Consulting case
Region Värmland: Project application in 2c8 Apps for Regional Development
The Regional Development strategy was produced on behalf of the Government and pointed out areas of priority. Project funds, which can come from regional or national sources as well as the EU, are an essential tool for financing regional development. The Department of Regional Development was assisted by Elin and 2c8 Apps to optimize the process and working methods for applying for projects.
Get to the Bottom of the Issues – Completely Process-oriented
The goal of the project was to find an efficient and common way of working with project applications. Elin began by analyzing the background, the needs, and previous attempts at improvement. Based on process theory, she quickly ascertained why previous improvement attempts had not worked.
“They had started from a desired situation, i.e., how they wanted to work. However, they had not mapped the current state of the process, and the existing issues were therefore not identified and solved. This meant that they tried to work in a new way but ran into the same issues as before,” says Elin.
At this stage, they began mapping the current state of the process. By using established methods of Process Development, the process was then analyzed based on questions such as:
- How do we work today?
- What is working well and what is not working well?
- Where are we missing responsible people in the process?
- Where do we encounter bottlenecks?
Here, Elin and the employees from Regional Development were able to identify several different issues in the process, which was followed by a root cause analysis. The next step in the work was to determine the solutions to the problems and map the desired state of the process based on these solutions.
”We had in-depth discussions about problems and solutions to understand them. It is essential to recognize the issues you have in order to work towards improvement,” continues Elin.
Improvement on a Broad Front
The result was a new, improved process that the department was convinced would not only contribute to more efficient working methods but also to a better workplace. To justify the changed working methods, they selected some problems and estimated their cost. The calculations, together with the new process, were presented to the management and then applied in the business.
The savings that emerged as a result of the improvements made in the process were not the only significant ones in the work. Together, they developed a common way of working that contributed to increased understanding of each other’s work, which in turn created a more pleasant working environment.
“It is important to highlight the so-called soft values that process-oriented business development actually entails,” Elin concludes.
Do you want to know more? Contact me:
Elin Wikstrand
Konsult