Amber Naslund wrote a great post “The Painstaking Work of Business Renovation” at her blog BRASS TACK thinking. As I read this article I recognized everyone of my clients and prospects. Also, it doesn’t really matter what part of your current business processes or contemplated business process you are talking about, there are issues.

I find that the subject of changing/updating current process puts a look of terror on many faces. The subject of new processes such as adding a true web presence and social media to the mix actually paralyzes. Today I would like to share some experiences where the agency was not reluctant and how they handled their business renovations.

Agency I

This agency had implemented a new agency management system and a new document management system. One day during our meetings on process re-design it was explained by one of the staff that even though you could see the documents attached in the document management system, those documents could not be sent to anyone via the delivery process in the agency management system.

She proceeded to explain the intricate process that had to be used to be sure the agency management system was documented correctly and still deliver the document(s) to the insurance carrier or client. This was a “game changer”.

All meeting for the remainder of the day with other committees were cancelled. The document management team rolled up their sleeves and we set about re-thinking and implementing new processes to make the work more sensible and efficient.

Agency II

This agency was about 3 months into a process re-design project. The COO came to me and asked if we could talk about what areas we were addressing. He said I know we have included the major areas of what an agency does such as certificates, endorsements, renewals, etc. However, we have processes we need help with, such as how are service center phone calls handled, how the mail is distributed, how is a document handled when it walks in the front door with a client or producer.

So we made a list of exactly what additional areas needed to be evaluated and re-designed. We took our list and figured out how to work this into the overall project. We ended up tearing every process in the agency apart and putting it back together.

This agency has a plan in place which keeps them evaluating processes and updating where needed. Since I completed my project with them I know that they took on the project of the “email zero in box”.

As I have said many times before, re engineering business process is not a once & done project. It is a continual evolution. The world around you is moving at warp speed. You must be thinking and working in an investigative mode to determine what needs to be looked at next.

What are your success stories? What are your questions about how to get started?

I write a lot about how to define, train, implement and monitor best practices. In talking with agencies that I have worked with I find that one of their biggest challenges is determining the best way to publish their documentation and another is how to keep the information current. This article will discuss the following three topics which I believe address these issues:

1. What is the best way to publish our best practices?

2. How and when do we review and update our best practices?

3. Who edits our best practices?

Let’s talk first about ways to publish your best practices documentation. You need to consider “How do I make this information the most user friendly possible for our staff?” The staff will not use the best practices information if it takes longer to find what they are looking for than just doing the process their old (own) way.

I always suggest a format that is in a searchable “help authoring tool”. There are a number of software products available for creating this type of documentation. I did two different Google searches to see what the current results are. I search first for “help authoring tools”. Such products as RoboHelp, DocToHelp and a number of others showed up in the search. Then I did “asp help authoring tools” search. In this search I found products such as HelpSmith.com and Helpauthoring.net along with others. Some of my clients decide that they will use Adobe .pdf or a Microsoft Word document. These documents are not as easily searchable as the help authoring tools but can work for you. I would suggest that you research various products to determine which format will work best for your staff.

Reviewing and updating your best practices is a continuous process. Earlier this year it was necessary to amend and update a section of a client’s best practices just a few weeks after that section had been defined and agreed upon. The agency management system vendor made a major change to the functionality for that particular process. Thus, what had just been defined needed to be re-defined, documented, trained and implemented as soon as possible. With older agency managements systems, changes don’t occur as frequently. However, in today’s world of newer developing systems, improvements and modifications to the systems are happening more frequently. Staying ahead of the research, defining, documentation, training and implementing phases are more challenging. Online agency management systems share information with their clients about the next release, however, until its actual release, it is difficult to know exactly what the functionality will be and what changes need to be made.

I have also seen a change to a process made on-the-spot during a conversation or meeting. When this happens, frequently there is not proper documentation or communication to everyone about the change. Each of these events cause confusion and a disintegration of the published best practices. When this occurs, people begin reverting to their own processes.

As you can see there are many occasions that will require a review and editing of your best practices. So who edits? In a recent conversation with some of my colleagues on this subject, they said that they thought the agency’s best practices should be in an open wiki that anyone in the agency can edit. Their basis for this comment is that the staff knows the quickest/simplest way to do all processes, thus they should define the processes and edit them. The definition of a wiki is:

A wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, in corporate intranets, and in knowledge management systems.

As you might imagine, I have a few issues with the self-define, self-edit program. Some of these are:

1. Usually each staff member has their own way of doing a process.

2. When there are such differing opinions on standards and processes, it seems someone would be overwriting in the wiki all the time to show their preference.

3. Will the wiki track what process was in effect at the time an errors & omissions claim questions that process?

4. If everyone is allowed to change a process at will, everyone will have to constantly check for the most current way to perform the process.

My colleagues let me know my ideas were old-fashioned and out-of-date. Well, of course that set me to thinking they might be correct. So I sought out the thinking of some other sources. I checked with insurance agent’s errors & omissions underwriters. This is the combined responses I received. Everyone agrees that those that do the work should help create the procedures, however, the standard best practices documentation should be available to staff in some unalterable format with traceable dates of publication. This creates a time certain during which the process was in place and insures that all employees, including managements are advised and are of the correct procedure at all times.

Now a properly set up wiki is highly searchable and very user friendly and would be as good a solution as the others discussed at the beginning of this article. However, this particular section of an agency’s wiki should not be editable by anyone except the same individuals that would have the authority to edit the other solutions. It is important that when there is a change to your best practices, that a new version be published with a new edition date. The recently retired version should be stored in a permanent location on your network. All previous versions should be retained in accordance with your document retention policy. In this way, you will have the needed documentation should there be questions about the process for an audit; an errors & omissions claim or other instances when you may need to refer back to prior versions.

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Insurance Agency processes, insurance agency workflows, best practices, robohelp, doctohelp, intranets, wiki, helpsmith, helpauthoring, adobe, microsoft word

I am currently working on writing standards and workflows for a client on the filing of surplus lines taxes. Now this is a sticky wicket in almost any agency I visit. This used to be so easy. The broker that placed the coverage for the retail agency filed the taxes. Well, that is not the case any longer. So the workflow has just happened over the years and is jumbled and confusing.

When I was last in this client’s office they indicated this process needed help. They provided me with copies of the needed documents and their one page written process. Seemed simple enough. You would think that after all these years I would know that updating and defining any process is not always as simple as it seems.

The documentation, nor any staff member I have spoken to about this process had told me that they retain an original copy of the affidavit that is signed by the producer and notarized. A question to them today on how the affidavit is provided to the broker finally brought out this revelation. Additionally, I was told that each client has a “Permanent File” which contains similar documents. Now this agency scans their paper documents and attaches in their agency management system. So why are they retaining some hard copies of certain documents?

Now this is not really a surprise to me. While I spend a good deal of time asking questions and securing information before beginning a project, little tidbits like this surface all through the re-definition of that process. There are several steps in their current process that I believe are unnecessary. In addition to the retention of the signed document there are several unnecessary steps in their current process. Unnecessary steps cause extra work for everyone involved. Unnecessary steps impair the ability of the staff to be their most effective.

Everyone at this agency recognizes the importance of determining if the agency or the broker pays the tax on a particular policy. They understand the importance of completing the correct forms properly and getting this all done timely. What they have missed, is taking a step back as their systems and processes have been updated and determine how this particular process should be re-designed.

So my thought is that agencies need a framework of how to analyze their processes. People are usually focused on the major processes and some of the more specialized processes are overlooked. What do you do at your agency to get the “fat” out of the process? I would like to incorporate your ideas in future blogs on this subject.

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Insurance Agency processes, insurance agency workflows, analyze