VOL 2, NO 4
Quality Improvement in Financial Management
,
~
"T
/ ")
/'
'?"
<,
-::,
")
~r"""
)'
SEPTEMBER 1991
~
Ch~rge~s"Ieam
(
\' by the.Chargers Team
\
l_~
'.I
he Charger~ a
firid out exactly what type-of
team of individu- procedures existed. Thi s in- )'=,
. how to create\
als f rom severaI
-voIve~'-d(I Iearnmg
departments , was brought
a flow chart of all the activities
together to evaluate a relative- involved in\ the process and
, conducti~g jnterv i~~ with -:- ,
ly little known and ~o1J1Pllex
- service provided.to UW stu- , . twenty-five people directly mdents - "on-demand loans".
volved with the work.
We are: Ann Cronin (Receiv~
ables Co llection Offi ce), Janet After all.of our data gathering,
we got to the fun part. We
Cantelon (Office of St~dent
Financial Aid ), Dick Simmons _- brainstormed the various
problems -'witn :tlle ~ process and .
(Student Loans Office), and
, Amy Floit (Student Accounts &
the opportunities we saw for ~ 'Schblarships). We didn 't n9F- . making the wbrk moreeffi"
lly work together - each 'of, ciept,3!!d effec tive. Then, w~
"us knew only some of the, steps tried out .a few solutions and)
~
~
which result in the §uc~essful _ presented the team '; concluChargersTeam , clockwise from left: Amy Floit .Janet Cantelon ,
completion of the on-demand sions to the EIT.The BIT
Ann Cronin and Dic~ Simmons : /1 ~
,
loan .process,
accepted our_reco~menda- J
/ "I
tions -,for -change
as listed:"
/
J
1-) J '-'"
A
X,
'-,-I'
')
/v,
.On-demand loans are short- r;; below' 30 ' ga y,s past the original
f
~ to the student; and various
i
term loans that are granted to
due date. This team should
types .of holds that ar~ place
~ 'Th e_ first problem that we /
students who need the cash
begin this fall.
onthe student's
accounts.
,
,
I
now and have sonie identified
encountered was the confuThis
change
will
be
Ru~s~ed
r
~I
source of money (often finan'sion and extra work created, ~ The confusion over using
following the implementacial aid ) coming soon that will
in part, because we use two
two independent databases
tion 'of the first two changes.
»
beavailable to Ray qffJthe-'_" ~
different databases to keep / " could also bereduc'ed-by
Ioan. rApproving loans, dis"track of the loans -once they
"reducing the amount o( iime We ' generally had _a positive' \
'bursing tin"ds, collecting "loans
are made. We ' use the Stu- 1 /'it takes to actually t ransfer -' ~ experience with our first at(on time or late), and keeping
dent Data Base (SDB ) on the
the data to the Wachovia ' tempt- in.the QI world. It was
, all the"records straight is a
Student Accounts.System for - database." A.c hange in pro~reat to get , to kiio~ and re~:3
~
-'
'
"-complex process that -is spread
loans that, are paid .on time ,
cedures to allow data to be,,' spect members from other ~
but over several departments.
and we use Wachovia .
submitted to Wachovia
offices that were involved in
The first part of.our job was to
Bahk's system for -loans that
weekly via -magnetic tape
providing services to the stu~
,
')
i
1.,"'-are paid late, .If loans' are
- will b~'itpp~emertted'follow- . dents .and" to each otherl -It
paid 'at or aftJ th~ due'
ing the .change discussed
also provided a new perspecIn This ) Issue
date , confusion about what ~
above.
.» tive of! dealing with the"
Chargers Team ,
/
~
loan 'is beingpaid-and
r'
students by knowing more ~
Y
,Q'&o A
~ c
(
where the payments should
~ In _order to ' further _streamline about the whole process that .
A ~ Award W inning Idea
be made can exist. A team
the process, we will 'evaluate they go through rather than ~­
Guest Article
~ill be established to' imp le. w~ys to 31utomate the", place~ just our individual pieces. In~~
Kudos To . .
) ment a change 'which' will
'.-\'ment; and r~moyal of '
) ~,I
\
and more! '
keep
loans
OI
{
the
SDB
for
)
..
I
chafges,
billing
information
1'\
Conlinued
on
Rage
4
~,,-,
_~
--
' ,
I
,'
J
_
"
r:
)
"r-v
r-
A
< ,
J, \
------------
t
\)
,
)
.J
~
n
l r
.J
QUESTIONS & ANS'YERS
Q: H ow frequently will QI training sessions be made available
for new employees and who will be leading these sessions ?
,A: New employee training will be given in two one day
sessions at this time. The first day , the introduction to QI,
will be given approximately every other month. The first
session since the original training was held on September
17th. It is.our goal that everyone should havethis training
within 2 months of starting in our organization. The first
class was taught by Harlan Patterson and Ann Anderson
(GCA). It is expected that additional classes will be taught
by our own staff with occasional help from others. Other
staff will have the opportunity in.the future to be involved
as instructors for this training.
The _second day of training, problem solving, will be
provided to all employees with the timing to occur within a
month of the completion of the Master Builder phase for
the QITs. This training will by conducted by Ernst &
Young, with some assistance from our internal staff. After
this, it is anticipated-that this training will be conducted by
our own staff approximately every other month for new
employees.
Are you tired 'of the same old ' "official'answers presented in
this space? Do xou think that the answer missed the point - or
does not really reflect 'the way it is' or ' should be ' from your
perspective? Here is your chance! Starting with this edition, we
will present some of the questions that are being posed from a
variety of sources. Then, YOU will provide the answers. In
keeping with the principles of employee participation and total
involvement, we need to hear from all parts of the organization
about what is happening now. So, what do you,- do? Write up a
response to the questions posed and-send it in to Harlan
Patterson, AG-80. You can sign it or send it in anonymously your choice. We will print the responses in the next edition of
Directions. Since we have never done this before, we do not
- know if we will have p, 1, 10 or 100 responses. So, depending
-, on volume, we may have to do some sorting. Let us know what
you think of this idea by dropping us a litie. We may assume by
your silence that you do not think much about this idea. Here
are this month 's questions:
Q: Do we~need to limit our QI meetings to o~e hour a we~k?
Are more frequent or longer meetings a possibility ?
Q: How long do we need to work with afacilitator?
WE AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE!!!
------eC5
g:::~
===--'
==-~=-===- :=~------
NACUBO award winners, front row from left: Amy Floit, Diane
Cooley, Stas Karnitsky, Marie Torran ce, and Bill Shire y; back row
from left : Ken Haines, Fred McWhirter and P;ggy Fitzwater (not
,
shown: Judy Fingal)
An Award Winning Idea
by V'Ella Warren
s
tudent Accounts is a winner! NACUBO awarded the
University of Washington fourth place in the 1991
Cost Reduction Incentive Awards Program for providing access to student financial information by phone through
the STAR system.
A special thank you goes to the design and implementation
-team:- Ken Haines , Stas Karnitsky and Marie Torrance 'from
Student Accounts; Judy Fingar from Student Loans ; and Fred
.Mcwhirter and Bill Shirey from Information Systems. In addition , the proposal preparation team deserves a big hand: Diane
, Cooley, Peggy Fitzwater and Amy Floit.
Quality is meeting our customers ' needs 'and continually
improving the way we do business. This program scores on
both counts. The enhancements to STAR help our customers
(students and parents) by saving time and energy. The system
allows access to information handled in different offices and is
not limited to office hours. In addition, it frees up staff to
concentrate on other work.
The $1,000 award will go to Student Accounts as a budget
supplement. For those of you have a good idea, this year 's
applications are due by December 15. ·I would love to see us
win again .
Directions is published on a monthly basis by the Office of
Financial Management , AG80, Seattle , Washington , 98195
Harlan Patterson, Editor (685-3144)
Michael Fero, Design & Production (543-4058)
Layout produced using Pagemaker, Corel Draw, Charisma and WordP erfect software
on an IBM Model 70. Photos and art produced using an HP Scanjet Plus and conventional
method s. Page proofs produced on an HP Laserjet III equipped with a Pacific Data
postscript emulation cartridge. Camera-ready art produced on a Linotronic 300. Final
production on Xerox 5090 photocopier.
\.
-
Open & Dynamic Communication
iI
Guest Article byPatricia McKinnon
;.. . . -
hen I revisited the Nine Principles of Quality and
Productivity recently, I noticed that while each
implied Open and Dynamic Communications,
none precisely spelled it out.
As I see it, management is reaching out to form a partnership
with each and every Financial Management employee in an
effort to create ongoing Quality Improvement.
To achieve our
1
missions as Improvement Teams, and as QI-oriented individuals, I think we too must form partnerships with<managem~nt.
Frequent and open communications between all employees,
regardless of status , are crucial to our success.
Perhaps a little historical perspective (as I see it) might help.
Compare the differences in approach between the old (Before
Quality Improvement or BQI) and new (Today & Tomorrow .or
T&T) corporate
cultures on a few topics: responsibilities,
I
rewards and communications.
RESIDNSIBIUIlES
BQI: The old system required management to design and
implement all improvements in isolation; employees -were
simply required to follow procedures and complete
assigned tasks. Managers had the,difficult job of going it
alone because there was no generally accepted plan to
include non-managem~nt staff in the process.
T&T: The QI process wants all employees to understand the
processes in which they participate; employee teams will
work hand-in-hand with managem~nt teams throughout
the Master Builder Phase and beyond. Employees and
management will work together to solve problems using ,
QI tools and methods: brainstorming (expanding);
narrowing; achieving consensus; in-depth research of
potential solutions (including cost/benefit analyses);
negotiating with suppliers and customers; implementing .
feasible, reasonable and affordable recommendations
and ,measuring and monitoring QI on a continuing basis.
Good communication is an essential element in taking
~
care of shared responsibilities.
I
REWARDs
BQI: Managers/ worked ever harder jo improve productivity
. and quality and were rewarded with promotions, honors,
higher expectations and much additional work. Employees kepttheir noses to the grindstone and were rewarded
with .steady paychecks, valuable benefits and, ideally,
personal satisfaction for a job 'well done.
T&T: We are evolving to an environment in .which we all share,
the responsibilities and rewards for improved customer
service. Managers will find their own accountability less
/ burdensome as employees. learn the QI process, grow to
~
~
~
G
I~~
l(,
.....
~
$
r;J
~
-
I
/i
.,) ~ ~~ K ~
f
v'S>
~
-
-
. /
$
i
<
,
~
~
I
-
" We' ll begin ; Mr. Bergeron , just
as soon as you' re seated"
see the big,picture and adopt the principle of quality as
their own . All staff will have the opportunity to show (and
be shown) appreciation to others for a job well done. QI
will become a way of life through training and experience
and through the universal recognition that we are all
- working to accomplish the. same thing. Recognition starts
with communication of results and ends with communication of appreciation for the work done.
COMMUNICATIONS
BQI: Communications of the recent past were characterized by
rigid rules_ which .people understood
and practiced, or
1<
moved ( on to other positions. Employees spoke to their
.
supervisor .(and perhaps their supervisor's boss) and
received their marching orders through the same ch~­
nels.
T&T: We now need open and dynamic communications to
foster an expanding pool of ideas which will further our
goal of continuous quality improvement. Many .of us are
carrying the excess baggage of silence and alienation
which characterized BQI. We can lighten our load by
discarding these outmoded ideas and start refreshed on
our QI journey.
-.
l
, I
_
By asking questions, sharing our views and working together
positively and productively we cantruly understand and honestly appreciate each other. By practicing the tenth principle of
quality and productivity-open and dynamic communicationswe will realize a greater sense of responsibility, increased
rewards and enhanced communications with all parties involved with our work .
(Patricia McKinnon is an employee in the Student Loans Office
and a QI facilitator.)
E. H. Harriman.quoted in Commitment to Quality
I
t~tions were f~r the results .of
our efforts. It was also difficult
Continued from Page 1 at times to involve other peo"
') -".: going through the team prople iri our project because
)- . ~
.
..1
cess w'e k arned to appreciate they did (lfot have th~,~s,ame
f'~ t~G~ne ~n~e ~or't. ta~lng on the challel}g~e-Pf
~the -'activities, constraints ana ' level of training we had and
l
.fin ding a way for the Grant and Contracts r--_
)
perspectives of the other peodid not really ~riderstand what
system to produce a special cut of.the informa'" ple who work around us. -c
~;/.w e were tryigg to do. We ~ /,
I:'iion for the President's Cabinet, with the result
~Finally ,' we -had a-chance to
learned thatit lis difficult to re'-'I
I f '
,(
'exceedingthe expectations 'of Grant & Contract>
takeonnew leadership roles
ally have good communica~
for afackling a problem; tions with all-of the necessary
Services.
Sf' )
-:.>peopJ e- on a c~mplex' subject
.reI....
such as this one.
_as we
to Marie Torrance for taking the time to help _
we learned to
did,. we still needed to work ;
~I ofle of our suppliers, the bank, torecover money'
c- . appreciate the activities,
harder. on making our com-
Chargers <Team
-KUDOS- TO...
->,
r:
I '
'-«
'-J
H:..
c
"
Try
'
-
who work
around us. "
-r:
\...
"',7'
Ii
-c,
f'
As with alI learning situations,
"there were-many frustrations
along theeway. for starters,\~
would have helped a lot to
Have more conversations j with.
")the EIT arid-the other effected
, mariagers about ,what
issues'
--t}
\
:we'" were supposed to be ad"'" dressing and what the expec~
~i
.
v
.:»:j
I
":...-
'J
'
-'
..
,
st~oa and _complete ::--
--'
/
'
c~--t
~
c
...
)
~
' "
I
on a University deposit
that was potential
loss
\ ,/
-.' due to a breakdown intheprocess at the bank.
mU!l\cation~ clearly~nder-
constraims.and perspectives.cf thepeople
<:»:
\117
~
~
\117 JO
0
Einally, w,eare allhappy to
-R uth Ste:l}'artfor ,tireless effortto process a
j have had !he opportunity to
~huge'Ynumbe'r'of journal vouchers during the
-participate in this process. It
biennium close period. This ifhrt was (lone
was a real life example of how
witli a great attitude thatwas .appreciated. by her
a ',team-can produceLbetter re- ."
sults than can any .one indiviQ: ')
r "customers and the willingness to be flexible in
\ _
,...I
<.
ual. Ii also gaveus experience
making-changes
right
up
to
the
very
end.
--,
»-r-:
-,
in taking risks in voicing o~
_')
L
~
/~'
opinions to other people and
Have you s~en an eiamp!e of QI ih' acti'on that you :"
encouraging them tOtake that /
~ "
risk as well.
feel others should
Know~bout?
Send it- in!
"-..'
'
'-'----..
,j'
I
»<
1:
r'
o
,~
/ "--
\J'
r
..
'
v
-
,;
'J
/
-
V
- /)
.-:.J
3' "\
<.
('
Fin1inoial Management '
,
C\"
v
-
~
;AG ~ 8GL' ~
E
,) I
-;J::..
(
-::»:
-,
~
r' 'i /
,
!
/
r
.I~-
/)
j-----
--/
~
/\.
....
.
(
r-
)
L
,,2'1
/
,
1
)
I
/ 1-
) j
'" I '
./
,..1,?
>/
COOLEY, DIANE L
PE-10
i
r'
-f
....=-.
-//
I-v
r
/1/ )
- 1/
______ /r
/1
......
J.
/
r
J
.->
)
-
I
-/
/
C7c-
r
r
;:r~~
/
r
-'\
(
C
./
r
)
/
,<~"
>-
\[
)
I
I
;---'
-
N
/'
","\1
r;
,
)
1\
1)7
,:-'>-
Printed on recycled Raper
)
./
/,