Design

Description

The purpose of the Design Phase is to redesign the existing process. This phase begins after Analyzing the current process, Identifying improvement opportunities, and gaining “Gate 3” approval to proceed from the appropriate management parties. Once management agrees on plans for the next steps, work on the redesign starts. After the “Should-Be” process has been designed, the team should review their design with management.

Designing the improved Should-Be Process focuses the Process Improvement Team on:

1) What needs to change within the process.

2) What needs to change within people’s roles and responsibilities.

3) What technology will be used to enable the change and how the Process will be continuously measured.

Process Flow Diagram

In this diagram the Team meets to design the Should-Be process. This design includes technology, roles and responsibilities, ongoing process measurements, and risk controls.

Procedures

Purpose

The goal!

To design a Should-Be Process that addresses the breakdowns and disconnects and takes advantage of opportunities identified earlier, leading to ongoing workflow improvement and/or a specific change.

Why do it?

It establishes a common set of expectations for the change and a context for agreement on the new Should-Be.

It is important to identify what the Should-Be Process looks like so that the organization can answer the question “Why should we invest time and effort in improvement or change?”

It motivates the team.

It provides information to share with other stakeholders.

What to do:

Educate the Design Team on the work that has been performed to date.

Create a Should-Be design that incorporates knowledge from the As-Is analysis using a collaborative and creative team approach.

Illustrate the process using cross-functional flowcharts when it helps with understanding.

Decision:
Have all Activities and Tasks been identified for the Should-Be Process?

Does the “Should-Be” process design and related assumptions meet the design criteria and address breakdowns and disconnects identified in “Analyze and Identify”?

Help: In many cases it is best to interview departments and create a draft of the process before conducting a group design session.

Label activities beginning with a verb. Try not to use the same verb twice. These words will eventually become the top navigation components of Smart Solutions.

If the existing process is close enough to the future state, make a copy of the As-Is Worksheet, save it as Should-Be and modify it to represent the improved process. A determining factor is the tally of the breakdown categories performed in the analyze activity. If the percentage of issues was low in the process area then, saving the As-Is as the Should-Be and tweaking the process may be less work.

If you are beginning with the Should-Be template perform a move and copy to the As-Is worksheet and move to the Should-Be.xls file.

Responsibility

Team Leader

Team Members

Team Facilitator

Before you begin

Process and Resource Owners agree to opportunities that surfaced during the Gate 3 presentation

Process and Resource Owners agree on future vision of the process and have affirmation from Process Council (if necessary)

Procedure

By completing these steps, a Should-Be process is established. Ensure the design team agrees that the design will accomplish process objectives

Step Action
1 Prepare meeting agenda and frames including a draft of the Should-Be process in theShould-Be.xls.
2 Review Team Charter, As-Is and Gate 3 Presentation with design team for understanding of assignment and improvement opportunities
3 Review draft of high level Should-Be process with the team.
4 Modify Should-Be process until agreement is reached at the activity level, remember to name the activity with a verb first.
Guideline: The process or sub-process should be able to be described in 5 to 9 activities.
5 Determine the tasks for each activity. (5 to 9 per activity) Include decision points and branching so that a complete process is designed. Illustrate the process using cross-functional flowcharts when it helps with understanding. Compare with As-Isbreakdowns and disconnects and identified improvement opportunities to ensure the process has been significantly improved. If any “disconnects” are not addressed, the team needs to modify the “Should” process design or outline a procedure for addressing them in the future.
6 Determine inputs and outputs at the activity level by reviewing the tasks based on the workflow.
7 Document inputs coming from outside the process and outputs to other processes/activities on the Inter-Process Linkages page in the Should-Be.xls

 

 

Tools/Resources
Should-Be – Excel Example
Common Improvement Strategies – Reference Material
Potential Pitfalls
Should-Be – Excel Template

Purpose

The goal!

To define or re-define the enabling technology/technologies to support the Should-Be Process.

Why do it?

Since knowledge-based business processes depend on underlying information technologies, it is important to consider those supporting technologies and how they may have to be modified to support process changes in the Should-Be.

What to do:

As the Should-Be Process is built and changes to the enabling technology are identified, changes should be captured in the Should-Be Worksheet and reviewed with the IT representative.

Capture action items for follow up using FrameTEC template under the Execute Tools – Action Plan.

Decision:

Have the system changes been identified, entered in the Should-Be Worksheet, and reviewed with the IT representative?

Responsibility

Team Leader

Team Members

Team Facilitator

Before you begin

Meet with your IT representative and review Charter, As-Is, Gate 3 presentation, Process and Resource Owner agreements. Explain what the design team is trying to accomplish. Give the IT rep enough time to research issues or to develop logical questions to propose to the process design team.

Procedure
Step Action
1 Review the Should-Be process with the Design Team and the IT Representative
2 Document clarifications in FrameTEC.
3 Focus on the technology that enables the process to flow without rework/redo/manual intervention/reconciliation, etc.
4 Based on the process design, develop a specification, input the Activity and task level information in the Should-Be Worksheet.
5 List data Inputs and Outputs at the activity level.
6 List the system and transaction codes that support the activities.
7 With this specification document, the IT Representative should be able to develop and establish a project plan.
8 Review proposal/plan, adjust and commit.

 

Tools/Resources
Technology Enablers Clarification and Plan

Purpose

The goal!

To identify roles and responsibility changes needed to acommodate the Should-Be Process design.

Why do it?

The roles and responsibilities may not be conducive to the new process design and therefore require some changes.

What to do:

Once the workflow of the Should-Be Process has been identified, design roles and responsibilities to support the new Process.

Help: Use this opportunity to talk about new/changing job roles.

This information will be useful for change management and communication.

Decision:

Which job roles are affected by the new process?

Responsibility

Team Leader

Team Members

Team Facilitator

Before you begin

Should-Be Process is captured and enabling technology is specified

Current job roles and responsiblities are defined

Should-Be Worksheet is populated with Activities, Tasks, Systems and Tools

Procedure
Step Action
1  List Departments or Functions at the Activity level in the Should-Be.xls.
2  List Job titles at the bottom of each task in red italic text.

 

Tools/Resources
Should-Be – Excel Example

Purpose

The goal!

To identify performance measures within the Process that can be monitored.

Why do it?

Developing Process measures that are specific to the Activity level will allow the Process Owner to identify where new breakdowns are occurring and where future changes need to be made.

What to do:

Capture the appropriate measure within the Process, at the Activity level. The following are some examples for measurements:

  • Volume – How frequently and how many are performed (1000 per week)
  • Effort – How long it takes per activity to complete (12 minutes per/activity)
  • FTE’s – How many Full Time Equivalents to perform this activity (10.40)

Help: An Activity can be measured for cost, quality and time.

Decision:

Have all the Activities been identified that need to be measured?

Responsibility

Team Leader

Team Members

Team Facilitator

Before you begin

Processes, Activities and Tasks have been captured and enabling technology identified

Should-Be Worksheet is populated with Activities, Tasks, Systems, Tools, Roles and Responsibilities

Procedure
Step Action
1 Document the performance measures by activity for the Should-Be process. These should be stated in terms of Quality, Cost, Time and Revenue Growth.

 

Tools/Resources
Should-Be – Excel Example

Purpose

The Risk and Control Matrix (RCM) is a tool designed by Audit Services, which is used to document process-level risks that threaten the achievement of certain business objectives and control activities designed to manage those risks. The objectives, which are derived from the Committee of Sponsoring Organization’s Internal Control Integrated Framework (COSO), fall into three categories:

1.The effective and efficient use of the entity’s resources (Operations);

2.The preparation of reliable published financial statements (Financial Reporting);

3.Compliance with applicable laws and regulations (Compliance).

Why do it?

The RCM is required documentation for all processes or sub-processes. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires public companies to file with the SEC an annual report assessing internal controls (Section 404). The SEC’s rule states that a company must maintain evidential matter, including documentation, to provide reasonable assurance for management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

By completing an RCM for all processes, management has a basis for evaluating whether internal controls are adequately designed. In addition, the RCM becomes a source document for Audit Services to use to populate a web-based Control Self-Assessment (CSA) for ongoing evaluation of internal control design and operating effectiveness.

Responsibility

Process Owners have primary responsibility for ensuring that the RCM is completed and kept current for each of their processes

Audit Services is a valuable resource and can provide Sarbanes-Oxley, COSO, and internal control knowledge to assist the teams

Before you begin

The following are required to complete the task:

“Should Be” process design documentation

MS Excel knowledge and process mapping skills

Procedure
 

Step

 

Action

1

When you organize your Process Improvement Team, contact the Director of Audit Services to identify and schedule an internal audit resource for your team.

Communicate key target dates, milestones and expectations, especially the estimated timing for the “Should Be” process design.

2

As soon as possible, provide Audit Services with process design documentation for your process.

Relevant documentation includes:

  • Mission and objectives/goals
  • Policies and procedures
  • “AS IS” worksheet and proposed “Should Be” design
  • Flowcharts, if available
  • Business information/system interface documentation
  • Other documentation as required

3

Audit Services will work with the team to develop a preliminary Risk Control Matrix (RCM) to identify risks and controls in the existing process.

4

During the “Should Be” design meetings, Audit Services will assist the team to ensure key controls are integrated into the process design documentation and work plan.

5

Audit Services will assist the team to develop a final RCM that corresponds to the “Should Be” state design.

6

Audit Services will forward the final RCM to the process team for linkage to the Smart Solutions website. All RCMs should be linked in the Overview section (top navigation) within Resources (left navigation).

7

Audit Services will then incorporate the final RCM content into CSA and periodically request the Process/Control Owner(s) to confirm that the designed controls over financial reporting are operating effectively.

However, if interim changes are contemplated (in either the process or controls), the Process/Control Owner should notify Audit Services in advance of a change to evaluate its impact and, if necessary, update the RCM and CSA content.

Reference:

All existing RCMs can be found in Class-07, View-Sarbanes-Oxley 404 Compliance. Reference this area for examples, or to find a particular sub-process RCM.

Tools/Resources
Risk Control Matrix (RCM) Template as of 08/6/04

Purpose

The goal!

To educate the team and to provide clear direction for the Develop activity which includes:

What needs to be done

How it needs to be done

The support required

Why do it?

This activity helps to organize the team proactively and prepare them for the coming development work.

What to do:

Using the Develop training module as a basis for educating the Process Improvement Team:

Modify the training Agenda.

Prepare to educate the team on the procedures and tools of the Develop activity.

Using the process scope section of the Team Charter, select a section of process work to demonstrate what needs to be done and how to do it.

Decision:
1) Does the team understand how to implement the procedures and tools in the Develop activity?
2) Does the team have an example specific enough to the process scope for them to continue through the analysis activity for the remaining processes?

Before you begin

All preceding activities of the Design phase

Procedure

Refer to Analyze training module in Define view.

Links
Develop Presentation
Develop Activity Agenda

 

Roles and Responsibilities

Roles
General Responsibilities
Leader The Team Leader provides the necessary support and guidance that will enable the team to progress successfully through the process improvement tasks and achieve the desired end results.

 

  • Provides content direction throughout the improvement effort to keep the team focused, on track, and continuously moving forward to achieve process improvement
  • Sets each session up for success (50% of the session’s success results from up front planning)
  • Creates a safe environment for participation
Facilitator
  • Help develop new design strategy
  • Prepare strawmaps for the new process
  • Facilitate “Should” meetings; update the map; prepare documentation; and help create recommendation presentation
  • Drive development per the design
  • Facilitate deployment design
Member
  • Design and analyze the new process
  • Present the new process to management
  • Develop the new process details
  • Design deployment (communication & training) of the new process
Process Owner
  • Play role of the liaison
  • Brief steering committee on progress, issues and recommendations
  • Approve new process design & deployment
  • Set priorities for enabling technology
Resource Owner
  • Review and approve new process designs
  • Ensure that the deployment plan is feasible & comprehensive enough to implement the proposed changes
  • Raise and resolve issues encountered by process owner and design team
Process Council
  • Review the progress of the development
  • Ensure time & resources are available for deployment