Continual Improvement Management reference

Xanadu IT Service Management

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xanadu

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Xanadu IT Service Management

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Continual Improvement Management reference

Release version: Xanadu

Updated August 1, 2024

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Summary of Continual Improvement Management reference

Continual Improvement Management (CIM) in ServiceNow enables organizations to systematically manage improvement initiatives aligned with strategic objectives. The process tracks improvements through defined states, assigns tasks to responsible owners, and requires approvals to progress. CIM integrates with various applications such as Benchmarks, CMDB, Demand, and Problem Management to create and update improvement initiatives and related tasks.

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Improvement States

Improvement initiatives progress through key states that reflect their lifecycle:

New: Created manually or via integrated applications.
Accepted: Validated and aligned with company strategy by the Improvement Manager.
Assess: Attributes set and waiting for approval by an Approver group member.
Approved: Approved and ready for implementation.
In Progress: Tasks assigned and work ongoing; may be placed on hold or reviewed.
On Hold: Progress paused, with all active tasks also placed on hold but can be manually managed.
Monitor/Review: All tasks complete; improvement is reviewed for closure.
Closed: Improvement completed and recorded in the Closed Improvement Register.
Canceled: Improvement rejected or canceled at any stage.

Each state offers specific actions available on the Improvement Initiative form, such as copying the initiative or submitting for re-approval if changes occur.

CIM Task States

Improvements consist of CIM tasks assigned to task owners, with states indicating task progress:

Pending: Task added before approval; waits for improvement approval to move forward.
Open: New task ready to begin work after approval.
Work in Progress: Task work has started.
Closed Complete: Task finished successfully.
Closed Incomplete: Task closed but not fully done.
Closed Skipped: Task closed without any work.
On Hold: Task paused; can be manually resumed to Open or Work in Progress.

When an improvement is placed on hold, all active tasks are also placed on hold but can be managed individually.

CIM Approver States and Workflow

Approval from at least one member of the designated Approver Group is required for an improvement to move to the Implement state. Once approved by one member, the improvement progresses, though other group members may still submit individual approvals. Additional approvers can be configured via the CIM Approval workflow in Flow Designer.

Improvement Process Flow

Create Improvement Initiative: Requester creates and submits the improvement.
Acceptance: Improvement Manager verifies alignment and assigns an Improvement Coordinator.
Assessment for Approval: Improvement Manager prepares attributes and sends for approval.
Approval: Approver group members approve the initiative.
Implementation: Improvement Coordinator and Manager ready the initiative; task owners begin work.
On Hold: Progress can be paused with justification.
Review and Close: Improvement Manager reviews outcomes and closes the initiative with closure notes.

Roles and Components

Installation of the Continual Improvement Management plugin adds necessary tables, roles, and scheduled jobs to support the process. Roles include Improvement Requester, Manager, Coordinator, and Approvers, each with defined responsibilities throughout the lifecycle.

Testing and Integration

Automated test suites are provided to validate CIM functionality during development and after upgrades, helping customers identify necessary customizations. Updates to improvement initiatives and related records synchronize with integrated applications, ensuring consistent data across systems.

Continual Improvement Management reference content including states and field descriptions.

Improvement states

The state of an improvement indicates the progress of the improvement in the process.


State	Description
New	Improvement request is created either manually, or from within an integrated application by an Improvement Requester. Integrated applications include Benchmarks, CMDB, Coaching, Demand, GRC, Major Incident Management, Problem Management, and Survey Management. States list: Accepted Canceled List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative.
Accepted	Improvement request aligns with company strategic objectives and is considered valid by the Improvement Manager. States list: Assess Canceled List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative.
Canceled	Improvement is not accepted (Reject action is selected by the Improvement Manager), or can be canceled directly in any state. Note: Any CIM tasks created for the improvement are also canceled. List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative.
Assess	All improvement attributes are set by the Improvement Manager, including business process, business service, and success measurement details. The improvement is waiting to be assessed by an Approver group member for approval. States list: Approved (only shown for an Approver group member) Canceled List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative Revert to Accepted
Approved	The improvement is assessed and approved by an Approver group member and is ready for implementation. The improvement is set to implement by the Improvement Manager. States list: Implement Canceled Assess (for reapproval) If additional tasks were added, or if the target has changed, the improvement may need to go through approval again. List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative Submit for Re-Approval
In Progress	CIM task creation is completed by the Improvement Manager or Improvement Coordinator. CIM tasks are completed by the task owners. The Improvement Coordinator determines either that the improvement is complete and sets it to review, or that progress is halted and places it on hold. States list: Monitor/Review On Hold Assess (for reapproval) If additional tasks were added, or if the target has changed, the improvement may need to go through approval again. List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative Submit for Re-Approval
On Hold	Improvement is no longer in progress but may resume at a later date. The Improvement Manager determines the outcome of the improvement including whether it should go back to implementation, or be closed or canceled. States list: Implement Closed Canceled Note: When an improvement is placed on hold, all active CIM tasks (not closed or canceled) are also placed on hold, but the state can be changed manually. When the improvement is taken off hold, all active CIM tasks (not closed or canceled) are set to Open state (unless they were changed manually). List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative.
Monitor/Review	All CIM tasks for the improvement are complete, improvements have been measured, and no further action is required by the task owners. The improvement is reviewed for closure by the Improvement Manager. States list: Implement Closed Assess (for reapproval) If additional tasks were added, or if the target has changed, the improvement may need to go through approval again. List Controls menu () options on the Improvement Initiative form: Copy Initiative.
Closed	Improvement is complete and is added to the Closed Improvement Register list.
Delete	Improvement is removed from the Improvement Register list. Available in each state but only to the Improvement Manager.

CIM task states

An improvement contains of one or more CIM tasks to complete the improvement. A CIM task is assigned to an owner to be responsible for the work specified.

The state of a CIM task indicates the level of progress for the task.


State	Description
Pending	State of a CIM task added before the improvement has been approved. If a CIM task is added after the improvement is approved, the CIM task is set to Pending state until the improvement is approved again. Once approved, the CIM task is set to Open state. If rejected, the CIM task remains in the Pending state.
Open	State of a new CIM task for an improvement that has been approved.
Work in Progress	State of a CIM task for which work has begun.
Closed Complete	State of a closed CIM task that has been completed.
Closed Incomplete	State of a closed CIM task that has been closed but not fully completed.
Closed Skipped	State of a closed CIM task for which no work has been done.
On Hold	State of a CIM task for an improvement set to On Hold state. The state of a CIM task on hold can be manually changed to Open or Work In Progress states. Note: When an improvement is placed on hold, all active CIM tasks (not closed or canceled) are also placed on hold, but the state can be changed manually. When the improvement is taken off hold, all active CIM tasks (not closed or canceled) are set to Open state (unless they were changed manually).

CIM approver states

Each improvement needs at least one approval to progress to the Implement state. The Approvers related list in the improvement contains a list of user approval records and the state of the approval.

The users in the Approvers related list belong to the Approver Group specified on the Improvement Initiative form. Once the improvement has been approved by an Approver Group member, approval from other members is no longer required to progress the improvement. However, other Approver Group members can still set their individual approval state.

To require additional approvers, configure the CIM Approval workflow in Flow Designer.

Improvement process flow

CIM process flow — Figure 1. Process flow for Continual Improvement Management


Process flow	Role	Description	Next action
Create Improvement Initiative	Improvement Requester	The need is determined for an improvement and an improvement request is created.	Click Submit. Required: Short Description
New	Improvement Manager	Acceptance is determined by verifying that the improvement objective aligns to a company strategic objective, and an Improvement Coordinator is assigned.	Click Accept. Required: Improvement Coordinator Strategies
Accepted	Improvement Manager	Other attributes are set and the improvement request is ready to be assessed for approval (by Approver group members).	Click Assess. (Waiting for approval) Approver group members are notified. Required: Approver Group
Assess	CIM approver (member of the Approver group) CIM approver states	The improvement attributes are assessed for approval from the Approvers related list.	Click Approved.
Approved	Improvement Manager or Improvement Coordinator	Improvement Coordinator and Improvement Manager work together to determine what is needed to ready the improvement for implementation.	Click Implement. Actual start date (Schedule tab) is automatically populated.
Implement	Improvement Coordinator	Implementation of the improvement begins with the assigned task owners. Any problem, change, or knowledge submission is shown in the corresponding related list.	Click Review if implementation is complete. Click On Hold if the process has halted. Required: On Hold Reason
On Hold	Improvement Manager or Improvement Coordinator	Implementation for the improvement has halted (On Hold state) but the process flow remains in Implement.	Click Implement to continue the process. Click Close if no further work will be done.
Review	Improvement Manager	The improvement attributes are reviewed for completeness and efficacy for closure.	Click Close. Required: Closure Notes tab Actual end date is automatically populated.