Benchmarking is a proven tool used to drive strategic and operational improvement, and identify and validate internal and external best practices. This two-day course introduces the latest benchmarking approaches and the skills, tools, and techniques necessary to conduct benchmarking initiatives Introduction » Welcome » An APQC overview including background in benchmarking and benchmarking leaders » Course objectives: – Define benchmarking as it relates to your organization – Prioritize the key business processes your organization needs to benchmark – Plan a benchmarking project that includes process documentation and key performance indicators – Understand how secondary research supports your selection of best-practice organizations – Develop a data-collection plan that will allow maximum learning from select best-practice organizations – Learn effective site-visit techniques Benchmarking: What Is It? » Explain what benchmarking is, what it can help accomplish, and ways it can be applied » Learn about the benchmarking model Planning the Study » Overview » Assembling a benchmarking team – Team selection criteria and structure – Roles and responsibilities » Understanding and documenting the process – Process flow – Relationship map – Cross-functional process map » Measuring your process performance – Four types of measures – Developing a family of measures » Scoping the study – Determining improvement opportunities – Other tools and techniques » Developing a project plan » Developing a data collection plan » Case study activity Collecting Information » Overview » Strategy for data collection » Secondary research overview – Sources of data and steps – Secondary research logic – Assessing partners’ information – Partner profile – Contacting and screening » Data collection instruments – Screening survey – Detailed questionnaire – Site visit objectives » Helpful hints for your site visit » Case study activit