What is an improvement suggestion?
Improvement suggestions should be about how to enhance the efficiency of an internal system or process, which may also involve services provided to clients or patients. These suggestions can stem from observations, discussions with colleagues, or instances where correct procedures or protocols were not followed (non-conformances).
Why suggest an improvement?
Making continual improvement is how organisations adapt, grow, and excel in their operations. By continuously seeking ways to enhance processes, address issues, and implement better practices, organisations can drive positive change, achieve higher levels of performance, and provide the best possible services.
Reporting improvements and issues like non-conformances also drives decision useful trend reports which are available in the Analytics section of the platform.
How to suggest an improvement
Use the orange FAB (Floating Action Button) to start a new improvement suggestion. Then follow the instructions in each of the sections below:
- Improvement details
Describe and categorise the improvement suggestion. - Non-conformance details
Describe and categorise the non-conformance. - Assign
Assign the event to someone to manage and notify other people who need to know. - Access control
Set who can view the report. - Attach records
Upload files or add links to records related to the event. - Submit
Complete your task and submit or save the form - System event history
A chronological record maintained by the system detailing entries and changes made to the form including links to any related items created by users.
Improvement details
This component enables you to describe the improvement opportunity.
Type of issue
Select 'Improvement opportunity' or if the issue is related to a non-conformity such as organisational policy not being followed, then select 'Non-conformance'.
Source of issue
Select the source of the improvement opportunity. The source could be through staff making a suggestion or from an external source.
Origin of issue
Select where the improvement was identified: internal (within the organisation) or external (outside of the organisation, eg external auditor). If the improvement was identified by an external source, specify the name of the person or the company name.
Description of issue
Describe the issue eg. 'there are duplicate processes across our programs for obtaining client consent which creates an inefficiency'. Avoid making comment about what the solution is at this stage. Note: this field is limited to 2000 characters. Use the Attach records to attach further information, eg documents, emails, photographs.
Recommended improvement
Make a recommendation as to how the process or activity could be improved. For example, 'Centralise the records for client consent thereby reducing the need to gain client consent for each program the client accesses'.
Non-conformance details
In selecting Non-conformance' as the Type of issue to be reported, an additional component on the Improvement Details form will open. The Non-conformance details component prompts you to give consideration as to why the non-conformance occurred though undertaking a causal analysis (cause-and-effect).
System failure type
Select the business system that most likely led to the failure. For example, where the failure related to new staff not following procedures select 'Employee Induction Program'.
Add further details about the system failure (optional)
If you want to make additional comments, tick this box to open an additional text box field.
Causal analysis
In describing the causal analysis (cause-and-effect) try to identify the underlying reason why the issue occurred. At this stage, continue to stay away from trying to find the solution. A useful tool in conducting a causal analysis is to use the '5 Whys'. Here is an example of using the '5 whys' to identify the underlying cause as to why the clinic wasn't able to vaccinate a client today:
- Why - because we didn't have the required vaccine
- Why - because we didn't place the order on time last week
- Why - because the person who normally orders the vaccine was away on leave and the task wasn't allocated to another staff member
- Why - because there is no management oversight for this task
- Why - because the position responsible for oversight is vacant
Based on this example, you would suggest that the underlying cause of the non-conformance is due to the vacancy in the position with responsibility for oversight in this area.
Record immediate action taken (optional)
Document details of what action has been taken in response to the non-conformance. For example, 'I immediately followed up on the order for the vaccines and confirmed date of delivery'.
Link this issue to a risk (optional)
Select from the list of identified risks, the relevant risk. For example, if there is an identified risk relating to 'management of medical consumables' it would be relevant to link the non-conformance relating to the un-availability of vaccinations to the identified risk, 'management of medical consumables'.
Assign
Specify who should manage the improvement suggestion or non-conformance, any additional people who should be notified by email, and the team responsible for monitoring the event at their regular meetings.
Note: In some cases, these fields may be pre-populated by business rules created by a system administrator.
Related business area
Select the business area in your organisation that the issue relates to or occurred in.
Related meeting
Select the team meeting responsible for monitoring the management of the event. This will automatically place the event on their meeting agenda. Assigning improvement opportunities to the team that will be impacted by the change is an easy way to inform the team of the issues and to engage them in the solution.
Report this issue to
Select who is responsible for managing this type of issue. Only users with permissions to manage events will be displayed. The user selected will be notified immediately of the incident and will be assigned the task to manage the incident.
If you will be the person managing the event and you have the required permissions, select Assign to me. The Submit button will change to Next allowing you to advance directly to the next stage to manage the event.
Notify other users by email (optional) - Select who needs to receive an email notification about the event.
Note: Users sent notifications relating to the incident will need to be included in Access control to see the incident.
Access control
Set which users will have access to view the incident report. You can grant access to all users or specific teams and individual users.
All users can access
Select this option if you would like all users to be able to view the item.
Specify who can access
Select this option to control which users can view this item.
Teams
Select the team/s who need to view the item.
Individual users
Select specific users (if they are not included in the selected team/s) who need to view the item.
Who can view?
Click this button to see a list of users who can see the item based on your selection. The list will also include those users assigned to the item in the workflow. Note: Users with system level permissions to see all items will also be included.
Attach records
This component enables you to attach records relating to the issue such as correspondence, emails, or photographs. Only users with permissions to see the item will be able to see attached records.
Click Attach to add a record.
Record name
When naming the record ensure the description is meaningful. For example, 'Photograph of damaged to vehicle XYZ 123'.
File or Link
Click on Choose file and navigate to the record on your computer. If you have links enabled, toggle to change the control to add a URL to the record. The URL must be a in a web format (https://) or Microsoft Sharepoint format (https://<company>.sharepoint.com/...)
Submit
The green Submit button will save the form and progress the item to the next stage of the workflow. After an improvement is reported, it will progress through a series of workflow stages for management, response, and eventual closure. Learn more about workflows.
Select Create a related item if you want to create a separate linked item on another register when you save the form. A link between the two items will be displayed in each item's System event history. This may be useful when you want to suggest an improvement in response to the improvement.
System event history
A chronological record maintained by the system detailing entries and changes made to the form including links to any related items created by users.
Click the '+' control on the right to expand the line item to see more information.
