Ram Kumar Chaudhary

Visual Factory is a powerful concept from manufacturing with a strong business case for service operations as well (e.g., back office operations where work happens on computing machines/network, in hospitality, hospitals, restaurants, airports). The application areas for visual management across industry sectors are multiple. Let me take example from back office operations and illustrate the point on what information should be communicated and tools used.
 
What type of information should be communicated using visual factory?
 
It will vary from one set up to another in back office depending upon the problem areas we are trying to address or objective which we aim to achieve. However some of the generic dimensions to consider are as below
 
1. Controllable X's ( Input to the process) : Operations where there is inherently large variation in mix of inputs/quality of inputs/timeliness of input which needs to be governed rigorously. Example : Number of call center rep's available to take calls in any hour; submission of payment batch timely for payment processing, pre-check of documents for loan eligibility before sending for underwriting
 
2. Output monitoring ( Different characteristic of output) : Operations where there is possibility of remediating the situation and reducing the impact of adverse event/error present a strong case in back office to continuously monitor output. Example : Number of calls getting dropped in a contact center, high value payments revalidation for any fraudulent event
 
3. Do's/Don't ( Visual/safety aid's for operator's) : Continuous  reinforcement of Do's & Don't in process for operators in the process to reduce possibility of error or risk event. Example : List of entities/accounts which needs to be immediately notified if any transaction is observed in those entities which executing day to day process
 
4. Standard's / Goals : Ongoing communication around the standard's/goals/objectives of the operations to maintain service standards. Example : First time resolution over individual productivity to ensure service representative prioritize resolution of issue versus rushing through the process to close the case
 
5. Job aids : Day to day job aids for operators to refer while executing their process. Example : Verifications to be while approving a commercial mortgage loan application
 
6. Uncontrollable X's ( Demand ) : Volumes in a back office operations
 
What are some of the common tools used for visual factory in back office?
Principles leveraged : 5 S , Mistake Proofing (Detective control & Preventive control), Statistical Process Control
 
 

Commonly understood definition of instruction creep is documentation or codified knowledge leveraged for process execution becoming overbearing and loosing effectiveness.
 
Documented process knowledge resides in the form of SOP's ( standard operating procedures) in organizations. These are usually step level instructions on how to execute a process and has day to day relevance in operations management, training, regulatory compliance and audit for adherence to laid procedures as well as best practices. Amazing isn't it so many different objectives/lens to look at SOP's. Can the process operator still make mistake in executing process task, the answer is BIG YES. Let's decode why this happens
 
1. SOP documents over a period of time become like Epic running into pages ( 2-3 pages to over 500+), process operators start trusting their own experience and knowledge then referring to bulky SOP's for reference while executing process. This happens in most cases due to unhealthy practices around SOP management (e.g., long gaps between SOP reviews, low quality indexing, not-removing redundant sections from the document, delegation of responsibility for SOP's to lowest level).
 
2. Poor design of SOP's (e.g., objective of SOP's, layout, content and indexing of content, visual versus text heavy, searchability within SOP, on Word document/Excel versus on Digital platform). Mostly SOP's are designed to cover the content comprehensively to ensure compliance versus usability. Process operators find it difficult to search information in SOP's when they need it the most while encountering new situation or scenario. This results in process operators struggling to figure information and making mistakes
 
3. Delayed updating of SOP's, in high demand variation environment usually SOP's don't keep pace with changing nature of process. Lack of timely updating results in poor knowledge dissemination and mistakes when process operators encountered an exceptional scenario.
 
4. Lack of monitoring discipline of SOP compliance, organizations usually lack mechanism to monitor adherence to SOP by process operators usually in ITes space apart from sampled transactions. Few organization don't have tracking when did the process  operator last read the SOP resulting in dilution of SOP adherence and subsequent mistakes
 
5. Over-leverage staff, there are large variety of processes with significant demand variability leading to cross skilling of process operators across multiple of processes, which they usually don't execute in normal course of day. In special events, when they are assigned to execute a process on which they are cross-skilled, usually they end up making mistake due to nuances in the process
 
How can process owners avoid instruction creep in SOP's?
 
1. Process owners should be directly engaged in review of the SOP's atleast once a quarter
2. Only keep the relevant/current process in SOP's and move historic process to appendix or archive
3. Improved UX of SOP's via digital platforms for quick review, updation, dissemination with SOP workflow
4. Making SOP's visual or voice enabled versus textual
5. Tracking usage of SOP's, usage improves process operators will ensure SOP's are live and relevant