I have reading your discussion on process improvement. Most of the discussions were centered on the business side having an output in terms of a product. I would like to know how process improvement is when the output is service like in an educational institution. What will be the benchmark for this kind? Saving Changes...
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Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Good question. Outcome Management is a topic near and dear to education and behavioral health these days. Metrics for education have to map back to the objectives or the institution to have meaning. Today test scores seem to be the most popular metric. However there are other outcomes to consider when we think of the objectives of the educational process. Unfortunately academic excellence seems to steal the spotlight while applied learning falls to the rear. Knowledge without the ability to effectively apply it seems to fall short of having any value to society or to personal growth. There are also many behavioral aspects for students that are not being measured nor approved. This is especially true in the middle and high school arena. A balanced set of metrics would take into consideration the effectiveness of the learning institution to deliver quality acedemic foundations while at the same time shaping a postitive attitude toward self and society. If education is an investment in the future then long term metrics would seem to be appropriate based on the success of the institutions graduates in becoming contributing members of society.
What are your thoughts? Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Michael's thought about the discussion is very informative. However, the process improvement that needs to be addressed in this aspect is the services that are delivered to students aside from scholastic standings would be the registration process, transfer credentials and all other services that would involve primarily the information database about a student. It is nice to know that there is such a thing as Outcome Management which eventually measures the effectiveness and the efficiency of the Information System. Of course, I do agree that the institutions' effectiveness is always measured according to how successful its graduates will be. But, are there really benchmarks on the management information systems for education? Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Yes the internal administrative processes are typically ripe for process improvement initiatives. For example the registration process produces outcomes that can easily benchmarked. The key lies in the value added to the stakeholders which in this case include students, the institution and others. Some aspects come to mind in the registration process, The first is the service aspect which revolves around speed and accuracy. The next concerns itself with the student getting the classes they desire. Finally the instructors have a stake in the registration in that they want their schedules and class sizes to be workable. All these items can be measured and metrics developed. These performance metrics can be mapped into the workflow process and related policies. Deteriming the stakeholder expectations is critical to the PI process and the creation of measurement criteria. Once all that is defined the underlying information systems can be tailored to leverage service and performance management. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Anonymous, your post addresses a very good point and the replies to your post are quite good. I very much agree with Mr. Wood's comments about measureable metrics, mapped workflows, related policies, etc. I would also add that as you go about your process improvement activities, you might consider taking a look at your "best in class" peer educational institutions. Find out from them what their QoS service metrics are and how they go about process management and improvement. See if you can develop a process improvement plan that will enable you to join that "best in class" group...! Good luck..! -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
