Tag Archives: Innovation

15 Excuses For Not Changing And 5 Reasons To Change The Way We Make Change

Posted on by
1

96005727Going Along With How It’s Been Done Is Not The Best Way To Go Through Business

I have a client that is so entrenched in its way of doing things that a significant part of my job has been to manage change. Change is hard for everyone and how and when to change has been debated and discussed in companies since the first company was formed.  What is never debated are some of the excuses used for not changing. People are resistant to change and despite the need to move forward people generally prefer to live with what they have. Fast Company put out a list of Reasons Why We Cannot Change and these are my favorite 15:

  1. We’ve never done it before
  2. We’ve been doing it this way for 25 years
  3. It won’t work in our company
  4. Why change — it’s working OK
  5. It needs further investigation
  6. It’s too much trouble to change
  7. Our company is different
  8. We don’t have the money
  9. We don’t have the personnel
  10. You can’t teach old dog new tricks
  11. It’s too radical a change
  12. I don’t like it
  13. You’re right, but….
  14. We’re not ready for it
  15. We’re doing all right as it is

“Men Plan, God Laughs”

This list was originally complied in 1959!!! by E.F. Borish a product manager for a Milwaukee company.  Amazingly these excuses are as true today as they were over 50 year ago. So we plan to make change and address the list of excuses to help achieve a positive result. Regardless, in addressing these excuses it is important to accept that change is difficult and also understand that great strategic plans may still not yield desired results. Management must acknowledge during any change process that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” (a quote attributed to management guru Peter Drucker).

5 Changes To The Way We Change

To help address the culture and achieve success, Harvard Business Review’s Bill Taylor suggests changing the way to approach change in his article The More Things Change, the More Our Objections to Change Stay the Same.

Mr. Taylor continues asks –  “so what have we learned in the twenty years since Fast Company was created, or the 54 years since E.F. Borisch compiled his list?”  He suggests 5 possible principles to consider to change the way we make change:

  1. Originality – For leaders to see their organization and its problems as if they’ve never seen them before, and, with new eyes, they need to develop a distinctive point of view on how to solve them
  2. Break from the past without disavowing it – The most effective leaders…don’t turn their back on the past. They reinterpret what’s come before to develop a line of sight into what comes next.
  3. Encourage a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo – persuade colleagues that business as usual is the ultimate risk, not a safe harbor from the storms of disruption
  4. Requires a sense of “humbition” (humility and ambition) among leaders – enough ambition to address big problems, enough humility to know you don’t have the answers. When it comes to change, nobody alone is as smart as everybody together.
  5. Be consistent in the approach – If, as a leader, you want to make deep-seated change, then your priorities and practices have to stay consistent in good times and bad times.

Change does not have to be a bad thing but managing the change process must be addressed. Strateigic plans must have an approach to dealing with change to achieve a measured success.

How Do You Address Cultural Issues During the Change Processs?

Claims Challenge: It’s Time for a Change – Are You In?

Posted on by
Reply

Person and lightbulb symbolThere are enough of us out there so let’s come up with some new ideas!

I have been in the claims industry in one way or another for the past 23 years. When I started as an insurance defense attorney only the secretary’s had computers and I was fighting with colleagues to hand over the case law book I needed to finish my research. Business applications were limited as were computer networks. Mobile phones were expensive and lap-tops were slow and bulky.

That was the world’s reality not long ago but since then technology has helped to innovate the fabric of our lives and transform our businesses. We have almost limitless information in the palm of our hand that 20 years ago would have required a library to access.

I for one revel every few years at how much we actually now take for granted was not even around ten years ago (both Facebook and LinkedIn are only 10 years old). Despite the innovation to the world around us, the claims industry has transformed very little in decades. There has been improvement in technology that helped to speed up claims processing and provided ways to prevent fraud and streamline the process. There has been more data to assess to help provide insight on what has come and what may come. And there has been more speicalization and focus on training and development. However with all of these changes, there has been little change to the core way claims are evaluated and paid. Claims have a process that they must go through that goes from intake – to investigation – to evaluation – to resolution – with a variety of detailed steps in between. This has been the case since the first claim was ever filed.

Claims as an assembly line

The claims process has evolved over time in a similar manner that manufacturing innovated at the turn of 20th Century. Claims have become like an assembly line. Claims follow a specific path and  specialization for aspects of the process has helped to streamline the flow and increase productivity for claims resolution (i.e. property damage adjsuters seperate from bodily injury adjusters). This has been a good thing for the industry and has enabled claimants to receive fair compensation where appropriate much faster than in decades past.

Look at many of the natural disasters of today versus those of only a few decades ago. While there are always the obligatory problems and issues, if one looks that claims processed for Sandy one would find “it took an average of almost nine days to get inspectors to a site after first receiving a claim, almost four days after that inspection to provide an estimate and almost six days from that estimate to issue payments.” (NY Companies Report In as Sandy Insurance Claim Numbers Climb, Online Auto Insurance News, 1/7/13) That is an impressive effort that could only happen with the factory like efficiency that now exists.

Certainly there is a place for factory like productivity and nothing is likely to change too dramatically for claims in  the future.  At the end of the day, that workflow of the claims value chain will endure. Regardless, what takes place within that workflow can and should certainly be innovated.

The challenge

So here is my challenge.  We belong to a community of claims professionals which extends across this World Wide Web touching thousands of current and past experts in the field. Through avenues such as The Claims Spot, LinkedIn Groups and other resources we can connect and discuss what works and ways to change and innovate. So let’s bring the power of this community to bear on various problems that may face the industry to debate new ideas to improve what we are already getting better at.

Let me start: The collaborative claim file

Here is an idea I would like to see discussed and debated:

We now have the ability to gather and digitize tremendous amounts of information rapidly and efficiently making it available instantly anywhere you happen to be. Every claim brings with it new challenges yet it is rare that the facts and circumstance of a claim have not been seen in the past. Currently it is usually the responsibility of one individual to follow the claim assembly line and determine an outcome.

With the ability to share information what if it was the responsibility of a team of people to review and assess claims as information is coming in? What if multiple claims professionals could collectively work on a matter to bring shared knowledge and experience to a claim file to help ensure a proper investigation is undertaken and a consensus is reached as to an appropriate valuation and outcome? It would be like creating mini virtual claims committees on every file. Everyone could bring their experience and assist in moving the case to a quick and fair resolution. This would be a truly innovative way of looking at the claims value chain.

What do you think? How would this collective community of claims professionals adress truly innovate the industry?

3 Things Good Claims Professionals Won’t Do

Posted on by
Reply

Lider of team.Follow what good claims professionals don’t do and you will lead the pack!

Recently I read an article about things doctors won’t do when it comes to treatment and procedures for themselves. It included things like not having their first child at home, getting a PSA screening test, or taking sleeping pills. Since it is highly unlikely they will sue themselves for malpractice, these are treatments they believe might be adding little value or could cause harm. While managing a claim file is certainly not like managing your health, it got me thinking (which is never a good thing) about what a good claims professional won’t do.

I have audited a lot of claim files over the years and consistently good claims professionals manage their claim files following best practices. And when looking at these well managed files there are certain patterns that develop.  I found that there are three things that good claims professionals won’t do and they are:

Fail to document:  The best claim files are concisely and appropriately documented regularly. When reading a file the claim should speak for itself and tell a story as to what the issues are, potential pitfalls, and an understanding of the plan to resolve the claims. Good documentation is concise, free from extraneous commentary and reflects an understanding of the issues. Recording the events surrounding the claim is part of a well managed file and a good claims professional would never fail to document their file.

Assume this file is the same as the last one: Claim file management requires an understanding of the liability to the company and exposure to the insured, value of the loss and a plan to resolve the matter. Good claims professionals won’t skip any of the key steps needed to evaluate their files. If there is one thing that is consistent across all claim files it is that every file is different with different facts and nuances. One cannot assume that because one case had a certain outcome or facts a similar case will follow the same pattern.  No matter what the issues are the best claims professionals never assume things they don’t know and never assume the file was like the last one.

Stick with the basics: There are no short cuts to getting to the bottom line. Claims professionals are always growing and learning and tyring to improve their craft. Sticking with basics won’t help when a new claim throws in a curve ball. One has to work outside the box looking for new ways to understand a claim or resolve a difficult matter. Trying to go beyond the basics is one reason handling claims can be so interesting. Previously we posted about thinking outside the box about innovative ways claims can be managed.  This post generated over 40 comments in the Linked-In Claims Management Group.  The reason for all the comments is that good claims professionals don’t just stick with what they know and wanted others to learn from what they had done (and maybe one up one another with a better war story).

Good claims practice is about common sense. Like any business it is important to grow and learn and adopt to changing environments. Good claims professionals are always looking for new ways to make sure that they are providing prompt service to assist their clients to secure fair compensation where appropriate.  Seek out the good ones and learn from them!

What are other things that good claims professionals don’t do?

4 Areas Of Concern From The Latest Insurance Executive Conference

Posted on by
Reply

Gaze into your crystal ball and predict the issues of the past year to be addressed in the coming one!

It’s that time of year. The top 10 lists, the reflections, the can I possibly attend another holiday party and survive through to New Years? Well I will not give you a top ten list but I will list out 4 key issues that seemed to highlight the sentiments of the speakers at the 23rd annual Executive Conference recently held in New York.

The title of the conference was “Driving Growth in the Life and Property-Casualty Insurance Markets.” The annual event brought together several key executives in both the Life, Health and Property & Casualty Insurance arena. This year the audience heard from the likes of Starr Insurance, Endurance Specialty, Aspen Insurance, Lincoln Financial, ING, and Zurich Global Life among others.

Nothing too shocking with these 4 issues to address

While the topics of discussion varied from panel to panel, a set of themes emerged from the various discussions. When looking back over the last year, and forward into the future, it seems that there were consistently 4 areas that these business leaders seemed to be concerned about. Each issue impacted each company differently, however, the the themes permeated throughout the program.

  1. Technology and the use of data.  A somewhat mixed statement about technology seemed to emanate from the various speakers. On the one hand it was acknowledged that the industry lags behind in adopting and using technology. Many companies still are working off antiquated systems that could use an overhaul. On the other hand it was noted thatthe industry is filled with valuable data that needs to be analyzed and used to improve outcomes. Companies that can use their data more effectively will have a critical differentiator in the future. Predictive analytics and modeling will be the key to increasing underwriting profit needed in these times of continued low interest rates.
  2. Climate change and catastrophes. With the conference so close to the events and location of Sandy, the talk of underwriting and managing CAT losses was on the mind of many. There is a clear belief that climate change has affected weather patterns and will continue to create larger storms for the foreseeable future. The importance of getting the appropriate rate for risks, being better prepared from a continuity perspective, and looking to opportunities to underwrite new risk and innovative risks were just some of the topics discussed. Some of the issues around CAT management also related to governmental intervention that effectively re-wrtie contracts making it more challenging to underwrite.
  3. Increased regulations. Solvency II, the fiscal cliff, the impacts of Dodd-Frank legislation, Systemic Risk (systemically important financial institution (SIFI) designation), the Federal Insurance Office’s (FIO), unclaimed property,  tax compliance with SSAP 101 and FATCA are just some of the many potential compliance issues that could increase costs and expose companies to additional fines for non-compliance. While the general feeling was increased regulation was not going to change the industry for the better, the need to deal with changing regulations was going to have a real impact.
  4. Social media as in customer relations as well distribution. Social media is here to stay and many have begun to address how to use this medium in both dealing with customer complaints or improving customer relations. There was a clear acknowledgement that social media can be the genesis of grass roots negative campaigns unless managed correctly.  A few panel members spoke of how they have created new ways to communicate with customers and create more positive images around their products and services.

Looking ahead to 2013

I think the themes expressed by the insurance leadership at the conference need to be dealt with in the foreseeable future. Addressing technology and using data analytics will be the key to building productive, profitable and efficient organizations.  That is all well and good, but the industry must also work to improve its image.  For some reason the message gets lost that during castrophe’s the industry rapidly pays out billions of dollars in a relatively short period of time without any complaints. Adopting social media and engaging customers will help.

The future seems bright to me and I am looking forward to another year.

What do you think are the key industry issues from 2012 and what needs to be focused on for 2013?

 

Claims Predictive Modeling: Using The Numbers To Improve Operations And A Change Worth Exploring

Posted on by
1

A recent article in Claims Magazine discusses the “Human Capital Impact of Using Predictive Models.”  The article, written by the presented by consultants in the Actuarial, Risk & Analytics practice of Deloitte Consulting, discuss what it means to the claims professionals and suggests methods for implementing a Claims Predictive Model.

What Is Claims Predictive Modeling?

Claims Predictive Modeling (CPM) is one of the big buzz words in the industry. After a few decades of improving claims technology systems and creating vast databases of claims information, CPM is an attempt to use that information more effectively. It is an attempt, as the article infers, to provide better information to the claims handler to let them use their skills to make better decisions, apply resources more effectively and really allow claims departments to do more with less.

As the article notes:

“Leveraged effectively at first notice of injury or loss (FNOI/L) and throughout the lifetime of the claim, advanced analytics can have an impact on various aspects of the claims lifecycle: claims assignment, special investigative unit (SIU) referral, medical case management, litigation, subrogation, escalation and, ultimately, claims settlement and outcome.

No who wouldn’t want to have a positive impact on claims settlements and outcomes?

Change Can Be Good

Claims professionals are a rightfully proud group. We have always taken on the role of analyst and investigator and understand that there are nuisances in claims that a computer can’t possibly see. We live in the world that handling claims is a science and an art that requires a combination of elements and not just data on a spreadsheet. CPM and other tools are inherently perceived as a threat to the professional as another way to diminish our skilled judgment.  We point to years of decreasing staff and being asked to do more with less as evidence of the erosion of our profession. Unfortunately, as the industry continues to struggle attracting new qualified staff, there may be some truth to these perceptions that the profession is under attack.

Regardless, we are an industry that needs to embrace and welcome new technology.  CPM is not a means to further refine the profession to the point of not needing a true skilled professional.  The tool is designed to highlight claims with greater risks and focus the claims handler’s attention to where it is best served. While the statistics vary slightly from company to company it is fairly well understood that 10-20% of claims volume make up 70-80% of a typical companies claim dollars.  Ensuring that those claims are most effectively handled quickly is one of the best ways to manage loss and expense costs. And these same data analytics will also help to manage the high volume of matters that make up the remaining matters.

The authors point to several key elements to consider when implementing a CPM program as a way to improve the process with the claims professionals:

  1. Communication
  2. Making CPM Champions
  3. Buy-in from early doubters
  4. Closed claim reviews and comparative models

These issues are excellent suggestions no matter what type of change is being implemented. The bottom line is people need to be engaged when change is being implemented. When people perceive their jobs are being threatened they get defensive so it is important to help make the transition easier by being open. Regardless, times are changing and we as claims professionals need to adopt.

How Do You Think New Modeling Metrics Will Change Claims?

What Would Steve Jobs Do In A Claims Organization?

Posted on by
Reply

Innovation can be learned from the master

Thank you Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak of the Oak & Associates Consulting firm for the idea for this article. They wrote a wonderful piece for Insurance Journal called, What Steve Jobs Would Do In Insurance, where they so aptly lay out how Mr. Jobs would change the insurance world. They pick out several ways a Steve Jobs run insurance agency would be different and innovative.

Like many, I am a huge fan of Apple products and have been for a long time. Clearly there has been a revolution in the computer industry as a result of innovation led by Steve Jobs. One thing that is most interesting about Apple is how they not only changed computing, with the iPod and iPad, but also changed the way people listen to music, access the internet and buy and use software applications. The iPod and iPad were perfect examples of thinking outside the box. (And I like thinking outside the box – Improve bottom-line outcomes on claims by thinking outside-the-box!)

As they wrote:

Steve Jobs’ primary focus was to create great products. All else was secondary. The product of an insurance agency is the service it provides to clients. The direction Steve Jobs would take would be to provide a seamless, integrated experience for the client. People have too many things to worry about and not enough time to be able to focus on their insurance needs and problem. They want to be taken care of.

Schoeffler and Oak suggest that a Steve Jobs run agency would:

  • Seamlessly integrate the customer experience
  • Capture data about client needs easily to analyze and allow products to be tailored to individual customer
  • Innovative at it’s core providing products clients didn’t even know they needed
  • Create teams would work collaboratively at all levels
  • Hire only the best talent passionate about providing services

Steve Jobs in Claims 

So what would Steve Jobs say about our claims industry? Well, having heard about his reputation I think I will leave what he would say out of this post. Regardless, I think Mr. Jobs would see an industry with tremendous opportunities to innovate and improve the way they deliver and manage claims services.

Following the lead of Shoerffler and Oak, I would agree that Jobs would likely create a seamless way to integrate external claims information with internal business related data.  Underwriting and policy information would easily flow into claims systems and be available to the customer and claims professional easily. Claims filed through a variety of input sources would simply display information needed for all those touching the claims. The claims department, management teams, outside providers, underwriters, and of course the claimants, would have easy to understand graphical representations of relevant information. Apps would help direct those particular parties to help move the claim to resolution and seamlessly provide analytics to the company in real time.  And of course there would be beautifully designed hardware to deliver this integration in the sharpest possible way.

Claims teams would work collaboratively with other parts of the organization to deliver better claims products to customers and real time relevant data to assist in underwriting. Good companies understand the relationship claims has to the health of the organization way before a claim even comes into the office. Steve Jobs would ensure underwriters would understand the claims process and how policies sold end up yielding claims. He would make sure that claims people understand how the claims organization’s activities affect the financial health of the company on pricing and expense ratios.

Steve Jobs was a brilliant marketer. He seemed to know how and when a product was going to change the world reshaping whole industries (when was the last time you actually psychically bought a CD?). Claims departments could benefit from a little marketing as well. Whether to internal or external customers, claims departments can certainly do a better job of getting their “brand” out to their market place.

The reality is that a Steve Jobs led Apple and its success can be obtained in claims departments.  It takes a little more focus and the ability to step outside “what’s always been done” to innovate the future.

Tell us how else do you think Steve Jobs could have changed the claims world?

Commentary: Claims Departments Are Facing A Crisis And Have To Learn To Encourage Innovation

Posted on by
5

So Much Work And No Help In Sight

I hear it time and time again from colleagues all over the industry. With cutbacks many are being asked to do more with less.

This trend began several years ago as more technology was implemented into insurance companies. Gone were the support staff; why were they needed when the claims professional could do it all on their own lap-top. Gone were supporting groups like subrogation departments and litigation management assistance; why were they needed when new systems could manage it all.

More efficiency meant more time to do more work. Certainly this will translate to better results…I mean it’s supposed to right?  But has it really?

I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore

The claims industry is at a crossroads and needs to change. I know you have heard this one before, but when speaking with people in the business I was reminded me of the famous scene from the movie Network where the anchorman screams out “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more”.  Check out the clip below to be reminded.

In a recent discussion that I posted on LinkedIn, I asked the question, How do you keep the claims department from become stale? (see prior posting Is your claims department becoming a bus company?). For some reason after seven months of posting I received a flurry of comments on how the industry is facing a crisis of staffing and turnover. Quoting one post on LinkedIn from John M. Beringer:

“A sad fact is the majority of adjusters rarely last for five years. That is not due to a lack of skill or commitment; it has to do with how their pending is counted, the layered management reporting; unrealistic expectations of claims management and management by edict rather than training and critical reasoning.”

While there were many wonderful responses to my question, the general feeling was that case loads have crept too high and there is a lack of emphasis on training and development. We as claims people have a knack for complaining about caseloads, however, this one is truly one that needs to be addressed. With more technology came more expectations for claims professionals to take on more administrative tasks. Departments contracted, and claim counts rose. In my opinion this resulted in an increase in indemnity and expenses (I wish I had the data to support this, but can only i have seen it the file reviews i have conducted over the past year).

In order to excel in this marketplace, claims departments will need to innovate and attract, and maintain, new talent. Unfortunately, we are not an industry that accepts change easily, and for the most part innovation, is slow and not encouraged.

Change Requires Innovation To Be Encouraged

I have quoted Serth Godin before and will continue to do so especially with pearls of wisdom like this:

“That’s not the way we do things around here

Please don’t underestimate how powerful this sentence is. When you say this to a colleague, a new hire, a student or a freelancer, you’ve established a powerful norm, one that they will be hesitant to challenge. This might be exactly what you were hoping for, but if your goal is to encourage innovation, you blew it.”

In my consulting practice (Lanzko Consulting) I am often confronted with clients that say something like “That’s not the way we do thing around here” or, more likely, “that’s how we have always done it.” Change in claims cannot happen unless the organization looks at, and breaks, the old habit of accepting the status quo. Challenging the norm has to become the new norm. Industry executives have known for years about the declining talent pool and that need for changes, yet they have taken few steps to modernize the technology, as well as the process.

Technology is a great tool, but it will never substitute the skills of a talented claims professional. Technology must be implemented into the process to assist, not hinder, claims professionals.  We need to move back to a time when claims professionals can be claims professionals.  We need to make the job as interesting as it can be, and not purely about automation. Without this, the profession will struggle to attract talented people to its ranks and will certainly cost companies far more in the future.

Let 2011 be the year to take the industry forward.  How do you think we can innovate the claims industry?

Promote Creative Thinking To Get The Most Out Of Your Claims Staff

Posted on by
2

So how do you train the next leaders in claims? How about challenging their creativity!

If you do not know about TED, I strongly recommend you take a look. To quote them directly:

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

I recently watched the clip below from the TED archives and was so fascinated by the concepts I just had to relate them to claims.  Good workers are sometimes all that claims departments look for and, given the nature of claims these days, it is not a bad thing. There is so much to do and so little time to do it and good workers, however you define them, are great to have. But how often are creative thinkers found and rewarded?

I am a big proponent of new ways of looking at claims and trying to get people to think out of the box (see Change Hats With Someone And Free Your Mind To Make Your Claims Operation Better and Is your claims department becoming a bus company?). With increases in technology, more claims specialization and the constant pressures on staffing, the ability to freely think, analyze and resolve claims creatively is being challenged.

Sir Ken Robinson is considered a “Creativity Expert” and led the British government’s 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. He has most recently published a book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, which is a deep look at human creativity and education.

Good workers but not creative thinkers

Take a look at the video below with Sir Ken. He is truly and a dynamic speaker and the will engage you quickly.  In this clip, Sir Ken asks why don’t we get the best out of people? He argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Do you recognize that employee in your organization?

Two suggestions to help promote creativity

So how do you promote creativity? How do you get the claims staff to try new ideas? It is difficult to encourage creativity when claims have to be regimented and everything is being monitored and standardized. Regardless, there are ways to attack the creative mind to open up new ways to manage claims.

  1. Challenge staff to be more creative when looking at problems. When facing a difficult situation try and put together an old fashioned brain-storming session to allow free flowing ideas no matter how crazy. The idea here is to promote creativity and come up with new ways to solve problems.
  2. Another way to try and teach creativity is to tell war stories. Have a war story lunch and see who has resolved a claim in the most creative way. I am sure you will be surprised at how creative people are and retelling those stories will help stir the imaginations of others.

How do you think creativity plays a role in claims? What have you done to encourage free thinking?

“What’s The Point” Claims Process And How To Avoid Them

Posted on by
Reply

Being able to truly focus on what’s important is a path to success

Claims organizations are notorious for multiple process and procedures. Many of these procedures are truly necessary and are required to maintain controls, prevent fraud or comply with a multitude of regulations facing the insurance industry. Nonetheless, doing something for the sake of doing it is no way to be an efficient organization.

I have referred to Seth Godin’s Bolg in the past for its plain statements about business management and wonderful insight. His most recent post speaks so well about the need for projects and process to “have a point.” As Seth wrote:

“An idea turns into a meeting and then it turns into a project. People get brought along, there’s free donuts, there’s a whiteboard and even a conference call.

It feels like you’re doing the work, but at some point, hopefully, someone asks, “what’s the point of this?”

Is it worth doing?

Compared to everything else we could be investing (don’t say ‘spending’) our time on, is this the scariest, most likely to pay off, most important or the best long-term endeavor?

Or are we just doing it because no one had the guts along the way to say STOP.

Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?”

How to say STOP

Take a look at any of your new projects and take some time to see if there is truly “a point” to what is being done. Is that new system enhancement really going to achieve what you need it to? Will adding that new report or requirement assist the claim handler or management to make better decisions? If not, then just say no.

Look at the first three habits of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I have rearranged to fit this purpose, as a way to manage what needs to be done:

  • Begin with the end in mind – develop a goal
  • Put first things first – do only those things that are going to meet that goal
  • Be proactive – get to it and actively work to meet that goal

So don’t just do things for the sake of doing things. Ask “what’s the point” and have the guts to on the brakes.

You Can’t Wait Till The Last Minute To Improve You Operation – Planning Starts Now!

Posted on by
Reply

Don’t let the lily pads take over the pond.  The time to deal with the problem is now.

I had the pleasure of recently attending an executive summit presented by ACS A Xerox Company in Hartford Connecticut. The conference theme was centered on insurance issues and looking forward to 2015.  It was a great meeting with executives from a variety of insurance companies and industries.

Looking to the future is a difficult task, especially when day-to-day issues make it hard to stop and be strategic. Unfortunately, trying to plan for the future takes time, and thinking it can be put off will only create larger problems.

Before you know it that little issue will grow into a big one – the lily pad problem

James Hatherly, one of the guest speakers at the conference, gave a great analogy about putting off minor issues. James is the author of Daring to Be Different, A Manager’s Ascent To Leadership and he discussed the importance of having to think about problems sooner rather than later with the following story:

One morning a farmer observed that a lily pad had sprung up on his pond. The following day there were two lily pads, and on the third day there were four. Since they did not seem to be doing any harm he took no action. However, the number of lily pads continued to double every day until the pond was completely covered on the thirtieth day.

James questioned the audience as to how long did it take for the pond to be covered 50%? Or even 25%? The answer was that the pond was 50% covered on the 29th day and 25% covered on the 28th day.

His point? Managers and executives can’t wait until the 29th day to solve problems.

With time slipping away, what should claims departments be thinking about in the next 5 years? That question, of course,  will be answered differently from company to company. Regardless, there have been certain trends that exist today, being addressed by other industries, which should be looked at in today’s modern claims department.

Two suggestions for beating the lily pads to the pond

There is nothing too forward thinking about the concepts I address here. There are plenty of cases in the insurance industry where solutions have been adopted successfully. Nonetheless, if you have not addressed either of these because you felt it was not appropriate for your organization it may be time to reconsider and see how they may apply in the future.

  • Social Media – I know it’s the buzzword in business wherever you go. You are probably aware of the powers of social media or you would likely not be reading this blog. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and a variety of other services are being incorporated into businesses more and more each day. How will the insurance industry, and more specifically claims, adopt these outlets? Will you use Twitter to tweet claims alerts to customers? Are you creating a Facebook fan page to learn more about, and solve customer problems?  How about an internal social network to share claims information amongst departments and partner organizations. How can these applications make your claims department more efficient?
  • Mobile Technology – Everyone has a phone that can handle such an array of tasks that it’s amazing we ever functioned without them. Better bandwidth, and more coverage, allows access to an amazing amount of information from the palm of your hand. What is your company doing to adopt this technology? Are your claims adjusters able to assess claims on the road and instantly pass the information into systems for analysis? Are customers able to file a claim from their phone attaching photographs and other information like GPS locations?  Will new devices, such as an iPad be used in the future claims organization? How will your organization respond to these devices? Lead or follow?

Like most industries, adopting and changing with the times can be a difficult proposition. It takes time to think of issues, come up with solutions and implement the changes. Insurance companies have added legal, compliance and regulatory concerns, to say nothing of complex, and sometimes outdated, information technology systems.  Regardless, it’s not too late to address issues to create a social media or mobile strategy.

Think back five years and ask yourself how many lily pads would be on the pond had you stopped to deal with the first one on day one. The trends we see in technology, and in how people work around the world, are changing rapidly. To stay ahead of the curve, and take advantage of solutions that can help your organization, start thinking out-of-the-box now. Take a lesson from an article I wrote a few posts ago about changing hats outside your industry and see how others are adopting their operations to the changing times.

Now is the time to consider change. Before the pond gets too filled with lily pads attack the problem and look for solutions. Five years from now – you won’t be wondering what could have been.

What kind of lily pad can you see on the pond that can be dealt with today?