Process Improvement Interview Questions Quick Reference

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Process Improvement Interview Questions

A Business Process: Has a Goal Has specific inputs Has specific outputs Uses resources Has a number of activities that are performed in some order May impact more than one organizational unit Creates value of some kind for the customer

Getting the Right Information

People often assume that process discovery means detailed workflow modeling of a process. That is a mistake. The detailed workflow is just one part of process discovery. The most important information you need to gather about your processes during discovery is: Key activities Responsibilities Problems impacting performance Key goals that the process affects

Every stakeholder needs to agree, or at least have an opportunity to contribute their point of view. Business process owners may have the best feeling for how this process relates to the big picture of corporate performance, while daily workers may have the best insight into where the real problems are in the process today. Expand the scope of this discussion to the manyeven hundredsof processes that make up your business. Getting the right information and structuring it in a consistent way is critical. Reference: http://www.bpminstitute.org/uploads/media/ProcessDiscovery_0307.pdf Potential questions for the Process Owner to discover their pains and wants: How does the process start? What event triggers the process to start? Is there more than one way the process could start? How do you know when the process is complete? (What are the determining factors?) Are there different end states for the process? For example, one that signifies successful completion and others indicating failed or aborted attempts. How does the process get from point A to point B? Where else might the process go and why? How do you know when one part is done? Are all changes documented? How many changes are done each month? What are the normal end states and what are the exceptions? Are there rules that govern the process, states, and completion status? What parts of the process do you seek to eliminate, and why? Where do you spend most of your time, and why? Where in the process do you repeat work? How often, and why? What does your manager think happens in the process? What really happens? How does management assess the process and how it is performing? 1 of 3

Last updated: 06/03/2010

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Business Process Management Interview Questions Quick Reference

When pressed for time, what steps in the process do you skip or work around?

Data must also be collected in conjunction and concurrently with the interviews. Questions to collect this data may include: What is your role? What are your assigned duties? What are the tasks required for you to perform your duties according to your role? o List each task - Estimate of hours per week, Estimate of total hours per each term? o How often do you perform each task? (daily, weekly, each term, annually) How many people in your office or area are involved in this process? o Total number of people performing same tasks total time it takes to complete the tasks for each term o Who are they? o What are their roles? Where do cycle time delays exist? Where do handoffs take place? Do people actually hand something off, or is it submitted to a system with the assumption that it is handed off? What data points are put into systems? What data points are taken out? What pains does the process cause? What do people want or desire from the process?

Other questions: Relative process pain points: o What and where could something happen? o Why would it happen? o How bad is it? o Who is going to do what about it, and is it effective?

Suggested Questions: 1. Describe the process end to end. What are the goals and objectives of the process? 2. What measures are used to manage the process? Weekly, monthly measures? Trends? 3. How are these measures used by management? Staff meetings? 1:1s? Communicated to the team? 4. What are the CTQs (Critical to Quality characteristics) for the process? (CTQs must be measurable.) 5. What are the Key Performance Indicators? 6. What is the Service Level Agreement for the process? Is it formal or unwritten?

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Last updated: 06/03/2010

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Business Process Management Glossary Quick Reference

References: BPMN Method & Style, Bruce Silver, 2009

Last updated: 05/06/2010

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