RESULTS

Situation:
Our client is a South Florida community-based organization focused on empowering communities, and changing lives, in the areas of education, jobs, housing, and health. Moreover, our client is an affiliate of a nationally established and recognized historic civil rights organization dedicated to community empowerment.

After conducting an Operations Assessment of our client’s Finance Department, we identified an opportunity to improve the efficiency of the department. In addition, as a result of onsite and offsite process reviews, our assessment uncovered many instances of wasted time due to duplicative job functions.

Executive leadership collectively supported the need to adopt recommended best practices, updated standard operating procedures, and redesign of job functions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of workflow.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Reviewed all current standard operating procedures, job descriptions, organization structure, and personnel responsibilities for the Finance Department.
Determined, through the active engagement of staff in process mapping working sessions, specific improvements to processes, job responsibilities, and organization structure.
Prepared and presented executive-level findings reports, including recommendations for additional process improvement initiatives that will positively impact our client’s revenue.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

Clarity and consistency of job descriptions and support team performance expectations.
Centralization of high volume, repetitive tasks.
Individual skills aligned to work requirements, to improve productivity and quality.
Engagement and ownership by executive leadership, management, and administrative staff to ensure the success of the improvement implementation plan.

Client Comments:
Our client’s Chief Executive Officer commented during our final project status review meeting: “The Doug Williams Group was extremely effective in the way they conducted this assessment, which highlighted critical improvement opportunities that we will implement immediately. They fully engaged our management and staff, and as a result, we have asked them to take the lead on additional process improvement initiatives”.

Situation:
The client is a highly respected, growing community bank with a strong reputation for exceptional client service. Recognizing the importance of having world-class processes as catalysts for sustainable growth, the senior leadership of the bank engaged The Doug Williams Group to lead a cross-functional team to improve the commercial lending process, applying Lean Six Sigma methodologies.  The Doug Williams Group was given two months to deliver solid results.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Process Improvement Team Leadership (Lean Six Sigma)
Formed and led a Process Improvement Team to identify and implement improvement opportunities in all stages of the lending process.
Developed and implemented Lean Six Sigma cycle time service level agreements among the departments that participate in the process; lending, underwriting, and loan administration.
Created “improved” process flows that increased revenue growth potential and ensured exceptional client service at every step of the process.
Developed, prioritized, and guided the implementation of the improvement opportunities that were identified by the team.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

A significant number of improvement opportunities were identified that streamlined the process.
Numerous dramatic process breakthroughs were implemented that reduced processing errors, paperwork, and process delays.
An improved business development pipeline report was implemented that provided real-time access to critical information.
The loan file management process was improved by eliminating duplicate and outdated documentation, thereby accelerating loan processing.

Client Comments:
The leader of the Process Improvement Team commented during the final project status review meeting: “With the assistance of The Doug Williams Group, we now have a benchmarked commercial lending process, one that we can continuously improve upon.  We also have agreed upon service level agreements between participating departments, allowing us to provide better service to our clients. Most importantly, this process improvement exercise gave each of the process owners a much greater appreciation of others’ contributions to the process.”

Situation:
Our client is a vibrant, student-centered, public research university strongly committed to learning, research, entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity. Ranked as one of the top university’s in the United States, it awards over 3,400 graduate and professional degrees annually, through 191 programs of study in 280 majors, across 23 colleges and schools.
After conducting an Operations Assessment for one of the university’s largest units, we identified an opportunity to improve the organization and focus of the senior administrative staff that supported members of the senior executive leadership team. A detailed job analysis of each member of the administrative staff highlighted several issues such as time wasted on non-value-added tasks, ineffective communication, lack of teamwork, and poorly organized operating procedures.
Executive leadership collectively supported the need to design and implement a transition plan to optimize the administrative staff resources through centralization of selected repetitive tasks, redesign of job roles, migration to a centralized support team vs individual support assignments, and creation of standard operating practices to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of workflow.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Determined, through the application of job analysis and work-study methods, whether, through the elimination of non-value-added tasks and/or reorganization, efficiencies could be obtained within the contingent of administrative staff deployed within the unit.
Engaged administrative staff and managers in a critical review of their individual and collective processes and tasks, to ensure focused participation in the identification of improvement opportunities.
Developed and implemented improvement recommendations that substantially increased administrative staff efficiency, which created the opportunity to reduce staff and related overhead costs.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

Clarity and consistency of role definitions and support team performance expectations.
Specific criteria to justify going forward support staffing requests.
Defined methods to improve communication and collaboration.
Centralization of high volume, repetitive tasks.
Individual skills aligned to work requirements, to improve productivity and quality.
Participation and ownership by executive leadership, management, and support staff to ensure the success of the team model.
Support staff cost reduction of $390,000 per year.

Client Comments:
The leader of the Process Improvement Team commented during the final project status review meeting: “The Doug Williams Group operates like a true partner, very different from any other consulting company we have ever used. They take time to understand our culture, and they take complete ownership for achieving the results we desire. Given the success of this engagement, we have asked The Doug Williams Group to take on several new projects across the university”

Situation:
Our client is a well established, successful logistics company specializing in the global distribution of paper products. The company was experiencing explosive growth in revenue, a number of locations, and a number of employees.

The company’s infrastructure (ie. organization structure, operational processes, standard practices, human resources systems, etc.) was created by the owner’s father 25 years ago and was not built to handle the scope and size of present or future operations. The owners felt the need to “step back” and assess the health of the current operation in order to ensure that they had an organized improvement plan to take the company into the future.

Services Provided:
The Doug Williams Group conducted an Operations Assessment to gather broad input about the strengths, weaknesses, and improvement opportunities our client faced. The Operations Assessment consisted of the following elements:

Review of our client’s history, vision, mission, values, and goals.
Review of strategic and operational plans.
Analysis of 2 years of historical performance data to determine trends.
Design and administration of an online employee survey to gather input about strengths, weaknesses, improvement opportunities, and level of employee satisfaction.
In-person interviews of all managers to gather input about strengths, weaknesses, and improvement opportunities (for individual departments and the company).
Observation of process flows to determine opportunities to streamline processes to eliminate wastes.
Review of policies and standard operating practices to assess adequacy and degree of compliance.
The information gathered through these reviews, analyses, surveys, interviews, and process observation was used to develop a comprehensive assessment of the client’s health and a focused improvement plan for immediate implementation.

Impact:
The Doug Williams Group provided an objective assessment that enabled our client to focus on priority improvement actions that would enable our client to meet the demands of explosive growth.

Client Comments:
“The Doug Williams Group used a wide variety of tools to ensure that we had the input of our people as we formulated our improvement game-plan, and they completed their assessment in record time. They were the objective third party we needed; we would never have been able to develop our plan without their help.”

Situation:
The participating clients are highly respected healthcare service providers with reputations for exceptional clinical care. Recognizing an opportunity amidst impending regulatory changes in the healthcare industry and Medicare (CMS), brought about by the Affordable Care Act, regional healthcare leaders formed a working partnership with the regional component of a large national acute hospital system, another large local acute hospital, and the largest provider of post-acute healthcare in the region. The opportunity for these organizations was participation in CMS’ Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP), which was developed to reduce the number of acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia Medicare patients readmitted to their hospitals less than 30 days after discharge. Senior leadership engaged The Doug Williams Group to lead cross-functional teams at each location to complete the work required to prepare a winning grant submission.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:
Formed and led project teams to identify the necessary components for a successful application, assemble those components in the prescribed application format, and deliver on time to CMS.
Developed and administered patient surveys, physician surveys, and records reviews to determine target demographics for patients “at-risk” for readmission in less than 30 days.
Performed a literature and community demographic records review necessary for the baseline of community setting for the application.
Performed a “root cause analysis” under CMS guidelines to determine target patient demographic needs and local community deficiencies in support of Medicare patients post-discharge.
Developed the business case for the ongoing operations of a Care Transitions organization.
Assisted with the design of core processes for the new Care Transitions organization.
Authored the CCTP grant application.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

The application was accepted and ultimately approved after minor adjustments to financial projections; one of 82 nationwide and only 5 in Florida.
30 day readmissions for target diagnoses and demographic was reduced 40% in the first year, over and above the 20% CMS target for 2 years.

Client Comments:
“The Doug Williams Group was instrumental in making the program application a success. The program is working so well that other acute care providers are interested in using the services and our participating hospitals would like to use it across a wider cross-section of patients”

Situation:
The client is one of the largest public hospitals in the country. The hospital is undergoing a radical transformation to improve profitability, improve patient service, and redefine the hospital’s brand as an international healthcare destination. Senior leadership made a commitment to significantly improve their patients’ outpatient experience, and they understood that their patients’ satisfaction was a direct consequence of the performance of internal hospital processes. Leadership engaged The Doug Williams Group to lead cross-functional teams to improve critical processes with touchpoints impacting patient satisfaction, applying Lean Six Sigma methodologies.  The Doug Williams Group was given four months to deliver impressive results and exceed the client’s expectations.

Services Provided:
Guided by The Doug Williams Group, the project teams and hospital leadership set clear objectives, defined measures of success, and deployed comprehensive process analysis to identify numerous improvement opportunities. Following a proven methodology (DMAIC), every aspect of the patient experience was examined, including how the hospital scheduled appointments, registered patients, and collect payments. All-told, dozens of improvement actions were aligned with a project plan and executed, supported by focused project management provided by The Doug Williams Group.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services that were provided by The Doug Williams Group:

Improved outpatient satisfaction by eliminating wastes along the “patient pathway” such as confusing correspondence, unclear directions, difficult access to appointments, delays in registration, variation in service levels provided, etc..
Decreased the cycle time from physicians’ orders to the scheduled appointment time, accelerating collections, and reducing patient attrition due to scheduling delays.
Streamlined processes by combining steps and converting sequential to parallel processing.
Decreased the frequency of rescheduled appointments through rapid and effective evaluation of patient financial status and more emphasis on patient preparation.
Reduced charges submitted and denied by third-party payers.
Generated an incremental financial benefit of $1,300,000 per year.

Client Comments:
“The Doug Williams Group was completely different from consultants we have used in the past. They were completely engaged in the project, understood our culture, made significant contributions throughout the project, and really helped us implement the changes we needed to make. We are anxious to have them help us with several other projects. They say they are Improvement Specialists, and they are!”

Situation:
Our client, a nationally recognized, highly respected law firm with a reputation for excellent performance, deployed a team of attorneys and paralegals to focus exclusively on the increasing volume and complexity of bank-owned real estate properties. Shortly after inception, the team faced massive changes in management, organization, and process design. The closing process had multiple handoffs, delays, and bottlenecks. Quality was being measured by the customer and reported back to the team via a monthly score and improvement plan. Staff was working excessive overtime, morale was low, and management was dissatisfied with process efficiency and profitability.
After experiencing marginal success in their efforts to improve the operation, the managing partners of the firm retained The Doug Williams Group to deploy the Lean Six Sigma methodology to achieve the following objectives:
Improve the efficiency of the closing process.
Improve the productivity of the staff and eliminate staff overtime.
Eliminate the need for the customer to monitor mistakes by implementing an internal quality control system.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Assessed the current situation through staff interviews and detailed process mapping to identify process fail points.
Created a closing process data dashboard to capture relevant data for analysis, such as the number of active files, number of closed files, hours spent, error rates, revenue, etc.
Analyzed the error data to highlight leading error producers and error reasons; as well as the most efficient and effective paralegals.
Facilitated and participated in management and staff improvement working sessions to prioritize problems/opportunities and create an improvement action plan.

Impact:
Within 6 weeks of the initiation of this engagement, the combined efforts of the process improvement team and The Doug Williams Group resulted in the firm beginning to realize improved staff productivity, reduced costs, improved morale, and increased client satisfaction. The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

Closed file productivity was improved by 54%.
Hours spent per closed file was reduced by 1.6 hours per file; a 25% improvement.
The number of errors per week were reduced from 16 to 8; a 50% reduction in errors.
Customer satisfaction scores significantly improved from 87% to 95% vs. a target of 90%.
Revenue generated per hour was increased by 54%; quarterly revenue was increased by 44%.
Overtime was eliminated.
The management staff was reduced by 1 person, generating $75,000 in annual savings.
Cycle time for closing files was reduced by 6 days, increasing revenue and client satisfaction.
Turnaround time for title commitments was reduced to 24 hours.

Client Comments:
“In addition to obvious tangible results that were achieved through our Lean Six Sigma initiative, employees are actively participating and having an impact on quality and customer satisfaction. Without even considering the future incremental revenue we will enjoy due to the amazing improvement in customer satisfaction, this project had at least a 20 times return on our investment.”

Situation:
Our client, a regional firm renowned for their experience and service, determined there was a need to review the core processes of time entry, billing, and collections to identify specific improvement opportunities. The firm’s cash flow was being adversely affected by a significant increase in accounts receivable balances. It was evident that timely and correct time entries, accurate billing, and effective collection methods were needed. Therefore, the managing partners of the firm retained The Doug Williams Group to deploy a process improvement focused approach to achieve the following objectives:
Determine the number of delayed billings and AR by a partner.
Reduce the percentage of late time entries for each member of the staff.
Decrease the billing process cycle time.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Assessed the current situation through interviews of staff and development of “as is” process maps to identify process fail points.
Analyzed AR and work in process billing data to determine the root causes of late billing.
Facilitated and participated in management and staff improvement working sessions to prioritize problems/opportunities and create an improvement action plan.

Impact:
The following were noted by our client as examples of the improvements resulting from the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

Improved cash flow and reduced billing cycle time.
Improvements in the collections process increased collections and reduced write-downs.
Reduced reliance on lines of credit to fund operations.
Increased client satisfaction as a result of accurate and current invoices.

Client Comments:
“We wanted to take the time to say how pleased we are with the work that The Doug Williams did on this project; our expectations were definitely exceeded. We would recommend The Doug Williams Group to anyone in need of improved quality and operational efficiency.”

Situation:
An established provider of funerary services, assisted by The Doug Williams Group, developed an ambitious, comprehensive strategic plan to improve all aspects of operations. During the planning process, it was determined that Lean Six Sigma methods would be adopted to reduce cost and increase process efficiency. A Lean Six Sigma pilot project was selected for the Accounts Receivable and Collections Process. The pilot project team was challenged to achieve the following objectives:
Increase cash flow.
Eliminate broken and inefficient processes.
Reduce “migration” from 30 to 60 to 90 days past due.
Reduce AR cycle time.
Maintain excellent customer satisfaction scores.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of the pilot project:

Created and delivered a customized Lean Six Sigma training program to involve key staff in the performance improvement initiative.
Assembled improvement teams to review process performance in accounts receivable, collections, and maintenance functions.
Created high-level process documents to help staff understand the process dynamics of suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers, and requirements.
Created an “as-is” process map to discover fail points within the accounts receivable and collections processes.
Facilitated and participated in management and staff improvement working sessions to prioritize improvement opportunities and create an improvement action plan.
Created a “should be” process map to document the improved process.
Provided on-site implementation support for the execution of the improvement action plan.

Impact:
Within 10 weeks of the initiation of this project, the combined efforts of the process improvement team and The Doug Williams Group resulted in several breakthroughs, including the following:
Automation of the manual cash application process via an inexpensive software update, resulting in the elimination of 75 hours of wasted time for annual savings of $6,100.
Reorganization of the post-payment process to a separate cost-center, resulting in more efficient utilization of internal resources.
Automation of notes to customer accounts for more timely updates and improved customer satisfaction.
Utilization of Kaizen techniques to remove process waste by requiring the bank to send information directly to the AR department, thereby eliminating over-processing.
Movement of the quality inspection process closer to the beginning of the process, by having delinquency calls directly routed to the managers responsible for the inquiry.
Reduction of redundancies in the Delinquency Report to more clearly specify past due amounts.
Removal of vendor delays by bringing the 30/60/90 notification process in-house.
Reallocation of time devoted from 120 hours of manual process and reactive phone support to 80 hours of proactive outbound collection activity (with improved automation).

Client Comments:
“Our Lean Six Sigma program is more than just a process; it is a culture and a way of life. Much like a great tree, our organization provides our employees with protection, shelter and a means of support. We understand this and view our Lean Six Sigma program as the way we provide our employees a way to participate in keeping the tree alive.”

Situation:
The client is a nationally recognized, highly respected law firm with a reputation for an excellent performance. The managing partners of the firm had experienced marginal success in their efforts to implement Lean Six Sigma projects prior to engaging The Doug Williams Group. After the successful launch of two “pilot projects”, The Doug Williams Group was asked to implement a challenging Lean Six Sigma Improvement Initiative in the firm’s largest and most geographically diverse practice group. Client satisfaction, paralegal productivity, employee morale, and billing revenue were at all-time lows in this practice group. The Doug Williams Group was given four months to turn the situation around.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this project:

Performance Improvement Team Leadership (Lean Six Sigma)
Formed and led a Practice Group Improvement Team (PGIT) to ensure consistent application of improvement methods across eight locations.
Developed and delivered a customized Lean Six Sigma educational program for the PGIT.
Created “as-is” process maps for all critical processes, at every location.
Developed prioritized improvement opportunities at both the location and practice level.
Led several improvement implementation teams at both the location and practice level.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the return on investment in the services provided by The Doug Williams Group:

A significant number of improvement opportunities identified (over 230), positively impacting all locations.
Numerous dramatic process breakthroughs that reduced case processing cycle time by 5 days to 3 weeks, depending upon the process.
Immediate reduction in client complaints due to call-back responsiveness.
Productivity savings of 1.5 hours per paralegal, per day, per location. Incremental billable time due to this improvement was $45,000 per month.

Client Comments:
The client’s Practice Group Manager commented during the final project status review meeting: “Perhaps most significant are our intangible results. Because of the assistance provided by The Doug Williams Group, we created a forum for improvement, where best practices and synergistic breakthroughs were realized by empowered teams. Overwhelming chaos and firefighting have been replaced with dialog, brainstorming, action planning, and continuous improvement.”

Situation:
A large, decentralized healthcare staffing company deployed the support and administrative functions via a centralized shared services department. The caregiver payment disbursement process had become problematic and costly. The disbursement staff was working excessive overtime (50 hours per week), dissatisfied caregiver phone inquiries related to check disbursement timeliness was increasing (800 calls per week), staff morale was low, and dissatisfied caregivers were leaving and taking their patients with them. The Doug Williams Group was retained to deploy the Lean Six Sigma methodology to achieve the following objectives:
Improve the efficiency of the disbursement process.
Improve the productivity of the disbursement staff.
Eliminate disbursement staff overtime.
Eliminate the need for a “disbursement call center” to handle caregiver complaints.

Services Provided:
The Doug Williams Group provided the following services during the term of this engagement:

Conducted process mapping to discover fail points within and external to the disbursements process.
Established a data collection system to capture relevant data for analysis such as timesheet errors and check disbursement failures.
Facilitated and participated in management and staff improvement working sessions to develop prioritized improvement actions such as:
Increased allocation of existing staff during peak activity periods.
Modified process for check verification to reduce check disbursement cycle time.
Identification of root causes of defects external to the disbursement process such as inconsistency in caregiver education regarding timesheet quality requirements.

Impact:
Within 6 weeks of the initiation of this engagement, the client began to realize improved staff productivity, reduced costs, improved morale, and increased caregiver satisfaction. A few specific examples include the following:
Dissatisfied caregiver call volume was reduced from 800 calls per week to less than 200 calls per week.
The timesheet error rate was reduced from 11% per week to 5% per week.
The check disbursement failure rate was reduced from 60 per week to 5 per week.
Disbursement staff overtime was eliminated, an annual savings of $52,000.
The disbursement call center was eliminated, an annual savings of $150,000.
The cycle time for check disbursement was reduced by 1.5 days, increasing caregiver satisfaction. For the first time ever, caregivers are calling to thank the disbursement staff for getting them their checks on time.
The positive impact of significantly increased caregiver satisfaction is unknown and unknowable. However, if only the hard cost savings are considered, this project was a 20 times return on the client’s investment. In other words, for every dollar they invested, they got 20 dollars back.

Client Comments:
“I really don’t think there is anything that The Doug Williams Group could do to improve their services, everyone was great!” “It was a great experience to see how much the numbers improved; it was very impressive.”

Situation:
The client is a 420 acute-care bed healthcare complex located in Florida.  Despite its long history of providing excellent care and repeatedly receiving numerous national accolades, the surgical services setting at the client was characterized by a high level of surgeon dissatisfaction, operational inefficiency, and diminishing profitability. Hospital leadership had been trying for some time to correct the problems. Their efforts included spending considerable money retaining consultant after consultant. Each new consultant tried to address the problems, but none were effective. Hospital leadership realized that aggressive, hands-on leadership of improvement activities was needed across all departments involved in the delivery of surgical services and was referred to, and quickly engaged, The Doug Williams Group. The engagement’s objectives were to:

Increase surgeon satisfaction.
Reduce turnaround times.
Reduce surgeon downtime.
Reduce the day of surgery add-on rates.
Increase the percent of on-time first case starts.
Reduce case delays of all types.
Reduce material and wage costs.
Improve operating room utilization.
Improve the scheduling process.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this engagement (five months).
Process Analysis and Process Improvement Team Leadership
Analyzed the process flow of all processes indirectly or directly related to the functionality of surgical services, and when necessary, established and led fast track improvement teams to improve process efficiency in scheduling, admitting, pre-admission testing, pre-op, OR patient flow, post-op, data collection methods, block utilization management, sterile processing operations, and materials management.
Data Collection and Performance Scorecards
Completely revised the operational definitions of all performance indicators.
Created a standard operating procedure for the collection and reporting of all performance data.
Designed and implemented a system for real-time (daily) reporting for data collection compliancy, a portal to portal turnaround time, closest incision turnaround time, number of delays, percentage clean charts, and sterile processing error rate.
Completely redesigned the monthly OR Committee performance scorecard to include critical metrics.
Created and administered customized surgeon and staff satisfaction surveys.
Scheduling System
Optimized the ORSOS scheduling module by analyzing actual case time vs. forecasted case time.
Completely redesigned the process of managing block utilization from a reactive system to a proactive system.
Identified and improved the utilization of approximately twelve underutilized blocks.
Staff Productivity
Implemented a system for the ongoing positive recognition of OR staff.
Reduced “on-call” staffing cost by approximately 50% through analysis and reorganization of call coverage.
Published a “blog” recognizing staff members for their contributions to the improvement initiative.
Reassigned case cart coordinators to designated zones to improve room coverage.
Upgraded pre-op portable computers to improve the efficiency of the patient intake process.
Reduced night shift and contract staff resulting in improved overall staff productivity.
Daily Operational Controls
Implemented a “daily huddle” system to review performance and plan improvements on a disciplined and ongoing basis.
Defined room facilitator’s roles and responsibilities and added a facilitator to ensure effective coverage of all rooms.
Developed and implemented standard operating procedures for OR staff and anesthesia to facilitate room cleanup and patient movement between cases.
Provided support to OR management when it became necessary to address poor performing staff members.
Pre-Admission Testing
Shifted patient chart reviews from pre-op (the day before) to pre-admission testing (two days before).
Developed and implemented a standard operating procedure to provide pre-admission testing with a process that results in a “clean chart” by 4:00 pm prior to the day of surgery.
Reorganized pre-op to staff new processes in pre-admission testing.
Developed specific role descriptions and standard operating procedures for the new pre-admission testing processes.
Established a data collection and reporting system for pre-admission testing performance and integrated the same into the OR Committee monthly scorecard.
Anesthesia Performance
Revised the terms and performance measures for anesthesia services by creating a performance-based, shared risk professional services contract.
Sterile Processing Department (SPD)
Created and implemented a failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) system to ensure the identification and elimination of the root cause for any instrument-related delays.
Reorganized the leadership of SPD by eliminating a supervisor and moving the department’s reporting relationship to the Case Cart Coordinator in the OR.
Compiled a reference library as a resource for SPD staff.
Validated SPD success via signage in SPD and on a daily scorecard to provide deserving positive feedback to SPD staff.
Improved communication between SPD and the OR through the use of Spectra Link phones.
Established standard operating procedures for staff training.
Materials Management
Established standard operating procedures to routinely review par levels and stock-outs with the goal of eliminating stock-outs altogether.
Developed performance metrics for ongoing monitoring of materials supply performance.

Impact:
The results achieved in just a few months were broad and dramatic.
Portal to portal turnaround time was reduced by 29% to 20 minutes.  This is the first time the 20 minute targets had ever been reached.
Closure to incision time was reduced by 17% to 52 minutes, well below the national standard of 60 minutes.  This had a corresponding positive effect on surgeon downtime, which was reduced to a maximum of 45 minutes between cases.
Add-on case volume was reduced by 67% by streamlining the scheduling process and implementing a system that opened lines of communication with every physician office in the area.
Case delays were reduced by 69%.  The number of incidents resulting in a delayed case was reduced from 15 per day to 2 or less per day.
Percent first case on-time starts increased from 58% to 85%.
FTE utilization was increased, resulting in a wage cost reduction of $450,000 per year.
Reduced excessive call pay by 50% saving over $50,000 per year.
SPD operated for two consecutive months with zero critical incidents (no case delayed). This level of performance had never been achieved.
Surgeon’s overall satisfaction with surgical services increased by 20% (2.7 to 3.2 on a 4 point scale).
The surgeon’s likelihood of recommendation increased from 43% (extremely likely to recommend to a friend or colleague) to 66% (extremely likely to recommend to a friend or colleague).

Client Comments:
The satisfaction among members of the hospital’s leadership with our performance is best summed up by comments made by two surgeons during the closing surgeon satisfaction survey: A prominent surgeon and member of the Board of Trustees who said, “The Doug Williams Group has made my life here measurably better” and the Chairman of the OR Committee who said, “In the 24 years I have been operating at this hospital, I have never seen the OR run as efficiently as it is running now”.

Situation:
The client is a professional services firm primarily engaged in marketing and business development activities that has a reputation for good performance. The senior management of the firm was seeking a company that could provide comprehensive services such as surveys, educational programs, educational retreats, and professional development coaching. A competitive bid process was initiated and The Doug Williams Group was selected because of its comprehensive services, excellent service, and reputation for integrity.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this engagement (three years).

Survey Design and Delivery
Created and administered a unique survey of regional businesses to determine trends in areas such as employment, expansion, and relocation.
Created and administered an employee satisfaction survey coupled with structured follow-up to improve employee satisfaction scores.
Educational Programs and Educational Retreats
Created and administered customized professional development needs assessments to determine educational program content and priority.
Developed and delivered customized, interactive education in topics such as leadership, interpersonal interactions, teamwork, and communication.
Created unique, engaging retreat programs with an educational component directly related to timely organizational issues such as teamwork and communication.
Professional Development Coaching for Individuals & Teams
Created and administered a peer performance assessment to determine primary areas of focus for personal development plans
Provided significant input to develop personal development plans.
Developed and delivered specific coaching interventions and education to improve skills, consistent with the personal development plans.

Impact:
The following were noted by the client as examples of the contributions made by The Doug Williams Group during the three-year term of this engagement:
The business survey became a widely publicized tool to validate anecdotal information about business trends.
Annual retreats became engaging and educational, often memorialized as events that stimulated higher levels of teamwork and improvements in employee morale.
Employee satisfaction scores year to year improved by 28%. In the same timeframe, positive responses to the question: “Would you recommend this organization to friends and relatives as a good place work?” increased by 89%.

Client Comments:
The client’s Chief Executive Officer commented to a potential client: “I understand that you are considering engaging The Doug Williams Group. I recommend them without ANY reservation. They are terrific, their guidance has been invaluable, and we have seen measurable positive results. Call me if you would like some specifics.”

Situation:
The client is a family-owned international distribution company considered a leader in the industry. The management team was interested in a comprehensive skills assessment of senior managers and a personalized program of personal coaching and one-on-one education to improve leadership skills. The Doug Williams Group was referred to the client and was engaged to provide the services.

Services Provided:
The following summarizes the services that were provided during the term of this engagement (six months).
Skills Assessment
Created and administered a comprehensive leadership skills self-assessment to determine development needs from the individual’s point of view.
Created and administered a comprehensive, 360 degree, leadership skills assessment to determine primary areas of focus for personal development plans.
Administered a behavioral self-assessment to highlight natural behavioral tendencies.
Professional Development Coaching for Individuals & Teams
Provided a summary of feedback from self and 360-degree assessments to assist in prioritizing elements of the personal development plans.
Developed and delivered specific coaching interventions and educational programs to improve skills, consistent with the personal development plans.

Impact:
The client noted immediate performance improvement due to the contributions of The Doug Williams Group such as reduced interpersonal conflict, improved organization, and improved communication.

Client Comments:
One participant noted “I would never have been able to do this by myself. Thank you for your follow-up and personal commitment to my development.”