Mapping the Path Forward
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The document discusses how Navy Housing used business process mapping to standardize and measure its customer service functions across installations. Process mapping documents each step from a customer's trigger of need to the desired output of having that need met. This allows Navy Housing to align services, set performance measures, and ensure reliable delivery of standardized services to customers regardless of location. While the maps just provide a high-level view, they establish a framework to develop more detailed policy and metrics to better meet the Navy Housing mission.
Mapping the Path Forward
- 1. I FEATURE I By Carol Casto Using business process mapping to 1neet the Navy Housing mission • 1n N avy Housing customer services encompass the core customer service functions of home finding, issue resolution, listings management, and customer out- reach. Each of these functions is provided at every installation to support the Navy Housing mission to assist cus- tomers with finding suitable, safe, and affordable housing. Within these core functions is a multitude of customer services that are more detailed and difficult to measure and standardize because each customer is unique. As we know, customers are not an asset with easily tracked maintenance costs or occupancy rates. Simply measuring the number of customers we've seen or counting the time we've spent with them doesn't speak to the level ofeffort or the expertise required to meet individual custom- ers' needs. Customer satisfaction measurements-the traditional measure for customer services-can only help us understand cus- tomer satisfaction with the services we provide, but not whether those services are being executed properly or even necessary. To identify and measure the services we provide to ensure they are reliable and standardized, we must conduct a multi-dimen- sional and detailed review of what it takes to provide them.I Meeting the Mission Process mapping is; a widely accepted project man- agement tool that documents and outlines the steps it takes to move from a trigger, which sets the process in motion, to the desired output. Since all of our work begins and ends with our customers, each trigger must map to a customer need. In tum, each desired output must meet that customer's need and achieve the Navy Housing mission to assist customers with finding suitable, safe, and affordable housing. In the case of Navy Housing customer services, most triggers are external to Navy Housing and driven by a direct customer need, such as a request for counseling and/or assis- tance, receiving complaints, or obtaining new listings from land- lords. The activities that we implement when these triggers occur make up the bulk of the process map and include both activities JULY I AUGUST 2013 37
- 2. Revit"W, 1h,liyle, Rdt""Jrth Lot:~l. Rcoiiiiicmehrovqh' .'tei,.ewe:wmiiCJrd/ 1t:IJnt Compl.nn: o,• l.trldiOid/RrsiUt!IH AUe'T"tpl to R~olv~ ..-e:. • St.ste o~l:l tcdt"rJI • '-"~'>P«tit:n lle:qurr~? ~gotJarcd SctUemuu, Mlllllllllyllg~l'd I.Jpott fkootlorion Ot~A!_~ S:.,t ute ~.P;)n Trend~ on Own? " A1 '10 -·- A:ler to ComDloint ln._)/Jcction w•P'I'«cu Rc-..olution Mc-dUlk.ln .tl!d ASSr-!!db.td.to Tefl•nt or Wld!Qfd Ao:Jthed c:r Re!et ..,. Ne:gotl.J~tlun ,. to PrQVC"1" Authoril'f be:twee't ?Jtii'O 01 AJ - - A-6 - Compl~lt: · • ih:~llt>On Repotl AS The landlord-tenant dispute process within the issue resolution function outlines the process from when the trigger of a landlord or tenant complaint is registered to when desired output of negotiated settlement is reached. It shows high-level decision points (diamonds) and activities (e.g., mediation and negotiation between parties), as well as relationships to other processes, such as the Complaint Inspection Sub-Process. It is a long road from visual, high-level maps to detailed policy and perfonnance measurement, and we are only at the beginning of that road. that must be performed and decisions that must be made to reach the desired output. The outputs support meeting the customers' needs and achieving the Navy Housing mission, and result in informed and efficient placement into housing, up-to-date inventory of listings, mutual resolution, and, where necessary, referral to other offices. Once the output is reached, the process ends. Ultimately, these process maps document the services we need to provide to meet our customers' needs and outline how pro- viding them fulfills those needs. Navy Housing identified and mapped 15 processes across all four core functions. By documenting each process, we can set the ground rules by which all installations will operate. Because they are intended for all installations, they map the processes at a very high level. This high-level process mapping supports two needs-it gives adequate understanding of installation services to headquarters to ensure Navy-wide standardization and it pro- vides fle.:·<ibility to installations to tailor the process and deliver the output in a way that makes sense locally. Standardizing, Measuring Services Once completed, the process maps will serve as a "charted 38 DEFENSE COMMUNITIES course" and will enable us to see how the customer services we provide align with our customer needs and our over- all goals. And while all of the core functions are already addressed in existing policy, a comparison of the policy with these process maps concluded that more robust and detailed policy is required to define and describe the customer service activities in order to ensure they are provided in a standard- ized and reliable way for customers. As the adage goes, "what gets measured gets done," and a significant part of policy development also must focus on per- formance measurement. The process maps make it easier to identify key performance measures because we can now refer to concrete activities or decision points within the process that need to be measured to ensure standardization across the Navy. This will give us our first glimpse of data that can be compared across all installations. It is a long road from visual, high-level maps to detailed policy and performance measurement, and we are only at the beginning of that road. But even at this high level, the process maps enable Navy Housing staff to begin aligning their ser- vices with what the rest of Navy Housing is doing, and allow for better understanding of how their work directly relates to meeting customers' needs and the Navy Housing mission. For the customer, they can expect more reliable and standard- ized services across the Navy. And giving our customers what they need and expect is at the heart of what we do. • Carol Casto is a housing refeJTal services program analyst, Commander, Navy Installations Command. Reach her at carol. casto@navy.mil.