The Process Ninja

A bit about DST’s Automated Work Distributor (AWD) - BPM Software

Before I say anything else, I receive no payments, no special favours or anything else for mentioning BPM software sold by these guys or anyone else. I just like letting the world know about the BPM software that is out there, because process automation rocks. They did buy me a coffee, though, which was nice.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Nick Frolich (Director of Sales for DST Global Solutions) last week. Believe it or not but I was totally unaware that their product (Automated Work Distributor) even existed or who DST were. Turns out that they are the biggest supplied of BPM software to the financial service industry in the world, which makes me look pretty thick. Saying, that their clients span a multitude of different industries.They have 400 clients using AWD worldwide and have been going for 30 Years. I didn't even know they made software back then...

What 's impressive to me were a number of case studies that outlined the tangible benefits of implementing the software. Some highlights included:

• Reirement Plan saving project where AWD reduced loan processing time by 84% & reduced FTE's by 67%
• Mailroom workflow project that saved $2M over 5 years
• Life insurance project - achived 50%+ efficiency gains in processing
• Life insurance servicing project - per transaction processing costs reduced by 55% with 21% internal rate of return
• Hospital project - saved $1M by automating paper based systems

These are the kind of stats I like to see. Proof that automation of process provides tangible benefits. I'm not saying that AWD should be your chosen BPM system - that's up to you, but it's certainly a product worth looking at if you are looking at automating your business processes.

TPN

Building Sandcastles: Why the world needs Process Analysts, not Business Analysts

I'm not a BA god damn it! I'm glad I'm not. I used to be one and I hated it. But why do agencies still call me about every BA job under the sun?

If you are not aware there is a huge differece between a BA and a Process Analyst:

BA: Scoping, requirements gathering & documenting, testing, training, etc

Process Analyst: As-is and to-be analysis, mapping of process, gap analysis, recomendations, change management, communication.

To me, the roles are chalk and cheese. A BA is down and dirty with all the intricate details. A BA is a car mechanic tinkering with nuts and bolts. The Process Analyst looks at the car and identifies its flaws or they design the car.

So why are there so many BA's and so few Process Analyst roles? To me it's basic ignorance. Most companies think a BA can do the job of a process analyst as well as the job of a BA. Judging by a lot of the process maps I've seen, that's not the case. Process is a speciality, a skill, a mindset. You wouldn't get a handyman to build you a house, you'd get a builder.

The good process people I've seen aren't focussed on the nuts and bolts - they see the big picture. For me, the ideal combination is a BA and a process analyst working in unison. The Process Analyst painting the picture of the landscape and the BA focussing in on the process analyst's recommendations.

But time and again I see projects filled with BA's, and time and again I see projects doomed to fail. BA's fill a very important role, but without a process perspective those projects are merely building castles of sand.

TPN

Are you creating a monster? Repeatability & Scalability in Process

I'm working with a team at the moment who has a product that they sell to clients. As part of the ongoing managed service to this client they have 9 key services that they provide. Basic stuff really - service requests.

Think about this:

• They have 9 process maps for each service request type

• They have procedures for each service request type

• They are all "client specific"

So what happens when they bring on a new client? Yes, they create a new set of processes and procedures for that client.

And what happens if a change is required to a process - yes they have to change the process across all the clients!

Just think about the administrative overhead of all that and the potential confusion caused by 9 processes times X number of clients. Essentially what they have done is to create a process monster. We're now going through the process (ahem) of stripping back the client specific information to create 1 process and set of procedures that can be used across all clients. This reduces the admin overhead, reduces the margin for error and allows us to go to market quickly and implement rapidly if a potential client comes along.

So the message is, when you create or modify process remember:

• Repeatability - make it easily repeatable, don't re-invent the wheel each time
• Scalability - make it adaptable to growth

Don't create a monster.

TPN

EVERYTHING is Process

My favourite band of all time, Oasis once sang "You're all part of the Masterplan..." and that's how I think about process.

What a lot of people seem to forget is that everything we do is a process. When you get up in the morning you follow a process, when you brush your teeth you follow a process. A lot of what we do has become routine and habit, but once upon a time they were new to you - you probably just don't remember when the switch from being a new process to being "just something you do" occurred.

How is this relevant? - well we have to stop thinking of process as being a thing that we fix or we tweak or we control. It is all of those things, but it is so much more - process IS everything that we do, and the sooner we can make decision makers understand this way of thinking, the sooner we'll change the world.

Process is rock n' roll. They just don't know it yet.

TPN

Process Tip: Don't become "one of them"

After a while in an organisation you will get a feel for which of the staff are one of “those people”. They are the whingers, the complainers, who revel in negativity but are prepared to do absolutely nothing to improve their situation or others. They love to wallow in misery like a giant impotent hippo. Don’t become one of them. Always stay positive, and if you find yourself feeling down, in a rut or negative, just think “what can I do to change this”, and then (the most important part) actually do something about it. And what about them? Do everything you can to get rid of them – they don’t just bring the organisation down, but like a giant grey snowball of depression they gather momentum by bringing everyone else down with them.

 

Don’t let the snowball start rolling. Melt it in its tracks.

How (and how not) to throw money down the drain with process

You'd think that in the midst of the "GFC" companies would be looking at ways to make their processes more efficient, yet there are still many companies out there that like to throw money away hand over fist.

One of these companies is a furniture chain called Fantastic Furniture ("The package deal kings"). I like fantastic furniture. I don't like all their products, but I get what they are trying to do. They are the budget furniture company and they've pretty much got hold of their target market by the short and curlies. Now this isn't a story about customer service - it's a story of internal process. I'm not going to whinge about them from a personal point of view as when you buy something  cheap you often get cheap service - I can live with that if the price is right. But what I find amazing is when a company like theirs wastes money. OK, here's the story...

I looked online at their website and found a bed and cabinets that I wanted to buy. Actually I'd already seen it in the store. I would have loved to have bought online, but alas, no online store.

Mistake no 1: no online store.

So I call my local store and ask if it's in stock. Yes the bed is in stock he tells me but the cabinets will take longer. OK, says I, can I buy the bed now and collect the cabinets later? Yes, says he. All I need to do is pay a deposit over the phone go to the store, pay for the bed and then go and collect it at the warehouse?

Excuse me? says I. Can't I just pay for it over the phone and collect it from the warehouse? No says the man.

Mistake no 2: Poor process design fed by bureaucracy.

So I go to the store they look me up in the computer and alas I'm not there. We spend 10 minutes wrestling with the system and several calls to a mystery voice of god that tells them that that particular till doesn't work. They then find me and I actually get to pay for my bed.

Mistake no 3: Poor communication & IT support processes.

They then tell me that my items are all in stock - but wait didn't they tell me that my bedside cabinets were out of stock only 2 days ago?

Mistake no 4: Poor stock control and inventory processes

So I finally complete my transaction. Or at least I think so. The staff then take a manual docket pad and write out my receipt. Let me repeat that - THEY WRITE OUT MY RECEIPT. What on earth does their system do if it can't track stock and it can't print a receipt?

Mistake 4: Manual processes due to poor system functionality

So I take my hand written docket and drive to the warehouse. They give me an inaccurate map which gets me lost before I eventually find it. I get there and give my receipt to the chap at the warehouse. He looks at it and asks why I don't have a green slip. I tell him that's all they gave me. He grumbles that as they didn't write it out fully it will take longer to find the stock. He then proceeds to look up the computer and...write out another receipt. Did you get that HE WRITES OUT ANOTHER RECEIPT and gives that to me.

Mistake 5: lack of quality controls to ensure processes are followed

I eventually get all my stuff. It only took me 1.5 hours. But what did it cost Fantastic?

• Phone call - 5 mins
• Staff computer error - 5 mins
• Writing Docket - 2 mins
• Looking up system & re-writing docket - 5 mins

Total "lost" time = 17mins FOR ONE CUSTOMER AND ONE TRANSACTION!!!!

If you think about this in terms of the cost for 17 minutes of staff time multiplied by thousands of transactions you can envisage the amount of money fantastic are throwing away. Of course they could have avoided this entire 17 minute cost if they had an online system. But even if they didn't all they need is to update their system to be able to track stock in real-time and to eliminate the inefficient paper based system that they have become accustomed to. This would allow online tracking, reduce admin costs, control stock flow more efficiently and reduce customer touch time to allow their staff to concentrate on selling rather than performing laborious admin.

Fantastic, the Ninja has spoken. Please stop throwing your money away.

A Tale of Two (Sales) Processes - Why You Must Adapt or Die

I'd like to share with you a couple of examples of sales processes. One that works, another that doesn't. Together they beautifully demonstrate the gap that can be bridged by solid process.

First let's talk about the broken process...

Grosby are an Australian based manufacturer of shoes and slippers (owned by the evil pacific brands empire). I love their slippers having had a lovely pair of leather slippers that I bought last year. However a rather tragic washing machine incident ended the life of my beloved slippers. So, thinks I, I will simply go to the website, buy another pair and in a few days I will be reunited with my beloved slippers. But alas, the Grosby website has no option to buy online. Instead of investing in the technology to sell direct, they choose simply to sell via retailers and make less money. Go figure. Maybe this is one of the reasons they are making bugger all money.

So anyway, my next step is to look on their website to find a retailer, which I do and I trek off down Pitt St to get them. Three shops later (one of which is a women's footwear store), I find that none of them actually stock any Grosby slippers so I return to the office empty handed. In desperation I use the "contact us" option on their website and send them a long e-mail, pouring out my unbridled love for their rare, sacred slippers. I just want to buy their product!

In the midst of the global financial crisis Grosby must be doing amazingly well! Not only do they not care that the information on their website doesn't actually lead you to their product but that they are doing so well that they don't even need to respond to a poor consumer desperately wanting to give them his money!  

Now let's talk about a process that works...

When I went to buy a new pair of glasses the other week I looked at a lot of retail stores. After realising that I'd have to sell a kidney to afford anything other than a giant pair of blue plastic glasses that would make me look like a children's TV presenter from 1984 I decided to look online.

After a bit of googling for glasses I found a website called "Clearly Contacts". Turns out that they are a global company, but very cleverly they have a web prescence in every country. They have also had the smarts to market themselves online as selling multiple products. So on I go, order my glasses online and I'm done in a few minutes. Well actually I'm not because the advertising on the website gets me thinking and before I know it I've bought a 6 month supply of contact lenses too! So I complete my transaction and am happy before I realise that I have not put in the code to get a 10% first time customer discount and free fedex shipping (for orders over $200). So I e-mail their customer service who refund my 10% and upgrade my shipping within a couple of hours - no questions asked.

So what's the message here?

• Look at your sales processes - are you going the whole way?
• Cherish every customer inquiry as an opportunity to make money
• Use automation - why sell in a store when you can make more money selling online?
• If you have a website, for god's sake make sure it is accurate
• If you don't respond quickly to customers, there is a competitor who will

But the bottom line is that YOU MUST invest time and effort (and gosh, maybe even some money) to keep your processes and systems competitive. Maybe a website with information was enough in 1999, but in today's environment no-one can afford to be complacent - there is always a hungry upstart snapping at your heels.

Heed my words people - adapt or die.

TPN