Project Brief

Project Name

Institutional Effectiveness and Satisfaction - Operational Review and Business Process Mapping and Redesign

Sponsor

MaryLynn West-Moynes

Date Submitted

October 12, 2007

General Description

Under the direction of the Staff Council on Institutional Effectiveness and Satisfaction, a project team including Kathy Hayes, Lead, Catharine Cunningham and Kristin Bolstad will work with the college community to conduct an operational review of the college's business practices.

Background

We hear it everyday. Students frustrated because they are sent to several different departments. Staff frustrated because there are too many steps to getting something done - lost opportunities, wasted time and money on redoing or fixing the same problems over and over again. Confusion, duplication, repetitive manual work, lack of communication, and lost paperwork are commonplace. All of this interferes with our ability to provide excellent quality service.

Frustration exists when staff are unable to complete tasks efficiently, and when they feel they are doing work that is not value added. It is not always well understood how areas of the college work and how to interact to get things done. On-going and frequent communication between departments is imperative.

In our ever-changing environment, we are constantly challenged to do more with less. Our students expect a modern environment and immediate service. It is no longer acceptable to wait for answers. Competition is fierce and expectations are great. We need to adjust how we work in order to accommodate these expectations. In a highly technical world, all staff will need to be educated on how to best use the tools to provide quality one stop service. We must all learn to be resourceful, and to have the resources accessible. Making this work in a complex environment is our challenge.

Now is the time to go to the next level and make an operational and cultural change within the organization. We will do this by starting with an operational review of business processes from the eyes of our staff and students, and with a focus on providing quality service. Such an analysis will help us to learn what works, what doesn't work, decide how it should work and make it happen. It will engage all areas of the college and create a better understanding of how we work and interact with each other.

Goals and Objectives

Increase institutional effectiveness and staff satisfaction through an operational business process review and analysis; improve the working environment for employees while enhancing services to students. Promote a culture of ongoing critical review of college business practices and processes to ensure resources are available to support value-added activities for students and staff at Mohawk College and to eliminate processes, which are considered redundant or wasteful.

• Determine activities, processes and services that add value to the organization
• Identify inefficiencies (duplication, redundancy, leaks, breaks, manual processes, communication breakdown)
• Reduce the number of steps/transactions
• Develop service standards
• Provide recommendations for realignment, elimination, enhancement or creation of new processes and services
• Identify where leveraging the use of technology will enhance the operation
• Optimize data and process flows
• Determine appropriate staffing levels
• Identify and document best practices
• In consultation with functional departments, develop Business Plans including cost-benefit analysis
• Develop "in-house" expertise in the field of business process analysis and design
  
  

Approach

The goals and objectives will be met as follows:

• Engage a consultant to assist the team with training, methodology and support during the initial business process reviews and to develop on-going in-house institutional knowledge and ability to move forward.
• Consult with stakeholder groups (meetings, focus groups, questionnaires etc.) and site visits to other institutions to examine best practices
• Develop business process work flow maps using a recognized template
• Develop business process flow for the Centre of Excellence, which will form the basis for the design of the facility
• Engage staff and students through frequent communication
• Provide monthly reports to Senior Leadership Team and the Council on Institutional Effectiveness
  
  

Scope and Timelines

The project will commence September, 2007 and will conclude September, 2008, at which time the council will determine if the project timeline will be extended. The team, consisting of Kathy Hayes, Catharine Cunningham and Kristin Bolstad will be seconded for the one-year period. Business Process Mapping Consulting/Training will be provided to the team.

The project sponsor, in consultation with the team and the council, will determine the first business process to be mapped. The workflow map along with recommendations will be produced within a timeframe of 4 weeks (including training).

A critical path will be developed identifying a list of workflows, by priority, along with timelines and deliverables. As each workflow is mapped, a report will be delivered.

Benefits

Utilizing the principles of models such as Lean Thinking, including Value Stream Mapping, Mohawk will improve productivity, efficiency and quality of services by eliminating process that do not add value and are thus, considered waste. "Lean Thinking methods are inclusive of all employees and involve a major change in the embedded attitudes of the individuals that make up organizations."

Reducing waste, streamlining and documenting processes, and improving communication, will contribute to buy-in and understanding across the organization. Improved relationships, team building, staff satisfaction, and improved service to students are the desired outcomes. Work will be realigned to maximize the use of resources. By providing knowledge transfer of tools and methods to Mohawk staff, we will ensure that the re-engineering process is sustainable for future projects.

Project Team

The project team, under the direction of Rick Kawai, CIO, and reporting through the President to the Council of Institutional Effectiveness and Satisfaction includes:
      Kathy Hayes, Lead
      Catharine Cunningham
      Kristin Bolstad

Resource

IT Staff (TBA)
Consulting Services - Syntegrity

Implementation Budget Requirements

Salaries - 3 staff
Consultant Fees

Examples Of Business Processes:

Exemption requests and approval process
Student ID Card
Continuing Education contracts
Continuing Education IVR (for possible elimination)
Student referrals between the Registrar's office and Academic Offices
Scholarships and Bursaries
SUMMIT - collection of SWF's and Timetabling data
Support Staff PDF review process
Hiring process - Request to Hire, interviews, setting up contracts, flow of work between departments etc.
Room Bookings

Prepared by: Kathy Hayes, October 12, 2007