Page 347 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Design and Improvement of Service Processes—Process Management 307

act to hamper the process, it is important to know which ones can be
influenced or minimized and which are beyond the ability of process
designers to change or modify. Scarce resources must not be spent on
attempting to relieve process constraints that are unchangeable.

Process controls include all rules and regulations as well as guidelines that
are provided for the process, By carefully designing and implementing
process controls, it may be possible to improve the performance of a process.
However, process designers must proceed cautiously. The field of process
design is filled with examples of process controls that turn out to have
unforeseen side effects, and those side effects may be worse (much worse in
some cases) than the original problem itself.

10.2.4 Process Documentation
Processes are central to everything that we do, and it is important that they
be well documented. Process documentation is important because processes
are abstract, yet it is essential to communicate about them to others. A
process is very different from a concrete object that can be held, viewed,
and passed around.

Good process documentation is a prerequisite that is necessary for any
process analysis. In addition, training of personnel in the execution of a
process also requires that the process be well documented. Any method
used to document processes is known as a process description language
(PDL). PDLs range from plain English recipes, to various process maps,
such as flowcharts, IDEF0 charts, value stream maps, and even computer
simulation models. Each type of PDL has its strengths and weaknesses.
For example, plain English recipes are easy to read, but they may also be
quite easily misunderstood. Process charts are highly graphical, providing
a pictorial representation of processes; however, it is hard to use them to
describe the full details of a process. All PDLs, both structured and
unstructured methods, document, at the very minimum, what the process
does and how it is done.

Additional information, provided by PDLs, may include

• Areas of emphasis in the process
• Inputs to the process
• Outputs from the process
• Roles and responsibilities for the process
• Constraints on the process