The Results of Lean Thinking Applied to Schedulon and A/V

-- Tony Markel

A little over a year ago, we were failing to meet customer expectations when it came to A/V service.  In a three month period we received over 50 complaints through Zendesk, from our leadership, and from our customers.  Customers could ask for, or change service for their events at any point in the process. In a few cases, astute observation by the A/V team averted disaster when customers assumed service would be provided. Reservations passed through many hands, increasing the chance for error. The processes and systems required many time consuming steps.  All of this added up to a lot of missed expectations, and a fantastic opportunity to improve.

Jack Kufahl suggested we try a Lean A3, and that we use a Lean coaching process described in this presentation. Internally, we called it "The Three Little PIGs", as an offshoot of our Process Improvement Group. This post doesn't get into the details of the A3 process, but focuses on the results of the technique.

Our First Problem: Customers aren't getting the services they've requested.

We addressed this by making a single entry point for service requests, placing the Service Desk up front in the process, using our Service Delivery Model. This meant that customers were able to request services in a consistent way, and it improved our first time quality on service requests from 3% to 34%.

With the new process, the Service Desk asked customers what they wanted for their event. This was a new skill we were trying to develop, and a kaizen burst of training and documentation seemed to be all we needed. While it did help, there were a couple of problems with this approach. First, the amount of time required to gather the information from a customer was longer than we anticipated. This caused us to hold onto service requests until just before the event was scheduled. This increased wait time (and anxiety) experienced by the customer. Second, the A/V technicians were re-confirming all the details with the customer.  Thus causing some rework. Customers were confused as to why they had to tell us twice, or why someone who wasn't working the event was trying to ask all the event-related questions.

Meanwhile, the amount of space visible in Schedulon had been growing.  The Schedulon interface, especially the menu hierarchy, became more confusing.  It became a mixture of purpose (a meeting) and location (that building over there), that made it hard to find what was needed.

Our Second Problem: Customers have trouble telling us what they want.

The countermeasure for this problem is to schedule service providers through the Service Desk, and empower the A/V team to discover the customer's needs by connecting the customer earlier in the process. The Service Desk remains the first point of contact for the request, and the central scheduling resource. 

As for finding space, a 5S technique was used to clean up the menus in order to help customers find what they need.

It's really amazing to be able to see the results of applying Lean structured problem solving techniques to pernicious service problems. Twice now, we've used this methodology to help improve the value of the A/V service MSIS provides to it's customers.  If you'd like a copy of the A3's we prepared, just ask. You can see the customer facing bits of the changes below.

Making A/V Requests (see screen shot below)

The form you use to make A/V requests is now simpler and easier to use. The previous form had five different options, some of which were overlapping, and many of which were confusing. Now we ask for someone to contact on the day of the event, when and for how long you expect us to be there, and if you need service. Please note that A/V services are fee-based. A full fee schedule is available in Schedulon and our Knowledge Base.

Fulfilling your A/V requests

We listened to your feedback. We understand that having to convey event details up front to our Service Desk and again to our A/V Team was redundant and tedious. We’ve simplified that too. Future requests will still pass through the service desk, so that we can handle urgent requests, but an A/V technician will confirm the event details with you. This will reduce the amount of rework being done today, and increase the accuracy of your order.

Finding Space

The menu hierarchy in Schedulon is a bit confusing. As we’ve grown, we’ve noticed that we need to re-organize the structure. Based on input from schedulers and administrators, we’ve decided that space in Schedulon will be divided into three categories:

• Meeting Space

• These are conference rooms, enclaves, and offices. Typically these are used for administrative purposes. Meetings are booked either into spaces which are free and open (like NCRC) or controlled (like most of the Medical Campus).
•  
• 
  

  Event Space

• These are Auditoriums, Venues, and Atriums which are typically used for larger gatherings, or events which require professional services. All are controlled spaces, so that service teams can be scheduled to provide for the events as they are scheduled.
•  

• Classrooms

• These are tightly controlled spaces where classes are held. During the term, free time can be used for meetings, although student use is given highest priority.
•  

• Getting Resources

• Service and resource related items will go under a separate menu called Get Resources.

Thank You

The following people deserve the credit for driving and validating the change:

Greyson LaHousse - Problem Owner & Service Desk Agent

Dave Cuevas - Problem Owner & Service Desk Agent

Tony Markel - Reviewer & Service Manager

Monica Webster - Observer & Process Manager

Marilyn Mason - Stakeholder & A/V Technician

Caleb Newman - Stakeholder & A/V Supervisor

Rob Levitt - Stakeholder & Service Manager

Steve Lambert - Product Manager

Steve Sarrica - Product Management Supervisor
Joyce Kiger - Customer
Renee Hafner - Customer
Tammy LaPrell - Customer