Continual Service Improvement: The Seven-Step Improvement Process

Within the ITIL framework of life cycle stages the last and one of the most important stages is the Continual Service Improvement(CSI) stage. This Stage is important for organizations to understand and implement in order to constantly analyze and improve on their IT service delivery.

Purpose of Seven-Step Improvement Process
The CSI stage is based on a seven-step improvement process. The purpose of the Seven-Step improvement process is to define and manage the steps needed to identify, define, gather, process, analyze, present and implement improvements.
Also, it is important to note that improvements in quality must be cost justified and should have an overall benefit to the process. However, for small initiatives there should not be business case justifications required. A simple justification should suffice.

Objectives of Seven-Step Improvement
The objectives of the seven-step improvement process are:

• Identify opportunities for improving services, processes and tools.
• Reduce the cost of providing services.
• Cost reduction should not impact the overall service quality and delivery.
• Identify what needs to be measured, analyzed and reported in order to establish improvement opportunities.
• Continually review service achievements to match business requirements
• Continually align and re-align service provision with outcome requirements.
• Understand what to measure and why it is measured.

Scope of Seven-Step Improvement

• The seven-step improvement process includes the following:
• Analysis of the performance and capabilities of services, processes throughout the life-cycle, partners and technology.
• The continual alignment of IT services to current and future business needs.
• Making best use of the existing technology the organization has and looking out for any new technology to implement wherever applicable.
• The organizational structure, the capabilities of the personnel, and asking whether people are working in the appropriate functions and roles, and if they have the required skills.

Integration with Knowledge Management

The seven-steps to improvement process form a circular spiral of knowledge and integrate into the 

DIKW(Data Information Knowledge Wisdom) Structure. 

Integration with Deming's PDCA cycle:

The 7 steps to improvement cycle also aligns to the Deming Cycle of PLAN, DO, CHECK and ACT (PDCA). The PDCA is critical as it provides steady, ongoing improvement, which is a fundamental tenet to the Continual Service Life-cycle Improvement stage.

PLAN:

1. Identify the strategy for improvement

2. Define what you will measure

DO:

3. Gather the data

4. Process the data

CHECK:

5. Analyze the information and data

6. Present and use the information

ACT:

7. Implement Improvement

Seven-Step Process Improvement Steps:

STEP 1 - Identify the strategy for improvement

• Identify overall vision, business needs, the strategy and the tactical operational goals. 
• This steps answers the question "What is the Vision?"

STEP 2 - Define what you will measure?

• Service strategy and service design should have identified this information early in the lifecycle. 
• This identifies the ideal situation for both the business and IT. CSI can conduct a gap analysis to identify the opportunities for improvement as well as answering the question 'How do we get there?'

STEP 3 - Gather the Data

• This step should answer the question 'Did we get there?'
• Data gathered usually through service operations will be raw data and no conclusions are drawn

STEP 4 - Process the Data

• In this step the data is processed in alignment with the Critical Success Factors(CSFs) and Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) specified.
• The goal of this step is to process the data from multiple sources t give it context that can be compared. Once the data is rationalized then the analysis of the data can begin.

STEP 5 - Analyze the information and data

• This steps brings the raw data more and more into context. It evolves from raw data into information where we can start to answer questions about who, what, when,  and how as well as trends and the impact on the business.
• It is the analyzing step that is most often overlooked in the rush to present data to management.

STEP 6 - Present and use the information

• In this step the question: 'Did we get there?' is formatted and communicated in whatever way necessary to present to the various stakeholders an accurate picture of the results of the improvement efforts.
• Knowledge is presented to the business in a form and manner that reflects their needs and assists them in determining the next steps.

STEP 7 - Implement improvement

• In this step the knowledge gained is used to optimize, improve and correct services and processes. Issues have been identified and now solutions are implemented - wisdom is applied to the knowledge.
• The improvements that need to be applied to improve the service or process are communicated and explained to the organization.
• The organization establishes a  new baseline and the cycle begins anew.
• This achieves the knowledge spiral consistent with the DIKW concept.

Project Management Fundamentals Overview

Project Management at the very basic and simple level is the art of getting things done. 
Here is an overview of the Project Management Fundamentals.

So what are some of the characteristics of a Project?

Projects should provide the following:
1. Business Value: Projects should generate or increase business value. This does not always have to financial. Improving a Company's customer service is an example of generating Business Value for the customers.
2. Temporary: Projects should be temporary. All projects should have a defined starting and ending date.
3. Produce Unique Product or Service: A Project's goal is to produce a unique product or service. A Project should not be confused with Processes or Procedures. 

A Project can be defined as a finite endeavor, initiated to create a unique product or service which adds value.

Projects can possess a high level of uncertainty and are not identical. Whereas operational procedures are repeatable with the same end result which creates more certainty about their execution. 

Example: Modifying the Emergency admission room process is an example of a Project. Admitting a new patient into the Emergency room is an example of procedure and is non-project related.

It is extremely important to understand what a Project related activity is and what is not. This is the only way to increase productivity and allocate the right individuals for the appropriate tasks.
If you hire a Programmer for instance to develop a specific Software, make sure you provide all the details of what is required and what is not needed and also the deadline of when you want the Software to be developed by. Not clearly outlining the details of what is expected often times leads to many complications and disappointments leading to the failure of the Project. 
Hence, Project Management is extremely important.The principles of project management are beneficial for companies and individuals alike. 

Imagine if you hired a contractor to paint your house and the painter agreed to start working without giving you details about:
-A good idea of which items were going to be painted
-A detailed break-down of all the costs
-The order in which the rooms have to be painted

That is a scary proposition and not wise decision making. To be part of a team that is working on a project yet not managed properly and does not have a solid plan is very risky.

The Value of Project Management:
Is being able to provide a good idea of 
-the cost of the project
-the length of the project
-who will be required to work on the project
-how many people will be required to work on the project
-what resources will be required to complete the project
-understanding the possible issues that could affect successful completion of the project

The Project Lifecycle: 

Regardless of the size and scope of a project. Every project goes through the following four phases or stages.
1. Initiating Phase: 
The purpose of the initiating stage is to get a common high-level understanding of what the project is expected to deliver. Unfortunately many Projects never make it beyond this first stage. It's like having an idea come to mind but if you don't plan and execute the idea just dies.
2. Planning Phase: 
In this phase focus is on developing a road map that everyone will follow. Detailed plans are developed for cost, resources required, execution, deadline, communication and risk management.
3. Execution Phase: 
This is the Phase where the plans that were developed in the 'Planning Phase' get acted on. This is where execution takes place as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Regular project status communication occurs in this phase.
4. Closing Phase: In this phase the plan is checked to make sure all project outputs were delivered as required, final reporting is performed and resources released.

Approximately 20% of the total project effort is spent on Initiating and Closing.
Approxmiately 80% of the total project effort is spent on Planning and Execution.