Uncovering opportunities in a complex complaints process
How do we prioritize our improvement efforts in a complex process?
The Challenge
Immigrating to a new country is a complicated process, and often requires the help of a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC). Should the competency of the RCIC come into question, ICCRC works to resolve any complaints. Quick and effective resolution is the goal, but the existing complaints process can be complex and sometimes lengthy.
Our Response
In order to kick start the evolution of the complaints process, Made Manifest designed and facilitated a five day remote design sprint. This sprint brought together department managers to create a detailed current state view of the process, identify and prioritize opportunities and scope a clear set of next steps.
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The Opportunity
ICCRC is the regulatory body for Immigration Consultants in Canada, and is tasked with providing a complaints process that resolves issues for their stakeholders. The complaints process is high stakes, complex, and sometimes lengthy—not always the best experience for complainants. ICCRC recognized the opportunity to reduce time to resolution of complaints, more effectively triage complaints, and ultimately increase public protection and confidence.
The ICCRC team had been working—across the organization—to shift their mindset and processes towards an outcome-focused approach. The Council was also undergoing some changes, with greater leeway to evolve and set precedents. The timing of this work therefore created a unique opportunity substantially to redefine the process.
Our Approach
Made Manifest worked with the Director of Professional Conduct in order to shape a five day remote design sprint, in order to jump start improvements to the complaints process. Since the team was working remotely, we adapted the traditional Google Ventures Sprint model to consider the challenges of a remote environment.
The Professional Conduct Department managers came together for a five day facilitated design sprint, which resulted in the definition of two projects for immediate implementation. The value of working in this manner included:
- Creating a dedicated, focused structure for shared critical thinking and exploration, as well as problem and solution definition.
- Meaningful involvement and inclusion of all senior managers, creating high levels of alignment and buy in for next steps, as well as team building.
- Distributed responsibility for next steps among the team, including inputs to the departmental logic model and a detailed view of the current processes across teams and silos.
Project Outcomes
The ultimate outcome of the sprint was a set of two focused projects that were undertaken in the 0-3 month timeframe following the sprint. These projects directly contribute to the desired departmental outcomes from the organization's strategy:
1. Improved effectiveness and efficiency of ICCRC processes.
2. Expanded and improved prioritization and risk-based case processing.
