Tag: service design

Strategy, Architecture & Problem-Solving

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Devolving Decision-Making through Frameworks

If you create an appropriate framework, people can understand what to do when you haven’t told them the details. All too often, organisations define rules that do not need defining. They may choose to set criteria for approvals, or host panels in order to evaluate submissions. A better approach in many cases is to create…
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Failure in public sector – The Reprise

I read Vim‘s article on What Does Failure Mean for Public Services  and I wanted to respond. I wanted to build upon Vim’s thoughts from my own perspective. I’ve developed that perspective over a couple of decades working across front-line teams and supporting teams, transforming workforces across public and private sector. This results in me…
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Running with Knickers on Your Head

The First Draft

I’m pleased to announce that the first draft of my book on achieving change in front-line services is available. It’s been many years in the writing as I’ve changed direction a couple of times, adapted to newer, emerging methods, but recognised that the core of the book is still as pertinent now as it was…
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Objectives Download

Downloadable template in Excel and pdf for use with the forthcoming book Running with Knickers on Your Head covering change and service improvement in front-line services. Objectives PDF Objectives Excel Template

Direction of Travel for Gym Business Models

New Year, New Gym, New Business Model

The business of gyms is an odd one. It’s full of business principles from the 1970s with a thin veneer of customer service from the 1990s. What’s the modern approach? Let’s look at the typical issues with modern gym memberships. If you search on a few review sites or social media, you’ll commonly see a…
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Look at the Evidence – the Spike and Delay Pattern in Social Care

A number of years ago, I was transforming a city’s social care directorate and, as part of that transformation, we aimed to reduce the time it took to do anything when interacting with the service. The transformation was based on a more fundamental need to free up workers to be able to do the work…
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The Delay Following the Spike – Issues with Cycle Time in Service Industries

How long does it take you to do what your customers want? Not just the first part, but the whole of it? 1. The Pattern I see this pattern commonly replicated across service industries. It involves a very short spike of activity (e.g. 5-20 minutes) followed by a lengthy delay where something is sent to…
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Checkout Till

Finding a balance between the needs of the organisation and the needs of the customer

Some companies are immature in their approach to customer relationship management (CRM), but at the heart is a desire to get something for free. And that’s wrong. The scenario You look around a shop, you pick something up, take it to the checkout, wait in a queue. You notice that the queue is moving slowly,…
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Business Architecture and Service Design

How Might We Apply Service Design to the Enterprise?

I simplistically take the view that Service Design is the concepts and methods of Design Thinking applied to making services work better for their customers. It’s a definition that works in the circles I most commonly move in, i.e. directors, programme directors, etc. It allows me to set the stage in which service design and…
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Post-it Notes

Confirmation bias in design thinking

Every few years another fad comes around. Look back long enough and you’ll see lean, systems thinking, TQM, CRM, structured systems and many, many more methodologies and/or approaches. The problem is in the delivery of the projects when the terms become more widespread. Background What we’re seeing is the climb of two methodologies: Service Design and Design…
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