Continual Improvement Management reference

Release version: Yokohama

Updated January 30, 2025

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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. It involves tracking improvement requests through defined states, assigning tasks, obtaining approvals, and monitoring progress until closure. This process integrates with multiple ServiceNow applications such as Benchmarks, CMDB, Coaching, Demand, GRC, Major Incident Management, Problem Management, and Survey Management.

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Improvement States and Workflow

Improvements progress through several states reflecting their lifecycle:

New: Improvement request is created manually or via integrated applications.
Accepted: Improvement aligns with company strategy and is validated by the Improvement Manager.
Assess: Improvement attributes are set and awaiting approval from Approver group members.
Approved: Approved by Approver group, ready for implementation.
Implement: Implementation begins with assigned CIM tasks.
In Progress: Tasks are being worked on, with options to place on hold or move to review.
On Hold: Improvement is paused; tasks are also placed on hold automatically but can be manually updated.
Monitor/Review: All tasks are complete and improvement is evaluated for closure.
Closed: Improvement is complete and recorded in the Closed Improvement Register.
Canceled: Improvement is not accepted or is canceled at any stage; associated tasks are also canceled.

Actions and options such as copying initiatives are available on the Improvement Initiative form in each state.

CIM Task States

Each improvement contains CIM tasks assigned to owners responsible for execution. Task states reflect their progress:

Pending: Task added before improvement approval; remains pending until re-approved.
Open: New task after improvement approval.
Work In Progress: Task work has begun.
Closed Complete: Task finished successfully.
Closed Incomplete: Task closed but not fully completed.
Closed Skipped: Task closed without any work done.
On Hold: Task paused; state can be manually changed to open or in progress.

When improvements are placed on hold or resumed, CIM tasks automatically update their states accordingly unless manually adjusted.

Approval Process

Approvals are required for improvements to transition to the Implement state. Members of the designated Approver group review and approve improvements. Once one member approves, further approvals are optional unless configured otherwise via the CIM Approval workflow in Flow Designer.

Process Flow and Roles

Improvement Requester: Creates the improvement request.
Improvement Manager: Validates alignment with strategy, accepts or cancels requests, and oversees progress and closure.
Improvement Coordinator: Works with the manager to prepare improvements for implementation and manages task assignments.
Approver Group Members: Assess and approve improvements.
Task Owners: Responsible for completing assigned CIM tasks.

The process includes submitting improvements for acceptance, assessment, approval, implementation, review, and closure, with options to place improvements or tasks on hold or cancel as needed.

Additional Information

The CIM plugin installs essential components such as tables, roles, and scheduled jobs.
Automated test suites are available to validate CIM functionality after upgrades or customizations.
Integration with other ServiceNow applications ensures UI updates synchronize between improvement initiatives and source records.

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.