How can you handle process variations and exceptions in your process design?

1 What are process variations and exceptions?

Process variations are deviations from the standard or expected way of performing a process. They can be caused by factors such as customer preferences, environmental conditions, human errors, or resource constraints. Process exceptions are unexpected events or situations that prevent a process from being completed or reaching its desired outcome. They can be caused by factors such as system failures, errors, accidents, or emergencies. Both process variations and exceptions can affect the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of your process, and may require corrective actions or adaptations.

2 Why are process variations and exceptions important?

Process variations and exceptions are important because they can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your process design, as well as the opportunities and threats in your operating environment. By analyzing and understanding the causes and effects of process variations and exceptions, you can improve your process performance, customer satisfaction, and risk management. You can also learn from your process variations and exceptions and use them as inputs for continuous improvement and innovation.

3 How can you identify process variations and exceptions?

Identifying process variations and exceptions can be made easier by using process mapping techniques. Process mapping is a visual representation of the steps, activities, inputs, outputs, roles, and resources involved in a process. It can help document, communicate, and analyze your process design, as well as identify the sources and impacts of process variations and exceptions. Common process mapping techniques include flowcharts which use symbols and arrows to show the sequence and logic of a process; swimlane diagrams that use horizontal or vertical lanes to show the roles of different actors or groups; and value stream maps which use symbols and data to show the flow of value from the customer's perspective. All three techniques can help identify potential variations and exceptions that may occur at each step.

4 How can you manage process variations and exceptions?

Once you have identified the process variations and exceptions, you need to decide how to manage them. Depending on the nature, frequency, and impact of the process variations and exceptions, you may choose one or more of the following strategies: standardizing to reduce or eliminate unwanted or unnecessary process variations, customizing to accommodate or leverage desirable or beneficial process variations, automating with technology or software to prevent or handle human-related or system-related process variations, and escalating to resolve or mitigate complex or critical process variations. These strategies can help improve your process quality, efficiency, reliability, customer satisfaction, speed, accuracy, scalability, safety, compliance, and accountability.

5 How can you prevent process variations and exceptions?

Finally, you can also prevent or reduce the occurrence of process variations and exceptions by proactively designing your process with resilience and flexibility in mind. Resilience is the ability of your process to withstand or recover from disruptions or changes, while flexibility is the ability to adapt or adjust to different situations or demands. Enhancing these qualities can be done by simplifying the process, modularizing it into smaller components, and optimizing it for maximum value and performance. This will help minimize complexity and variability, contain the effects of variations and exceptions, enable reusability and interchangeability, and align the process with goals and objectives.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?