Process reengineering
OK, so whip me for being AWOL on my blog writing duties. There are more important issues that demand one's time, you know. Petty things, like making a living, tending to one's family, community involvement ... you know, LIFE!! Interestingly, what's of particular interest is that my career work of late has had little to do with technology. Along with being an IT consultant I am what is called a domain expert, which means that I have expertise in a particular discipline. In this case it is court management, or how internal court operations are efficiently managed. In this capacity I have been involved in a lot of process reengineering lately.
From the first day that we plugged in a computer, we had the ability to "go paperless" and harness this tool to make our lives easier. However, too many times we keep doing what we did before, in addition to which we add the tasks of entering data into a computer, effectively doubling our work. Most of this is attributable to fear of computer crashes or fear of becoming overly dependent on a computer with no paper back-up. In any event, most people make the mistake of assuming that things will be easier the moment they computerize something. More often than not, the opposite is true. As the old saying goes, if you want to really screw something up, computerize it.
One of the areas I specialize in is called "caseflow management," or the art of improving the timeliness and efficiency of case processing in courts. It involves a team effort of clerk's office and courtroom processing to increase the odds that case events will occur when they ought to. This discipline could also be applied to a lot of other industries, such as healthcare, insurance, accounting, auto repair, and on and on.
Usually when I show up to work on a caseflow project, the technology department is front and center expecting to be the primary focus of study. Instead, I made it a practice to visit the IT staff as the last part of my visit and spend most of my time shadowing staff, following paperwork and observing customer interactions. I also like to sit in court and jot notes to document what happens (or doesn't happen) in a typical day.
I have a two phrase mantra that is sure to turn around most caseflow problems:
1) Create an atmosphere of expectation, and
2) Capitalize on golden opportunities.
If an organization clearly communicates what is supposed to happen and when, most customers will rise to that expectation. Conversely, the organization can not allow ANY customer interaction (phone, email, snail mail or in person) to pass without maximizing the efficiency of that transaction.
So when people ask me what I do, I usually tell them I am a court management consultant who works with technology in courts and justice agencies. I suppose technically that's true, but there tends to be a lot more analog compared to digital in these transactions of late. That's not a bad thing, just worthy of note.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Comments
You wrote, "so whip me for being AWOL on my blog writing duties. There are more important issues that demand one's time, you know.".
No there aren't. The blog comes first.
Posted by: Fred Mangels | October 7, 2006 02:39 PM
What WAS I thinking, Fred? Of COURSE the blog comes first. That pesky business of making a living can wait.
But you're right in this respect ... those who start blogs should have the stamina to keep them up and keep them current. In this I have slacked and I beg your forgiveness.
You, Captain Buhne and Eric are a model to those of us who only dabble in bloggery. Note that I gave you top billing.
CHRIS
Posted by: Chris Crawford | October 7, 2006 10:18 PM
What a guy!
Posted by: Fred Mangels | October 8, 2006 01:21 AM