Rationale: Assessment 2 asks you to analyze and suggest improvements to a business process. This PD assignment demonstrates how to h Using process flow charts to spot potential problems in a process. 2. Analyze the process on pages 3-4 by applying the questions provided in the article. 3. Write a brief summary of your analysis. 4. Briefly describe your recommendations for improving the process. 5. Grade your work using the marking key that appears at the end of page 1. 6. Put your work and the marking key in a Word document named PD6.docx and submit it to Moodle prior to the due date.

Using process flow charts to spot potential problems in a process We use temporal relationship models (such as flow charts) to ensure we identify all of the steps within a process and we know how the process flows from step to step. Such models, however, can also be used to identify problems within the process. Here are some questions you can use to help you analyze a process flow chart: 1. Does the process meet its goal? That is, if you follow the steps, do you get to the right outcome? 2. Are there steps that dont lead anywhere? 3. Does the steps flow in the right order? Would it be easier, simpler, or cost less time and money if the steps flowed in a different way? 4. Does the process include any unnecessary steps? 5. Does the process include unnecessary approvals, also known as rubber stamps? An unnecessary approval occurs when theres a process step for reviewing, validating, evaluating, etc. that has only one flow out. In other words, the review, validation, evaluation, etc. is always approved. It is never rejected. If its always approved, the review is completely unnecessary. 6. Does the process involve a lot of rework? Rework occurs when errors are made and some steps have to be repeated. Are there ways to perform quality checks that would reduce the amount of rework required? 7. Are there a lot of handoffs, that is, points where the process flow crosses swimlanes? These are not necessarily problematic, but it is common to find issues at these points. Reducing handoffs usually improves a process. 8. Does the process have steps to handle any potential errors or problems? Have the creators of the process anticipated what might reasonably go wrong and built in steps to fix the problems? Its important to note that not all process problems will show up in the processs flow chart. Sometimes, we need to talk to the people involved in the process to uncover problems. For example, the flow chart cannot tell you whether the process step takes too long. It does, however, provide a solid starting point for our analysis. Claim Expenses Description: The Claim Expenses process allows employees to receive money from the company for work-related purchases they paid

for personally. The employee submits an Expense Claim, which consists of the complete Expense Claim Form plus all of the receipts for the expenses being claimed. The Supervisor reviews the validity of the claim to make sure that the expenses are truly work-related. If they are not work related, the company does not want to pay for them. The Accounts Payable department than makes sure that a receipt is submitted for each claim listed on the Expense Claim Form, checking that the amounts match. If the receipts match, the employee is notified and the claim is paid. If they dont match, the claim is rejected. Purpose of the process: The process is designed to: a. Pay employees for work-related expenses. b. Ensure that expense claims are only approved if they are work-related and all expenses are supported with matching receipts. The activity diagram depicting the Claim Expenses process appears on the next page.

Activity Diagram for Claim Expenses Employee Supervisor Accounts Payable Complete Expense Claim Form Assemble Expense Receipts Submit Expense Claim Review Validity of Claim Match Receipts to Claimed Expenses Approve Claim [receipts don't match [receipts match] Reject Claim Accept Claim Notify Employee Issue Payment