Every first entrant to the world of BPM encounters 2 key terminologies without fail: As-Is Process and the Turn Around Time (TAT). By defining the As-Is process and identifying the current TAT, we can go ahead and model the To-Be processes and look at improving the TAT for a better customer experience.
So far so good, and we enter into the world of Process Modeling. The current TAT is mostly defined via an SLA thought to be a safe bet to deliver the services to a customer in a consistent manner. However, is the current TAT a true reflection of the actual performance on the ground? How are these measured and if so, are the measurements captured in a mature and accurate manner?
In most organizations stepping into the world of BPM, this is most likely to be driven by gut feeling or by trying to follow the de jure TAT doing the rounds in the market for those services. If this is to be the case, how do we capture the current TAT and get a healthy reflection of its performance on the ground?
In the absence of scientific measurements, the Delphi Exercise is a good way to capture the current TAT and even use it to gauge the expected improved TAT, especially, when you have a mixed group of stakeholders keen on the process’ improvement.
Below is a simple Delphi Exercise template that can be easily built on Excel:
The Delphi table has 3 key elements; the Most Likely TAT, the Maximum TAT and the Minimum TAT experienced as per the input received from the various stakeholders engaged in the process.
This allows one to eliminate any bias or miscalculations through a democratic input and thus, portraying near-reality. In the above example, it is visible that this process witnesses a minimum of 3.5 days in average from all the inputs. Perhaps, this could be the To-Be TAT that could be targeted as part of the process improvement exercise.
When clear, transparent and scientific measures are lacking, the Delphi Exercise is a very effective mechanism to capture current and identify improved TAT.
Courtesy to Sanooj Kutty. This blog was originally published on The Information Manager.
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