Managing improvements

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Managing improvements

    Managing improvements in ServiceNow involves a structured process to ensure requested improvements align with company strategies and deliver value. The Improvement Manager oversees all improvements, verifies alignment with strategic objectives, assigns Improvement Coordinators, and monitors progress. Improvement Coordinators handle the detailed task-level management and implementation of assigned improvements.

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    Process and Roles

    • Improvement Request: Initiated by a user with the Improvement Requester role when a need for improvement is identified.
    • Improvement Manager: Reviews requests for strategic alignment, assigns Improvement Coordinators, and sets attributes for approval assessment. Only the Improvement Manager can delete improvements.
    • Improvement Coordinator: Notified upon assignment, manages tasks and phases, tracks task completion, and collaborates with task owners during implementation.
    • Approver Group: Evaluates improvement requests during the approval phase and either approves or rejects them.

    Improvement Lifecycle

    • Assessment: After acceptance, improvements are assessed for approval by designated approvers.
    • Implementation: Coordinators create phases and tasks, track progress, and may create related records if needed. Improvements can be placed on hold or canceled by either role; canceled initiatives and associated tasks become "Closed Incomplete."
    • Review and Closure: Once all tasks are 100% complete, the Improvement Coordinator moves the improvement to review for final closure by the Improvement Manager.

    Progress Tracking and Metrics

    The progress of an improvement initiative is calculated based on the completion status and duration of associated tasks, including those linked directly to phases or the initiative. Longer task durations slow overall progress. This rollup calculation helps track how close the improvement is to completion.

    Strategic Alignment

    Improvements are linked to company enterprise strategies through the Strategies field on the Improvement Initiative form, ensuring that initiatives support overarching organizational goals. Only the Improvement Manager can create new enterprise strategies.

    Tools and Visibility

    • Improvement Register: A centralized list showing all open and closed improvements with related tasks and phases, enabling prioritization and tracking.
    • Embedded Performance Analytics Scorecard: Located on the Improvement Initiative form, this KPI scorecard continuously monitors key performance indicators impacted by the improvement, allowing stakeholders to track progress and adjust tasks as necessary.

    Practical Actions for ServiceNow Customers

    • Accepting Improvements: Review new requests for strategic alignment and assign coordinators to proceed with assessment.
    • Preparing Improvements: Upon approval, define phases, tasks, and impacted KPIs to organize the implementation effort effectively.
    • Assessing Improvements: Facilitate approval by the approver group before starting implementation.
    • Reviewing and Closing Improvements: Confirm all tasks are complete before moving initiatives to closure to ensure completeness and value delivery.

    After an improvement is requested, the Improvement Manager reviews it, assigns an Improvement Coordinator, and monitors progress of all improvements to ensure value and success. The Improvement Coordinator works with the Improvement Manager to implement the improvement.

    The Improvement Manager oversees, identifies, drives, and monitors the progress of all improvements.

    The Improvement Coordinator manages the improvements to which they have been assigned by the Improvement Manager, and works with the CIM task owners to track task completion.

    Note:
    Although both roles can cancel an improvement, only the Improvement Manager can delete an improvement, which removes it from the Improvement Register list.

    Process flow

    Figure 1. Continual Improvement Management Process Flow
    CIM process flow
    1. The process flow starts with a new improvement request. A need for improvement is identified in the environment and a new improvement request is submitted by a user with the Improvement Requester role.
    2. The Improvement Manager then verifies that the new improvement request aligns with at least one company strategic objective, and assigns an Improvement Coordinator before accepting the improvement as valid. The assigned Improvement Coordinator is notified that the improvement request has been accepted.

      There is typically more than one Improvement Coordinator in a company since that role is responsible for implementing and tracking the progress of assigned improvement initiatives at the task level, and there can be many tasks per improvement.

    3. Once accepted, the Improvement Manager sets the remaining attributes on the Improvement Initiative form, and progresses it to be assessed for approval (by Approver group members).
    4. During assessment, users in the approver group (shown in the Approvers related list) are notified of the approval request. One or all of the approver group members evaluate the improvement attributes and either approve or reject the improvement.
    5. Once approved, the Improvement Coordinator and Improvement Manager work together (in regular implementation meetings, for example) to determine what work is needed to ready the improvement for implementation.

      During implementation, the Improvement Coordinator creates and assigns phases and can create tasks directly from an initiative or from a phase to complete the improvement. The Improvement Coordinator works with the task owners (in regular task status meetings, for example) to track the progress of task completion. Records for other supported applications can also be created from within the improvement initiative or CIM task, if needed, and are typically shown in a related list in the improvement initiative or CIM task.

      If, for some reason, implementation for the improvement has been halted, the Improvement Manager or Improvement Coordinator can place the improvement on hold. All CIM tasks that are not closed or canceled are also placed on hold. You can cancel a CIM initiative at any stage when the initiative is in progress. When you cancel an initiative, the initiative as well as the tasks associated with the initiative move to Closed Incomplete.

    6. The Improvement Coordinator places the improvement under review when all CIM tasks in all CIM phases are verified 100% complete. The Improvement Manager reviews the improvement completeness and sets the improvement to closed.

    CIM task progress rollup calculation

    You can create a task directly from an initiative or from a phase. When a task is moved to the Closed Complete state, the progress of the CIM initiative is calculated based on the percentage of all tasks that are in Closed Complete state for that initiative. The duration of the task which is based on the planned end date is also taken into consideration when the progress of the CIM initiative is calculated. The longer the duration, the slower the progress. As you add new tasks to a phase or associate it directly with the CIM initiative, the percentage completion for the CIM initiative is updated accordingly.

    The table below shows an example of how the CIM task progress rollup is calculated.
    Table 1. Example CIM task progress rollup calculation
    Parent Record Task Task duration State Contribution to initiative progress (%)
    CIM Phase 1 Task 1 2 days Closed Complete 20%
    CIM Phase 1 Task 2 3 days Closed Complete 30%
    CIM Initiative Task 3 2 days Any state other than Closed Complete 50%
    Note:
    This task is directly associated with the CIM initiative.

    Alignment with company strategic objectives

    You can ensure alignment with company goals by setting the Strategies field on the Improvement Initiative form to one or more company enterprise strategies from the Strategic Objectives lookup list so they are linked.
    Note:
    Only the Improvement Manager can create a strategy.

    Coordinating improvements with enterprise strategies of the company ensures the improvement contributes to the overall goals of the company.

    Access enterprise strategies by navigating to Continual Improvement > Enterprise Strategies (or Organization > Enterprise Strategy).

    Improvement Register list

    View, prioritize, and track improvements, related tasks, and phases from one Improvement Register list that includes all open and closed improvements in one list.
    Figure 2. Improvement Register
    Improvement register

    Embedded Performance Analytics scorecard

    Use the Analytics Hub embedded in the Improvement Initiative form for continuous KPI monitoring, and to track the progress of the KPI improvement during the lifecycle of the improvement. The KPI scorecard is useful so you can monitor the incremental benefits of the KPI, or adjust CIM tasks and assignments to meet your improvement goal, if needed.
    Figure 3. Embedded KPI scorecard
    CIM scorecard

    The improvement icon (Improvement icon) indicates the start and end dates that are tracked on the KPI scorecard chart.

    Scorecards are also shown for any KPIs listed in Impacted KPIs related list on the Improvement Initiative form.