Quality of service, efficiency improved through team approach

How long does it take to get a doorstop fixed on campus? A couple of pictures hung? A paper towel dispenser installed?

Maintenance supervisor Doug Racicot says it shouldn’t take much more than a day.

Not too long ago, such chores could take more than a week at the Storrs campus, causing frustration about what should be minor tasks.

Now the facilities department has reduced the wait time for minor maintenance from an average of 7.5 days to a maximum of 1.25.

They did it through a program designed to improve the efficiency of a wide range of administrative processes based on a detailed understanding of how they work and where and why problems arise. Teams of people with a stake in a particular process – both providers and users – collaborate to develop a long-term solution that works for all involved.

The program, known as “BEST” (Breakthroughs, Excellence, and Success through Teamwork), was launched at both Storrs and the Health Center in fall 2004 under the leadership of Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, vice president and chief operating officer.

The first step was to invite members of the University community to identify administrative bottlenecks.

The issues tackled initially at Storrs have been: expediting the search and hiring processes; ensuring timely payment of temporary employees on the University’s “special payroll;” reducing the time it takes to complete minor maintenance tasks; and developing an application that sends vendors purchase orders electronically.

Racicot was the leader of the minor maintenance team at Storrs. Following the BEST model, he selected front-line staff as well as managers and “customers” as members of his team.

After receiving training, the team began by clearly stating the problem, taking into account the different perspectives of all those involved. In this case, routine chores were taking too long.

“Often people within the process do only a piece of it,” says Pam Heath-Johnston, coordinator of the BEST program.

“Everybody has a different definition of a problem and different ideas about the solution. Working as a team helps them understand the whole process.”

The next step is to gather information, quantify the problem, and set targets for improvement.

“The BEST program is data driven,” Heath-Johnston says. “It’s very pragmatic.”

Members of the maintenance team, for example, discovered that delays were caused not by the length of time the technicians took, as they had thought initially, but by the time taken to process a work order and get a crew on site.

The solution they developed included buying several additional trucks, and enhancing the existing zone system, with groups of about five people – including a carpenter, an electrician, a plumber, a specialist in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and a general tradesperson – assigned to specific clusters of buildings.

A new Web-based work order process will allow customers to enter job requests and follow their status online. A policy statement will be posted on the same website, clarifying the definitions of emergency, routine, and minor maintenance.