Simplifying Procedures with AI Training Course: Fewer Steps, Clear Ownership, Sound Control

Programme Summary

Simplifying procedures with AI is the subject of this one-week training course for directors and heads of function at managerial level, ending in a simplified procedure pack for one live process. Many organisations carry approval steps and duplicate checks that nobody dares remove. The programme moves from process mapping to diagnosis of waste, then to redesign with AI support and control design, and finally to a pack that a leadership team can adopt. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on simplifying procedures with AI to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Banks, ministries, hospitals and manufacturers accumulate procedures faster than they retire them. Language tools can read long documents, compare versions and propose shorter steps, yet they can also drop a control that mattered or restate a rule wrongly. Leaders who test every proposed change against the process record can shorten work without weakening accountability.

• Cycle Time: Falls as unnecessary steps, queues and handoffs are removed.
• Rework Rate: Falls as unclear instructions and repeated checks are rewritten.
• Control Reliability: Holds as each removed step is traced to the risk it covered.

Principles and Evidence Base

• ISO 9001 Process Approach: Treats work as linked processes with owners and documented information, applied in Sessions 1 and 3 to ownership and procedure design.
• Lean Waste Categories: Names waiting, rework, over-processing and handoffs as waste, applied in Session 2 to diagnosis.
• BPMN Process Notation: Gives a shared way to draw a process, applied in Sessions 1 and 3 to current and future maps.
• ISO 31000 Risk Management Guidelines: Frames the treatment of risk, applied in Session 4 to the controls kept or replaced.

Intended Participants

• Directors who own end-to-end processes and the procedures that govern them.
• Heads of function who approve changes to operating instructions.
• Process improvement leads who sponsor redesign work across units.
• Quality and internal control managers who assess whether controls still work.

Typical settings include government services, banking, healthcare and manufacturing.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to evaluate which procedure tasks suit machine support and which need human judgement.
2. Participants will be able to construct a process map in BPMN notation for a live process.
3. Participants will be able to diagnose waiting, rework and duplicated checks from process records.
4. Participants will be able to design a shorter workflow with clear ownership of each step.
5. Participants will be able to prioritise which controls to keep, merge or replace.
6. Participants will be able to justify a simplified procedure pack to a leadership team.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Simplifying Procedures with AI and the Process Map

Which procedure tasks can tools support, and which need a person?

• Process Inventory and Owner Register
• BPMN Current-State Map
• AI Task Suitability Grid
• Human Judgement Boundary Sheet
• Procedure Document Audit

Day 2: Diagnosing Waste in Steps and Approvals

Where do the records show time and effort lost?

• Lean Waste Scan
• Approval Chain Count
• Handoff and Queue Analysis
• Duplicate Check Finder
• Process Mining Reading of Event Logs

Day 3: Designing the Simpler Workflow

How are steps removed or merged without losing meaning?

• Future-State BPMN Map
• Step Removal Test
• Role and Ownership Matrix
• Procedure Rewrite Template
• Draft Comparison Review Sheet

Day 4: Controls, Risk and Tool Oversight

Which controls must stay, and how are tool outputs checked?

• Control to Risk Trace Table
• ISO 31000 Risk Treatment Review
• Review Gate Design
• Error and Omission Sample Check
• Document Version Control Rule

Day 5: Simplified Procedure Pack for One Live Process

Do the earlier tools combine into a pack that leaders can adopt?

• Applying the Session 1 BPMN Current-State Map
• Testing the Session 2 Approval Chain Count
• Checking the Session 3 Role and Ownership Matrix
• Rehearsing the Session 4 Control to Risk Trace Table
• Completing the Simplified Procedure Pack

Methodology

The programme uses a structured exercise built on prepared files for two processes, one from a public service and one from a financial institution, each with a procedure manual, a process record and an approval log. Participants work in small groups, test each change against the record, and defend their redesign to peers acting as a leadership team.

• Suggested activity: Cutting a nine-step approval to its necessary steps and naming each risk covered.
• Suggested activity: Comparing a tool-drafted procedure with the original and listing what was lost.
• Suggested activity: Setting the review gate that decides which changes a person must approve.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a simplified procedure pack for one live process. It holds a current-state and future-state map, a waste reading, a rewritten procedure, an ownership matrix and a control trace. The pack is used at work to brief a leadership team, agree changes with process owners and set the review rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a course on simplifying procedures with AI suitable for leaders without a technical background?

Yes. Simplifying procedures with AI is taught through prepared files and templates. It assumes experience in running a function or a process, but no coding or data science.

Which standards does simplifying procedures with AI rest on?

Simplifying procedures with AI rests on the ISO 9001 process approach, BPMN notation, Lean waste categories and ISO 31000 for treating the risks of changed controls.

How is the pack from simplifying procedures with AI used at work?

You use the simplified procedure pack to brief your leadership team, agree changes with process owners and set the rule for which updates a person must approve.

How does simplifying procedures with AI differ from a general process improvement course?

Simplifying procedures with AI concentrates on shortening written procedures and approvals while tracing every control, while a general process improvement course covers a wider set of quality methods.