Define objectives

The first step your team should take when standing up or improving your state’s claim status tool is defining your objectives. What are the issues your state is facing that you hope to address? What outcomes do you hope to achieve?

Defining your goals will enable you to focus on the efforts and changes that will be the most impactful. Clear goals will also help align stakeholders on what is and is not in the project's scope.

The following are common goals related to claim status work:

• Improving contact center metrics: wait times, quality, and volume
• Improving claimant satisfaction and general perception of program complexity
• Increasing operational efficiency by reducing turnaround times
• Reducing the number of times a claimant needs to contact customer service to receive a resolution
• Increasing unemployment insurance recipiency rates
• Reducing jargon
• Using consistent language in all claimant-related communications, including online platforms and call centers
• Providing front-line staff with sufficient resources and the ability to address most common claimant concerns over the phone

Ideally, goals should be data driven. If you are already tracking metrics around the objectives you hope to achieve, then you are in a good position to set goals for improving those metrics. If not, you’ll want to start collecting baseline measurements to evaluate the success of the project. For more details, review 'Establish metrics'.