reeengineering methodology

A Reengineering Methodology

Rapid Re

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Introduction

The Rapid Re methodology is composed of a number of management techniques with which you are probably familiar. Existing management techniques (process modeling,

performance measurement, work flow analysis, to name a few) produce worthwhile results, although they are not ends in themselves as far as BPR is concerned.

There is no need to invent any new techniques, as there are more than enough available for our purposes, and those that we have selected produce dependable results that have gained acceptance in both business and information systems.

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Introduction

The Rapid Re methodology appropriately integrates and uses a number of these important techniques to develop and analyze the key information that allows us to identify opportunities for the radical change of value-added business processes.

The resulting Methodology has a value that exceeds that of all of the “embedded” techniques.

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Introduction

Rapid Re is a five stage, fifty-four-step methodology that enables organizations to achieve swift, substantive results by making radical changes in strategic value-added business processes. Included in the methodology is a set of integrated management techniques that are used to develop and analyze the information needed to identify opportunities and reengineer core business processes. The methodology has been designed to be used by reengineering teams in business organizations, without heavy dependence on outside experts. Each of the five stages addresses a logical part of the reengineering process and produces results that are used by subsequent stages.

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Introduction

Rapid Re consists of five stages: Preparation Identification Vision Solution and Transformation

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Introduction

The Solution stage is further divided into Technical Design and Social Design, which are performed concurrently

The stages are designed to be performed consecutively. The end of each stage represents a major milestone in the reengineering project.Stages are further divided into tasks - 54 in all

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Introduction

Stage 1 - Preparation Appropriately begins with the development of an

executive consensus on breakthrough business goals and objectives that represent the purpose for the existence of this reengineering project. Preparation also clearly establishes the essential linkage between breakthrough business goals and reengineered process performance, and defines project parameters regarding schedule, cost, risk, and organizational change. The Preparation Stage also assembles and trains the reengineering team and produces the initial change management plan.

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Introduction

Stage 2 - Identification Develops a customer-oriented model of the business;

identifies strategic value-added processes; and maps organizations, resources, and volumes to specific processes and priorities, and recommends specific processes as the highest impact reengineering targets.

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Introduction

Stage 3 - Vision Looks for the breakthrough opportunities in the

processes; analyzes and structures them as “visions” of radical change.

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Introduction

Stage 4 – Solution Is actually divided into two nearly parallel sub-

stages: one to develop the technical design needed to implement the visions, and the other, the “social” design, which organizes and structures the human resources that will staff the reengineered process.

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Introduction

Stage 5 – Transformation Realizes the process visions (and sub-visions for

multiyear transitions), launching pilot and full production versions of the new processes.

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Stage 1: Preparation

The purpose of this stage is to mobilize, organize, and energize the people who will perform reengineering. The Preparation stage produces a mandate for change; an organization structure and charter for the reengineering team; and a game plan

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The key questions answered by this stage include: What are senior executives’ objectives and expectations? What

is their level of commitment to this project? What should the goals for this project be? How aggressive can

we make them without sacrificing realism? Who should be on the team? What mix of skills/capabilities

should be represented on the team? What skills/capabilities are not available to team members?

How can they be developed or acquired? What specific reengineering skills will team members need to

learn? What will we need to communicate to employees to earn their

support and trust?

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Task 1.1- Recognize Need The need for reengineering is usually recognized as

a result of a change: a market change, a technology change, an environmental change. As a result of this change, a senior manager (the “sponsor”) - motivated by pain, fear, or ambition - resolves to do something: reengineer. At this point the sponsor often recruits a facilitator.

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Task 1.2 – Develop Executive Consensus This takes the form of a one-day working meeting

that includes the sponsor, the process owners, and the facilitator. Its purposes are to educate the management group in the methodology and terminology to be used; secure leadership and support for the project; define the issues to be addressed; identify other stakeholders; and set goals and priorities for the project. This task also organizes the reengineering team and develops its mandate.

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Task 1.3 – Train Team This task equips the reengineering team members to

undertake their mission. It includes defining management’s expectations of them; building teamwork; learning the approach; selecting the manual and/or automated tools to be used in the project; adopting a common terminology; working through reengineering examples; and, finally, assuming responsibility for the project.

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Task 1.4 – Plan Change This task explicitly recognizes that there will be resistance

to the changes that the reengineering project will introduce and that the change must be managed if the project is to be successful. It initiates change management by identifying the stakeholders and their interests. It defines how communications will be managed to ensure that the stakeholders are kept informed in a constructive way. It identifies methods of assessing the extent of buy-in by various stakeholders and methods of intervening if buy-in is found to be inadequate. This task also develops the project plan and schedule and defines project management methods, if these have not been specified already.

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Stage 1 - Management Techniques

1.1 Recognize Need

1.2 Develop Executive Consensus

• Facilitation

• Goal Seeking

1.3 Train Team • Team Building

• Motivation

1.4 Plan Change • Change Management

• Project Management

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Stage 2: Identification

The purpose of this stage is to develop and understand a customer-oriented process model of the business. The identification stage produces definitions of customers, processes, as well as measures of performance, and success; identification of value-adding activities; a process map of organization, resources, volumes, and frequency; and the selection of the processes to reengineer.

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The key questions answered by this stage include: What are our major business processes? U How do these processes interface with customer

and supplier processes? What are our strategic processes? Which processes should we reengineer within ninety

days, within one year, subsequently?

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Task 2.1 – Model Customers This task identifies the external customers, defines

their needs and wants, and identifies the various interactions between the organization and its customers.

Task 2.2 – Define and Measure Performance This task defines customer-oriented measures of

performance and determines current performance levels, both averages and variances. It also examines existing standards of performance and identifies performance problems.

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Task 2.3 – Define Entities This task identifies the entities, or “things” with which

the organization deals. An entity is an abstraction that is realized in one or more specific instances.

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Task 2.4 – Model Processes This task defines each process and identifies its state

change sequence. It defines the process objectives and critical success factors. It defines the process inputs and outputs

Task 2.5 – Identify Activities This task identifies the major activities needed to

effect each state change. It also determines the extent to which each activity adds value, that is, the extent to which the activity contributes to meeting a customer want or need

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Task 2.6 – Extended Process Model This task identifies internal and external suppliers

and their interactions with the processes. At this point, the process model will begin to reveal that certain individuals and groups within the organization are both suppliers and customers.

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Task 2.7 Map Organization This task defines the organization(s) involved in each

major activity and the type of involvement (e.g., “responsible for,” “provides input to” “receives notification from”). It therefore defines the process/organizational boundaries.

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Task 2.8 – Map Resources This task estimates the head count and expense

dollars in each major activity of each process. It also estimates transaction volumes and frequencies. This information is used to compute estimated annual costs per activity and process and unit costs per transaction.

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Task 2.9 Prioritize Processes This task weights each process by its impact on the

business goals and priorities set in Task 1.2—Develop Executive Consensus and by the resources consumed. It considers these, as well as the time, cost, difficulty, and risk of reengineering in a multidimensional approach to setting priorities for reengineering the processes.

Once the priorities are set, this task also schedules Stages 3, 4, and 5 for each selected process.

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2.1 Model Customers • Customer Modeling

2.2 Define and Measure Performance

• Performance Measurement

• Cycle Time Analysis

2.3 Define Entities • Process Modeling

2.4 Model Processes • Process Modeling

2.5 Identify Activities • Process Modeling

• Process Value Analysis

2.6 Extend Process Model • Process Modeling

• Supplier Integration & Partnership Programs

2.7 Map Organization • Process Modeling

• Workflow Analysis

• Organizational Mapping

2.8 Map Resources • Activity Based Cost Accounting

2.9 Prioritize Processes • Process Value Analysis

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Stage 3: Vision

The purpose of this stage is to develop a process vision capable of achieving breakthrough performance. The Vision stage produces identification of current process elements such as organization, systems, and information flow, and current process problems and issues. The Vision stage also produces comparative measures of current process performance; improvement opportunities and objectives; a definition of what changes are required; and a statement of the new process “vision”

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Stage 3: Vision

The key questions answered by this stage include: What are the primary sub-processes, activities, and

steps that constitute our selected process(es)? In what order are they performed?

How do resources, information, and work flow through each selected process?

Why do we do things the way we do now? What assumptions are we making about our current work flow, policies, and procedures?

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Stage 3: Vision

key questions Are there ways to achieve our business goals and

address customer needs that seem impossible today but, if could be done, would fundamentally change our business?

Consider the boundaries between our processes and our business partners, i.e., customers, suppliers, strategic allies. How might we redefine these boundaries to improve overall performance?

What are the key strengths and weaknesses of each selected process?

How do other companies handle the processes and associated complexities?

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Stage 3: Vision

key questions What measures should we use when benchmarking

our performance against best-in-class companies? What is causing the gap between our performance

and that of best-practice companies? What can we learn from these companies?

How can the results of visioning and benchmarking be used to redesign our processes?

What are the specific improvement goals for our new processes? IC] What is our vision and strategy for change? How can we communicate our vision to all employees?

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.1 - Understand Process Structure This task expands our understanding of the static

aspects of the process modeled in Tasks 2.4 through 2.6 by identifying all activities and steps in the process; identifying all involved organizations and primary job functions; preparing a matrix of activities/steps versus organizational jobs; and by identifying systems and technology used and applicable policies.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.2 - Understand Process Flow This task expands our understanding of the dynamic

aspects of the modeled process by identifying primary decision points and sub-processes; preparing a matrix of inputs/outputs and stimuli against activities/steps; and by identifying flow variations.

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Stage 3: Vision

The objective of Tasks 3.1 and 3.2 is to develop sufficient understanding of the way current processes work to ensure that their reengineered replacements truly represent major improvement. The level of detail needed to achieve this understanding will vary but will always be less than that required to “fix” the current process. That is why we use the term “understand” rather than “analyze” in the title of these tasks.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.3 – Identify Value-Adding Activities This task assesses the impact of each activity of the

process on the external performance measures for the process, in order to identify those activities that add value, those that do not, and those that are purely for internal control.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.4 – Benchmarking Performance This task compares both the performance of the

organization’s processes and the way those processes are conducted with those of relevant peer organizations in order to obtain ideas for improvement. The peer organizations may be within the same corporate family, they may be comparable companies, industry leaders, or best-in-class performers. The task consists of identifying relevant peers; determining their process performance and the primary differences in their processes that account for the performance differences; and assessing the applicability of those process differences to our processes.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.5 – Determine Performance Drivers This task defines the factors that determine the

performance of the process by identifying sources of problems and errors; enablers and inhibitors of process performance; dysfunctions and incongruities; activity or job fragmentation; or information gaps or delays.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.6 – Estimate Opportunity This task uses all of the additional information

developed so far in Stage 3 to expand on the initial assessment of the opportunity for process improvement made in Task 2.9 - Prioritize Processes. It estimates the degree of change needed and the difficulty of the change, the costs and benefits of the change, the level of support for the change, and the risks of making the change. It also defines the near-term opportunities for improvement, which can be pursued immediately

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.7 – Envision the Ideal (External) This task describes how the process would operate

with all of the external performance measures (defined in Task 2.2 - Define and Measure Performance) optimized. In particular, it describes the behavior of those activities that interface with customers and suppliers.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.8 – Envision the Ideal (Internal) This task describes how the process would operate

with all of the internal performance measures (defined in Task 2.6 - Extend Process Model) optimized. It thus repeats Task 3.7, treating internal participants as customers and suppliers. This task also describes how key job functions would be performed to achieve ideal performance.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.9 – Integrate Visions It is possible that the internal and external visions

conflict. This task identifies any such conflicts and trades off among the alternative capabilities to produce the most effective integrated vision.

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Stage 3: Vision

Task 3.10 – Define Sub-Visions This task examines the time frame for realization of

the process vision and the possibility of defining successive sub-visions between the current process and the fully integrated vision. If defined, each sub-vision is associated with performance goals.

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3.1 Understand Process Structure • Work Flow Analysis

3.2 Understand Process Flow • Work Flow Analysis

3.3 Identify Value-Adding Activities • Process Value Analysis

• Cycle Time Analysis

3.4 Benchmark Performance • Benchmarking

3.5 Determine Performance Drivers • Work Flow Analysis

3.6 Estimate Opportunity • Cycle lime Analysis

3.7 Envision the Ideal (External) • Visioning

• Supplier Integration & Partnership Programs

3.8 Envision the Ideal (Internal) • Visioning

3.9 Integrate Visions • Visioning

3.10 Define Sub Visions • Visioning

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Stage 4A: Solution: Technical Design

The purpose of this stage is to specify the technical dimension of the new process. The Technical Design stage produces descriptions of the technology, standards, procedures, systems, and controls employed by the reengineered process. Together with Stage 4B: Solution: Social Design it produces designs for the interaction of social and technical elements. Finally, it produces preliminary plans for systems and procedures development; procurement of hardware, software, and services; facilities enhancement, test, conversion, and deployment.

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The key questions answered by this stage include: What technical resources and technologies will we

need in the reengineered process? How can these resources and technologies best be

acquired? How will the technical and social elements, e.g., the

human interface of the system, interact?

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Task 4A.1 - Model Entity Relationships This task identifies the relationships among entities. It

also defines the direction and cardinality of the relationships, i.e., which entity “owns” which other entity and whether the relationship is one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many.

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Task 4A.2 – Re-examine Process Linkages This task considers whether movement of steps

among activities, activities among processes, or reassigned responsibility for steps would improve performance. It also identifies instances where better coordination among activities would improve performance.

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Task 4A.3 – Instrument and Informate This task identifies the information needed to

measure and manage the performance of the process, defines places where the information can be stored (usually files associated with the entities), and adds steps to the process, as needed, to capture, assemble, and disseminate the needed information.

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Task 4A.4 – Consolidate Interface and Information This task defines the process changes needed to

reduce or simplify interfaces, both internal and external. It identifies and eliminates duplicate information flows, and with them, reconciliation activities. More generally, this task reduces redundancy.

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Task 4A.5 – Redefine Alternatives This task evaluates the continued need for special

cases (if any) in the process. If needed, it considers segregating the special cases in separate processes. In other words, this task seeks to replace a single complex process with one or more simpler processes.

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Task 4A.6 – Relocate Retime Controls This task seeks to reduce the number of non value-

added activities in the process by simplifying the control structure of the process. It accomplishes this by integrating controls into value-adding activities, by replacing error detection with error avoidance, and by moving error detection closer to the point of occurrence of the error. This task also reviews the logical relationships among activities in order to find opportunities to perform in parallel activities that are currently performed serially. Obviously this would increase the speed of the process.

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Task 4A.7 Modularize The purpose of this task is to define parts of the

reengineered process that can be deployed independently. This partition of the process, if one exists, enables the process to be distributed in space (e.g., by decentralizing it) and/or in time (e.g. by substituting process parts in moving from one sub-vision to another).

The formal analysis of this task consists of determining the dependencies among the activities of the revised process and of determining interactions between activities and entities. This analysis allows the clustering of activities by related changes and by time/space adjacency, so that modules can be defined for movement and for implementation.

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Task 4A.8 – Specify Deployment This task uses the modules defined in the previous

task in order to evaluate structural alternatives (e.g., centralized versus decentralized) and implementation alternatives (e.g. first sub-vision versus second sub- Vision). Analysis of these alternatives then leads to the selected deployment of each module in space, time, and organization. Note that this task is conducted concurrently with Task 4B.6—Redraw Organizational Boundaries.

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Task 4A.9 – Apply Technology Technology is one of the two key enablers of

business process reengineering (the other being human potential). The new process vision developed in Stage 3 will certainly have been informed by a knowledge of the current capabilities, uses, and limitations of technology. But specific applications of technology to the process will be made in this task.

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The major applications of technology to BPR are to: Analyze e.g., simulations, statistics. Capture and document e.g., image. Communicate e.g. data communications. Control e.g. telemetry, process control. Human interface e.g. graphics, voice recognition/response. Identify e.g. bar codes, magnetic strips. Informate e.g. telemetry, on-line access. Manage e.g. decision support, management information. Manufacture e.g. CAD, CAM, CIM. Provide mobility e.g. cellular telephone, laptop computers. Share expertise e.g. knowledge-based expert systems. Share information e.g. databases.

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Task 4A.10 – Plan Implementation In this task preliminary plans (to be refined in Stage

5) are developed for implementing the technical aspects of the reengineered process, including development, procurement, facilities, test, conversion, and deployment. These plans will then be time phased, along with the parallel plans for implementing the social aspects of the process, developed in Task 4B.12 - Plan Implementation.

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Stage 4B: Solution: Social Design

The purpose of this stage is to specify the social dimension of the new process. The Social Design Stage produces descriptions of the organization, staffing, jobs, career paths, and incentives employed by the reengineered process. Together with Stage 4A: Solution: Technical Design it produces designs for the interaction of social and technical elements. Finally it produces preliminary plans for recruitment, education, training, reorganization, and redeployment of personnel.

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Stage 4A - Management Techniques

4A.1Model ER • Information Engineering

4A.2 Re-examine Process linkages

• Work Flow Analysis

4A.3 Instrument and Informate • Information Engineering


4A 4Consolidate Interfaces and Information

• Information Engineering

4A.5 Redefine Alternatives • Information Engineering

4A.6 Relocate and Retime Controls • Information Engineering

4A.7 Modularize • Information Engineering

4A.8 Specify Deployment • Information Engineering

4A.9 Apply Technology • Information Engineering

• Strategic Automation

4A10 Plan Implementation • Strategic Automation


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The key questions answered by this stage include: What technical & human resources will we need to reengineer?

What activities will each reengineering team member be responsible for? What priorities and dependencies exist?

What immediate opportunities exist? What can we accomplish in ninety days? One year? Beyond one year?

What human resources will we need in reengineered process? What targets and measures should we establish? How will responsibilities change? What training programs will be

needed? Who is likely to resist the changes called for? How can they be

motivated to accept changes? What other obstacles exist? What will our new organization look like?

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Task 4B.1 – Empower Customer Contact Personnel In order to improve the responsiveness and quality of service

provided to the customer by a process, it is necessary to empower customer contact personnel. This task defines the changes in responsibility, authority, knowledge, skills, and tools needed to enable customer contact personnel to improve performance. Then, recognizing that customer contact personnel are themselves customers of other personnel, and so on, this task defines the changes needed for all personnel to improve service to their customers.

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Task 4B.2 – Identify Job Characteristic Clusters This task identifies the set of skills, knowledge, and

orientation (e.g. facilitation versus control, people versus things etc.) relevant to both the current and the reengineered process. It then prepares two matrices of current jobs and redefined (i.e. empowered) jobs versus the skills, knowledge, and orientation set. Each cell of the matrix provides the level (none, low, medium, high) of the skills, knowledge, and orientation needed for the job. Using these matrices, the task then identifies clusters of job characteristics.

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Task 4B.3 Define Jobs/Teams This task assesses the match between the job

characteristic clusters of current jobs and needed jobs and between teams of current jobs and needs. Based on this assessment, the task defines new jobs and new teams. In other words, when it is possible to do so, a single job will be defined to meet the needs of the reengineered process. When this is not possible, teams will be defined.

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Task 4B.4 – Define Skills and Staffing Needs This task identifies the level of skills needed for each

new job and revises the matrix prepared in Task 4B.2- Identify Job Characteristic Clusters. The task also defines the relationship between staffing levels and volumes and identifies staffing needed at current and projected volumes.

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Task 4B.5 – Specify Management Structure This task specifies how the three main components of

management (work management, leadership, and personnel development) will be accomplished in the reengineered process. The task identifies the process owner and responsibilities for work management and personnel development. It defines team leadership, and it assesses the need for first- and second-level management. In order to make these decisions, the task structures and analyzes feasible alternatives.

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Task 4B.6 – Redraw Organizational Boundaries This task considers changing the organizational

structure in order to ensure that each team resides within a single organization and to reduce the number of organizational boundaries traversed by the process. Note that this task is conducted concurrently with Task 4A. 8 – Specify Deployment

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Task 4B.7 – Specify Job Changes This task prepares a new matrix of skills, knowledge, and

orientation requirements versus transitions from old jobs to new jobs. The elements of the matrix consist of the number of degrees of change required by the transition. For example, if job A requires a low level of skill X and job B requires a high level of that skill, then the element at the intersection of “transition job A to job B” and “skill X” will be +2 (from low to high). This task also assigns weights to each skill, knowledge, and orientation requirement, representing the relative difficulty of acquiring that characteristic. The weighted changes are then summed, producing a measure of the difficulty of making the transition from old to new jobs. The transition difficulty measure is used to preplan the reorganization and a curriculum for training and education of process personnel - will take place in Stage 5.

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Task 4B.8 – Design Career PathsThis task is similar to the preceding one, except that now the matrix is of transitions from one new job to another new job. This task provides a formal solution to one of the vexing problems of reengineering. In reengineered processes, job distinctions (such as compensation) based on hierarchical position and reporting relationships tend to be replaced by distinctions based on knowledge and skill. But since most jobs are enriched, they are multidimensional, so that it is difficult to compare them directly.

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Task 4B.8 – Design Career Paths … This task develops measures of the difficulty of making

transitions from job A to job B and from job B to job A. If A to B is more difficult than B to A, then clearly job B is the “bigger” job. This task considers all such transitions and determines which transitions are feasible, which leads directly to the career path. Some jobs (the “biggest”) will have no career path within the process. In this case, it is necessary to identify feasible transitions into other processes. Since the question “How will this all affect me?” underlies most of the resistance to change, successful completion of this task and communication of its results are the most important components of the change management program.

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Task 4B.9 – Define Transitional Organization To this point, Stage 48 has focused on the social design needed

to realize the final process Vision. This task addresses the social design for the sub-visions, if any. It is conducted in parallel with Task 4A.8 - Specify Deployment, so that the social and technical elements of the process will be congruent. Usually, the need to reach the final vision through a series of sub-visions is forced by the technical design, since it can take a long time to develop a new system, for example. But sometimes it is the social design that forces the phasing, for example, when a major education and training program is needed.

This task describes the jobs, management methods, and organization structures at points intermediate between the current situation and the final process design. It also identifies the changes needed to effect the transitions.

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Task 4B.1O – Design Change Management Program This is the single most important task in Rapid Re, for far more

reengineering projects fail for lack of effective change management than because their technical or social designs are flawed. This task refines and expands upon the Plan Change drafted in Task 1.4.

The task begins with identification of the stakeholders and their likely issues. Some stakeholders are people holding the same jobs; they usually have common interests so the job can be treated as the stakeholder. Other stakeholders (typically managers) hold unique jobs, so the stakeholder is the individual. When the program is executed, however, each person must be treated as an individual, regardless of his or her job. For each stakeholder, this task identifies expected avenues of resistance and defines measures of the level of resistance or buy-in. It then plans a communications program, a program to assess buy-in and intervene if necessary, and a general education and training

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Task 4B.11 – Design Incentives The purpose of this task is to align individual, organizational,

and process goals by defining incentives to motivate people to make the transition to the new process; achieve the planned levels of process performance; and commit to continuous improvement. The task also defines the measurements and feedback mechanisms needed to support the administration of the incentives. This is another example of Instrument and Informate. The principle followed is that incentives are most effective when the party being monitored is always aware of his/her current performance.

Incentives are usually monetary and non-monetary awards and recognition. They should not be promotions since promotions should be based on capability, not performance.

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Task 4B.12 – Plan Implementation This task will develop preliminary plans (to be refined in Stage

5) for implementing the social aspects of the reengineered process, including recruitment, education, training, reorganization, and redeployment. These plans will then be time phased, along with the parallel plans for implementing the technical aspects of the process, developed in Task 4A.1O.

This task also defines the “governance structure” for Stage 5, that is, the roles and responsibilities of the reengineering sponsor, the process owner, the reengineering project manager, and other individuals and organizations. Typically, the information services and human resources functions play major roles in Stage 5.

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Stage 4B - Management Techniques

4B.1 Empower Customer Contact Personnel

• Employee Empowerment

• Skill Matrices

4B.2 Identify Job Clusters • Skill Matrices

4B.3 Define Jobs/Teams • Team Building

• Self Managed Work Teams

4B.4 Define Skills and Staff Needs • Skill Matrices

4B.5 Specify Management Structure • Organizational Restructuring

• Self Managed Work Teams

4B.6 Redraw Organizational

Boundaries

• Organizational Restructuring

• Organization Mapping

4B.7 Specify Job Changes • Skill Matrices

4B.8 Design Career Paths • Skill Matrices

4B.9 Define Transitional • Organizational Restructuring

4B.10 Design Change Management • Change Management

4B.11 Design Incentives • Employee Rewards & Incentives

4B.12 Plan Implementation • Project Management

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Stage 5: Transformation

The purpose of this stage is to realize the process vision by implementing the process design produced in Stage 4. The Transformation stage produces pilot and full production versions of the reengineered process and continual change mechanisms.

Depending on the specifics of the process design and on the number and nature of its sub-visions, some tasks in Stage 5 may be repeated. In other cases, the continual change mechanisms will be used to move from sub-visions to sub-visions.

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The key questions answered by this stage include:

When should we begin to monitor progress? How do we know if we’re on the right track?

What mechanism should we develop for solving unanticipated problems?

How do we ensure the transition period goes smoothly?

How do we continue to build momentum for ongoing change?

What technique should we use to realign the organization?

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Task 5.1 – Complete Business Systems Design In this and subsequent tasks, Rapid Re uses the nomenclature

of information engineering. However, any proven method of system development is equally valid.

This task is concerned with the “external” design of the new or revised system supporting the reengineered process. It includes modeling sub-processes, modeling data, defining applications, and designing dialogs and screens. Alternatively, this task could involve the selection of a commercially available application package and the external design of any modifications.

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Task 5.2 – Perform Technical Design The task selects the platform or platforms on which

the system will be mounted. It designs the data and system structures, and it defines any prototypes required to validate the design. This task is concerned with the “internal” design of the new or revised system supporting the reengineered process. For packages, this task was already performed by the vendor.

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Task 5.3 – Develop Test and Rollout Plans This task determines the methods to be used for

system validation. These may include parallel or pilot testing. The task also determines the methods to be used for conversion and transition and develops a time- phased deployment plan. Finally, the task assesses the impacts of the new system and defines fallback and contingency plans.

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Task 5.4 – Evaluate Personnel This task assesses current personnel in terms of their skills,

knowledge, orientation, the extent of their buy-in to the change, and their aptitude.

The assessment of aptitude is very important, because determination of the disposition of each person should be based on them and not on the job they hold. Some people are under-qualified for their jobs, and other people are overqualified. And some people possess skills, knowledge, and orientation unrelated to their present job but very desirable in another job. The assessment of each person is then matched against the job requirements and staffing levels developed in Task 4B.4 in order to identify personnel shortages or excesses and training needs. The training needs from this task are then used to finalize the components of the education and training curriculum and to assign individuals to specific courses.

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Task 5.5 – Construct System This task produces an operations-ready version of

the new process. It includes development and testing of databases, development and testing of systems and procedures, documentation, and data conversion.

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Task 5.6 – Train Staff This task provides training in the operation,

administration, and maintenance of the new process, just in time for the staff to assume their new responsibilities. It also includes coaching as they assume those responsibilities.

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Task 5.7 – Pilot New Process This task operates the new process in a limited area

in order to identify any needed improvements or corrections without incurring the risk of a full deployment.

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Task 5.8 – Refine and Transition This task corrects the flaws discovered during pilot

operation and deploys the new process in a controlled manner in accordance with the rollout plan developed in Task 5.3.

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Task 5.9 – Continuous Improvement In order that continuous process improvement take place,

3 requirements must be met:

1. Process personnel must be given clear performance goals, measures of goal attainment, and information on the current and past values of those measures.

2. Process personnel must be given the tools necessary to effect changes in performance.

3. Process personnel must be given the responsibility, authority, and incentives for improving performance.

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The first two requirements were addressed by Task 4A.3 - Instrument and Informate. The last two requirements were addressed by Task 4B.1 - Empower Customer Contact Personnel. And the third requirement was also addressed by Task 4B.11- Design Incentives. In some cases, continuous improvement methods wifi be used to pursue the next sub-vision. Then performance gains will be continuous at those points. In other cases, some repetition of Stage 5 will be used to attain the next sub-vision, and discontinuous gains will be associated with the rollout. Then continuous improvement methods will be used between rollouts.

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5.1 Complete Business Design • Process Modeling

5.2 Perform Technical Design • Information Engineering

5.3 Develop Roll-Out Plans

5.4 Evaluate Personnel • Skill Matrices

5.5 Construct System • Information Engineering

5.6 Train Staff • Team Building

• Just-In-Time Training

5.7 Pilot New Process

5.8 Refine and Transition

5.9 Continuous Improvement • Continuous Improvement



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