Six Thinking Hats in Business Process Management

On January 24, 2002 Simona Adelina Popovici, Associate Director of Organizational Development and Employee Communications at CONNEX, made a research-based presentation at Dr. Edward de Bono's First International Thinking Skills Conference.

The summary below provides information on the exciting benefits CONNEX realized after implementing the Six Thinking Hats within their organization.

WHO IS CONNEX?

• A trademark of MobiFon S.A., the company that launched Romania's first GSM network  
• A full communication solutions provider in post-paid voice services and pre-paid services, data and fax services, Internet Service Provider (ISP)  
• The first mobile telecommunications company to win a GSM license in Romania  
• The Market Leader in Mobile Communications in Romania  
• The only GSM operator in Romania to offer Internet services  
• Their network covers 80% of the country and 95% of its population, while its customers can use the roaming service in 89 countries, through 200 operators  

• Won the Best Management Award from The Economist three years in a row

Six Thinking Hats was applied to all Business Process Reengineering project phases.  Here are some of the project's results:

HOW WE SERVICE OUR CUSTOMERS

Average speed of answer reduced from 225 seconds to 40 seconds
Average calls per customer per month reduced from 3 to 1.2

ACTIVATION PROCESS

Point of Sales Process introduced - reduced activation time from 8 hours to less than 15 minutes

RETENTION PROCESS

Voluntary churn reduced by over 50%

BAD DEBT PROCESS

Reduced bad debt from 4% to 2.18%

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

• Leadership endorsement, sponsorship and support  
• Well-trained employee base  
• Successful application of "best business practices" and engagement of the "best minds" in deployment  
• Synergetic approach between People, Business Processes, and Systems  
• Strong culture - CONNEX WAY: Innovation, Empowerment, Result Oriented

WAS SIX THINKING HATS USEFUL FOR THE BPR PROJECT?

This was the first real opportunity we had to practice and use the Six Thinking Hats training. And it worked!

• This is a good sign that we can make efforts to concentrate on a specific matter and stick to that matter 
• The only way to get results  
• Channeled our discussions in the same direction  
• We found a lot of solutions in a very short period of time  
• Helped us concentrate and focus  
• Created a common direction for all people involved  
• Brought discipline to the group