Process templates
Central to Kiwi are process templates; these identify the processes and associated activities commonly undertaken within your organisation, and any interdependencies between the activities.
Against each activity, you document the process requirements, making it clear to staff what is required at each stage, including the documents required and whether the activity requires management review for completion. Proforma documents are defined as part of the process templates providing for a consistent approach to document production.
Once defined, the process templates will become a key component of your quality system manual.
A starter library of templates is provided with Kiwi which are easily extended using Kiwi to suit your organisation.
With the flexibility of process template design, you do not need spend long at the outset defining your processes but can continue to develop them alongside using the system as part of your quality review processes.
Projects
Projects are created from process templates; you would create a project in response to, for example, a request for a quotation or to cover hiring of a new member of staff.
When a project is created, an appropriate series of tasks is generated along with planned start and finish dates. At this time individual staff members would be allocated against each task and the relevant manager identified if a review is required.
Planning features provide for subsequent review of requirements and re-scheduling of projects.
Kiwi Workstream supports two core data models.
The client oriented model is used where you have a continuing relationship with your clients and would often undertake more than one project for a client, possibly concurrently. For example, in an audit / accountancy practice the project may represent an annual audit.
The project oriented model replaces the client element with contacts and is used where projects are 'one-offs' such as construction or manufacturing projects.
Tasks
Tasks are created, as above, reflecting the activities defined within process templates or may be created on an ad hoc basis.
Tasks identify what is required, who is to do it, when it is to be done and whether management reviews are required.
As work progresses on a task, the responsible staff member records progress and registers documents. If a review is required, the task must be reviewed by the appropriate person before the task can be completed.
All actions and any associated documents are recorded against the task and are available for quality audits.
Tasks may be easily moved from one person to another if a reallocation of workload is required.
Management reviews
Where a task has been marked as requiring review the person responsible for the task passes it for review to the appropriate person, clearly identifying the key documents. The task cannot be completed without satisfactory completion of the review process. The review process is automatically recorded on the system providing for subsequent audit.
Work to lists
At all times every member of staff and management has a clear and concise view of their outstanding tasks both those tasks that they are directly responsible for fulfilling and those tasks that they are managing or reviewing.
Project and task status
Clear and concise summaries of project and task status are available, using simple green, amber and red indicators to aid prioritising.
Tracking and alerting
As tasks are passed between staff the receiving individual is alerted of the new responsibility. At all times any specific task will always be within a single individual's area of responsibility, preventing tasks and associated documents from "falling through the cracks".
Alerts are provided to identify situations requiring action, such as a management review being required, or to remind of an earlier flagged task requiring action.
Document registry
The document registry supports any document type, be they working documents, such as Microsoft Word™ or Excel™ documents, or emails and scanned documents originating from received mail. When documents within the registry are updated earlier versions of the document are preserved and marked as superseded to ensure continued integrity.
Documents are filed against specific tasks, or as general documents within a client or project file, working on the old adage of "a place for everything and everything in its place".
Proforma documents
When defining process templates, the document requirements can include the introduction of proforma documents, such as standard format letters, quotations, check lists etc.
These are available to staff as they progress specific tasks, ensuring that the latest and correct version of standard documents are used.
emails
External documents sent by emails are automatically received and registered without any manual intervention
Scanning
Received paper mail or other paper documents may be scanned and registered with the document registry alongside internal documents and received emails.
Staff functions
Full account is taken of the need for effective staff functions, such as deputising for absences, staff leaving or transferring responsibilities.
Privacy
Access to particular client records or projects can be restricted to different groups of users; for example, HR records generally would be restricted to management and staff responsible for HR. A number of different groups may be defined to restrict access in different ways.
Server based
The Kiwi workstream system is built using the latest advanced technologies, providing for
- local installation on your own network server
- hosting on one of our internet servers
Installation is quick and easy, generally handled by your own IT staff or we can visit to do this.
Wherever hosted, the system can be seamlessly accessed from anywhere using secure internet access.
ISO 9001:2008
Kiwi Workstream can play a pivotal role in attaining ISO 9001:2008 accreditation and in helping you maintain conformance to the standards.
We also believe Kiwi Workstream can be used to significantly drive down the cost of accreditation and conformance.
Our process templates map directly on to your business processes as envisaged in the standard, with linked activities and associated documentation requirements. The quality review process can be established as one of your standard operating processes within Kiwi to evidence and document your process reviews.
The Kiwi process templates can be used across all of your business operations, including management of HR processes for example.