JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The 514th Air Mobility Wing held a Process Improvement Event (PIE) here June 24 through 27 to improve the productivity and efficiency of the wing’s Commander Support Staff (CSS).
The CSS consists of a small group of personnelists, both Airmen and civilians, that provide a variety of administrative support to the wing’s members. The staff is currently manned at the group level.
The event brought together subject matter experts from across the wing to work on methodology to streamline the administrative processes of the CSS.
“We’re trying to provide better administrative support, personnel support to our Airmen,” said Col. Cynthia Wong, 514th Mission Support Group commander. “So we are looking for ways to improve the process and to better train the people who are providing that support.”
During the event members used metrics to categorize the duties of a CSS in the order of the time it takes to accomplish them. They then broke the duties down into their individual processes to figure out the best way to streamline the workflow.
Some of the reform that came out of the event was to improve the CSS training, standardize forms and processes throughout the wing, and to consolidate CSS members into a one-stop shop.
“One of the things I like about a consolidated CSS, is that there is no single point of failure,” said Col. Thomas Pemberton, 514th AMW commander. “Right now you have one person in the squadron doing the orders. If they’re busy doing one of the other 15 or so duties they’re responsible for, or they’re out of the office that day, those orders get delayed.”
Another benefit the PIE team said comes with a consolidated CSS is the ability to increase the group’s collective capabilities.
“If you have four Airmen cutting orders next to each other. One can turn to the other and say ‘hey I’m not sure how to do this’ or ‘how is this done’ and together they will become more proficient,” Wong said.
As the CSS reform begins to roll-out, the team plans to keep wing members informed of changes in procedures through a variety of means to make sure those who are affected are aware. They will also measure the program’s effectiveness customer feedback and other measures to verify that this is a step in the right direction.
“We have to look at different ways of doing things,” Pemberton said. “If we try and fail, at least we tried something and we can learn from it and move on. If it works then we’re are improving our processes and I think we’re heading that way.”
“We are going to be doing things a little differently in the near future,” Wong said. “So there’s going to be new policies and ways of business that will be a little different than how it is now. New and improved changes are coming soon.”