The 7-Step Improvement Process

One of the most interesting concepts that I've found in the V3 Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book is the 7-Step Improvement process. This process provides a structure for defining, analyzing, and using metrics to improve services and service management processes.

Prior to beginning the process, it is important to determine the:

Vision
Strategy
Tactical goals
Operational goals

These will be defined during Service Strategy (vision and strategy) and Service Design (tactical and operational goals).

With that in place, the process consists of 7 practical steps:

Define what you should measure
Define what you can measure (then do a gap analysis between this and Step 1)
Gather the data
Process the data
Analyze the data
Present and use the information
Implement corrective actions

This process provides a framework for ensuring that the data being collected and resulting metrics align with the strategic and tactical goals of the organization. It also allows an organization to prioritize and act on improvements based on factual information. Since many organizations struggle with creating meaningful metrics, I would highly recommend reading more about the 7-step improvement process in the CSI book, or attending an ITIL Lifecycle CSI class - Learn More

Comments

Four Service Characteristics

Recently I came across several articles by researchers and experts that laid out definitions and characteristics of services. ITIL provides us with a definition that can help drive the creation of value-laden services: A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. An area that ITIL is not so clear is in terms of service characteristics. Several researchers and experts put forth that services have four basic characteristics (IHIP): Intangibility—Services are the results of actions not things. They have no physical presence and represent a logical set of elements. One way to think of service is “work done for others.” Heterogeneity—Also known as “variability”; services are unique items because of the mechanisms used to deliver services, which is people. Because the people element adds variability, the service is variable. This holds true, especially for the value proposition—not eve...

What is the difference between Process Owner, Process Manager and Process Practitioner?

This article was originally published in 2015. With the Introduction of ITIL 4, some of the concepts have changed in ways that are described below. ITIL 4 has also introduced new roles, as explained in our blog ITIL 4 and the Evolving Role of Roles . Before we dive into the difference between these roles, let’s first look at a key update in ITIL 4 – the shift from processes to practices. ITIL 4 has evolved to focus on holistic practices vs. isolated processes. By definition, a practice is a set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective. For example, the purpose of the incident management practice is to minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible. All organizations recognize the need to allocate resources to the management of incidents and mature their capabilities in that area. In ITIL 4, each practice includes resources based on the four ...

What Is A Service Offering?

The ITIL 4 Best Practice Guidance defines a “Service Offering” as a description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target customer or group. As a service provider, we can’t stop there! We must know what the contracts of our service offering are and be able to put them into context as required by the customer. Let’s explore the three elements that comprise a Service Offering. A “Service Offering” may include: Goods, Access to Resources, and Service Actions 1. Goods – When we think of “Goods” within a service offering these are the items where ownership is transferred to the consumer and the consumer takes responsibility for the future use of these goods. Example of goods that are being provided in the offering – If this is a hotel service then toiletries or chocolates are yours to take with you. You the consumer own these and they are yours to take with you. ...

Search