Question

What are the major phases in the process improvement methodology?

Answer 1

Major phases of process improvement are listed below-

1) Brainstorm Session-

Identify a process to evaluate

Collaborative team input

Voting

Brainstorming is a technique used to spontaneously tap creativity to generate ideas. The goal is to produce as many ideas as possible, capturing ideas as they emerge. Once idea generation is exhausted, the pros and cons of each idea are considered, and solid candidates for process improvement are selected.

2) Create a charter-

Announce and authorize the work to be undertaken by the team

Develop boundaries of the process evaluation

A Charter is a statement of the scope, process boundaries, objectives and resources that are authorized for the project. A Charter is a tool used to announce and authorize the work to be undertaken by the team.

Components of a Charter-

Identifies Sponsor - Supports process evaluation initiative and empowers the team to make changes

Identifies and describes the process to be evaluated / improved

Identifies the customers of the process and team members

Lists the resources authorized for the project team and identifies the decision-making authority of the team and role

3) Develop Current State Process Map-

Identify all the steps, decision points and major assumptions about the process and the way things are currently done.

Current State is the terminology used to describe a series of workflows developed to depict business processes as they currently function. During Phase 3 a map is created to reflect all the steps of the process, who is responsible for each step, and the time it takes to complete each task.

There are several ground rules that are typically enforced during the development of the current state process map. These include-

Keep an open mind to change and maintain a positive attitude

Leave rank at the door; one person = one voice, regardless of position

Everyone on the team participates

Stay focused

Don't leave in silent disagreement

Practice mutual respect - do not interrupt; there are no dumb questions or ideas

Offer honesty

No blame - this is a blameless environment

4) Create Data Sheets / Evaluation-

Measure cycle time

Measure work time

Identify resources performing tasks

After the Current State process map has been created, the next phase is the completion of Data Sheets, followed by an evaluation of the 'value-added' versus the 'non-value added' for each task. A separate data sheet should be completed for each step/decision on the process map.

Data Sheets record specific details about each step in the process. Each data sheet typically includes all or some of the following, depending upon whether or not the information can be identified-

Process Step

Min, Max, Typical Work Time: Actual time to complete a Task

Min, Max, Typical Cycle Time: Amount of elapsed time from the end of the previous process step to the end of the current step

Number of staff required to complete the step

Backlog: Amount of items waiting at this step

Time to Clear: If backlog amount of item it would take to clear backlog

Estimate Value of Step to the process: High / Medium / Low

5) Design Future State Process-

Create a map depicting how the process will work after improvements to the process are implemented, which focuses on-

Improved process for the customer

Elimination of waste

Motivated employees

Reduced cycle time

This phase is where you define what you would like to improve and a plan to achieve it. After creating the current state map and evaluating the data sheets, the design of the future state process is achieved by creating a future state map. A future state map represents the ultimate goal of the improvement process and provides an objective to work towards.

6) Develop implementation plan-

Complete milestone tasks to transition

Establish delivery timeframes

Assign ownership to accomplish tasks

Develop Communication Plan

Once the future state design is complete, a plan for implementation needs to be developed to ensure that the improvements are executed and the benefits realized. It is also important that, once a process has been improved, an initial baseline performance level be established. This is vital for continual measurement to determine how well the improved process is meeting expectations.

The implementation plan identifies everything that needs to happen in order to implement the future state. It includes final delivery timeframes, milestones, and key tasks necessary to ensure success. The resources needed to complete the items of the plan are identified, and accountability is established. The start, duration, and end dates of each item are clearly stated.

Hence these are the major phases in the process improvement methodology.