with

potential for high levels of gain?– where user satisfaction is lowest?– statutory compliance?

What ‘Business’ factors can we use to drive decision making (2)?

• Focus on initiatives which will deliver benefits to one or more of the:– Customers of the institution– Employees of the institution– The Institution itself (in a corporate environment

this would be represented by the shareholders)• For each initiative assess whether it:

– is easy to deliver– will provide high levels of gain / added value– will require significant investment to implement– carries a high risk e.g. is it complex and the

downsides of failure significant?

Co-ordinating the process review agenda...

• Top-down via:– MTP – both within and across departmental

boundaries– SMG direction– Operations Group steer– Co-ordinated process review agenda and plan

• Bottom-up via:– Development of teams of interdisciplinary

change agents– Continuous development of candidate change

ideas via Administrators’ Forum and other initiatives e.g. ‘Being the Best’

For process change to be culturally enabled...

• Train your teams• Empower your teams• Trust your teams• Monitor your teams

Help your teams to...

From JISC Infokit – process review

Getting started on a process change initiative...

Overview of the process of change...

Discovery

Analysis

Design

Validation

Implementation

Integrate

Manage

Improve

Effective change cycle

Improving processes...

Stage1 •Define the problem

Stage 2 •Discovery

Stage 3 •Analysis

Stage 4 •Propose solution

University of York...A typical approach to process review

2 linked workshops

Agenda (1)

1. Introduction – Introductions– Why are we here - background?– What is a business process?

2. What are the business drivers for this review

3. What is ‘in’ & ‘out’ of scope?

4. What are the problems we are trying to resolve?– Student / applicant view– Academic / departmental view– Support office views– Institutional view

5. What do the ‘customers’ want from the process – the desired outcomes?

– Student / applicant view– Academic / departmental view– Support office views– Institutional view

Agenda (2)

6. Is there common ground / what will be our measures of success?

– Common core principles or desired outcomes– ‘Nice to achieve’ outcomes

7. Mapping the existing processes

8. Some ‘Blue Sky’ thinking and ideas for change - Are there other ‘good practice’ examples we can draw upon?

9. Developing the changes – new process design– Short-term / tactical quick fixes– Long-term / strategic

10. Planning the changes

11. Next steps

Examples of initiatives already reviewed...

• Admission process for students with disabilities • E-procurement • Postgraduate admissions - a case study of a University-led

process improvement project • Student registration • Student acccommodation bookings • Timetabling • Transcripts production - a case study of a local department-

led process improvement, in this case the Examinations and Graduation Office.

• Further details are available at:– http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/po/processreview/casestudi

es.html

For further details and /or an informal discussion....

• For further information visit our website at:• http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/po/processreview.ht

m

• For help with getting started or simply to discuss your next project, please contact:– Tim Franklin or Sarah Starkey in the Planning

Office or via the website at:– http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/po/processreview/

contactus.html