AWWA JTMGT69632

As water utilities struggle to deal with tough issues of long-term drought, increasingly stringent regulations, public concerns about water quality and a host of other challenges, there is real value in taking the time to understand and improve the business and service delivery processes of the organization. Creating a comfortable and safe environment for dialogue among employees who know and perform the tasks which take the process from point A to point B or C is critical to gathering the information needed. Unfortunately, many utility managers find themselves too busy to undertake the mapping or they delegate the task to a staff member and don't follow-up to monitor progress. Time passes and the mapping moves down on the list of priorities. This tends to be the reason that a consultant and/or customer service coach is brought in to facilitate the project. Facilitating meetings of employees to map processes that cross department boundaries challenges old ways of doing things and fosters dialogue to explore opportunities to improve. Along the way, procedures are reviewed, omissions are caught and greater consistency in best practices is achieved. This paper includes examples of two utilities that learned the value of mapping their business processes, which allowed them to improve operations and provide more responsive and improved service to customers.