In an earlier blog I had talked about the need for
organizations to have the ability to measure their processes against those of
their competition or some defined industry standard. Before that could happen, it had to be
determined if your processes
are mature enough to ensure that you can gather the needed data for a
successful undertaking.
If your
assessment calls for developing a new process, reengineering or improving an
existing process a sound methodology for that mission could be the “Ten process
design and improvement steps” as describe in “The ITSM Process Design Guide by
Donna Knapp.The elegance
of this approach is that it can be utilized to design or improve any process regardless
of maturity level. It provides the
common vocabulary, tools, and techniques needed to engage all participants who
would be required for these process and improvement actions. They help to define and understand the end to
end process, who the customers are and their requirements. It also allows you to levelset the process
with your organizational structure, related processes and the available
technologies. It also provides the
mechanism to allow for continual process improvement.
The ten
process design and improvement steps are grouped into the following four
logical phases.
Requirements Definition-Requirements
Definition Document
- Determine management’s vision and level of commitment.
- Establish project and form project team.
- Define process and identify customer
requirements
Process Analysis-Gap Analysis Report - Document the as is process and baseline current performance.
- Assess conformance to customer requirements.
- Benchmark current performance.
Process Design and Implementation-Process Definition Document - Design or redesign process.
- Solicit feedback, fine tune, and finalize the design.
- Implement new design.
Continual Process Improvement-Maturity Assessments and Metrics - Assess performance and continually improve.
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