101 Ways to Improve Customer Service: Training, Tools, Tips, and Techniques

Chapter 36. Flow Motion: Work Process Improvement

Goal

To look for ways to improve a current work process. Participants will create a flow chart to document a work process and make suggestions for improvement.

Time Required

Approximately 1½ to 2 hours

Group Size

Subgroups of three or four persons each from an intact service team, with a maximum of twenty participants

Materials

• One sheet of newsprint paper and two felt-tipped markers in different colors for each group

• One copy of the Flow Motion Worksheet and a pencil for each participant

• Masking tape for posting newsprint sheets

Process

1. Introduce the session by stating that quality depends on analyzing current work processes to ensure that they are most effective in reaching the desired outcome. The first part of this analysis is breaking down the process into the steps required to get the job done. Explain that work processes should be reviewed periodically to ensure that modifications are being made as necessary.

2. Form subgroups of three or four persons each.

3. Distribute one copy of the worksheet and a pencil to each participant.

4. Ask each subgroup to select a current work process that is complex enough to involve several steps. Explain that each group will have 20 minutes to analyze this process by completing the worksheet with as much detail as ...