Process Improvement - The Agile Approach
Process Improvement is the proactive initiative of identifying, analyzing, improving and monitoring existing business processes within a company for optimization and to meet new standards of defined performance metrics and quality. Improving business processes involves the systematic approach of problem solving that follows a specific methodology by closing performance gaps through cycle time reduction, and elimination of root causes of below specifications quality, process variation, and non-value added activities. Some examples of these methodologies are Lean, Kaizen, RDM, Benchmarking, and DMAIC. Primarily, these methodologies focus on identifying the problem, assessing current state, root cause remediation and implementing improvement.
Why Process Improvement?
Process Improvement is an ongoing practice of continuous improvement. When implemented successfully, the results can be measured by monitoring and tracking performance metrics and KPIs related to product quality, customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score, customer loyalty, increased productivity, employee skill development, improvements in financial metrics including SG&A and Net Revenue resulting in higher and faster return on investment (ROI). Organization considering process improvement as an option and not an ongoing activity of continuous improvement will experience deterioration in quality of their products and services, wastage of time, money and resources and inability to run businesses effectively and efficiently.
The DMAIC methodology
The DMAIC methodology is one of the most well-defined, highly disciplined and rigorous way of improving and optimizing business processes. It has 5 Phased approach to problem solving and process improvement. It starts with defining the problem and goal, assessing the current state, identifying the root causes, identifying improvements and controlling and monitoring the metrics of the process post improvements. The beauty of DMAIC is that it can be applied to all industries and not just manufacturing. This methodology is being exceedingly used by Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Insurance and several other industries to improve and optimize their business processes.
A traditional DMAIC project takes 3-6 months or longer to complete. Although DMAIC methodology is phenomenal approach to improving business processes, its long drawn process, lengthy project duration, resource requirement, waterfall approach makes it challenging to be used in current agile environment of organizations. In today’s competitive world, businesses want results faster and quick win with less turnaround time that could be implemented immediately. This leads to businesses shying away from the use of DMAIC methodology due its rigor, discipline and lengthy approach.
The Agile Way
To continue using DMAIC successfully while enjoying the benefits of this disciplined phased approach of problem solving, we could do the following:
1. Well defined Project Charter – A Project Charter is the living document of any project. It represents the problem, goal, scope, CTQs, performance metrics, project team, and financial benefits of a project. If this charter is not well-defined then it leads to scope creep and often times, we are trying to solve too many problems in one DMAIC. It is indispensable for the success of any project to have well-defined charter.
2. Daily Stand-up meetings – Daily Stand-up meetings aren't just for software teams anymore. These meetings help and let team members share progress and surface any blocking issues. Considering, there are many employees who work remotely; these meetings could be conducted as in-person or virtually. The goal is to touch base every day for 10-15 min and ensure the project is running smoothly. This will also ensure increased engagement of project sponsor.
3. Data Collection during Define phase – Data collection is one of the most important tasks of any DMAIC projects. Without relevant data, it is next to impossible to successfully deliver the project and achieve the goal. During a project, we typically collect data in the Measure phase to assess the current state of our process. Then we again collect data during Analyze phase to perform hypothesis testing and validate our root causes. To move our projects faster, it is ideal to collect data during the Pre-Define or define phase as a parallel activity. By collecting data in advance, we can perform preliminary analysis and a pre-assessment of current state. By performing this activity in parallel, we can significantly reduce the project timeline.
4. Using fewer project tools - One of the best things about DMAIC methodology is the vast variety of project tools that are available to use in each phase. While this is great but it also increases the project timeline, confuses project team as they are not well aware of the tools, and at times using too many tools is not required. If we can reduce the number of tools we use and use only appropriate tools as required depending on the nature of the project, it will still deliver same project benefits but in shorter time frame.
5. Project deliverable sent in advance – Typically in DMAIC projects, there are working sessions that include SMEs and representatives from cross-functional teams. Due to the nature and magnitude of a project, the project team could be very large. This makes it challenging to have all team members in a session due to calendar conflicts and other priorities. This delays the completion of project deliverable and increases the duration of the project. In this scenario, it is ideal to send the project documents in advance to the team members with explanation of what is expected and the deadline to submit the deliverable. This will ensure participation from all members and quicker turnaround time.
6. Tollgate approval through emails – A Tollgate Review will help the Hands on Champion of the project to determine if the goals in the DMAIC stages have been completed and whether we can move on to the next stage. An approval is needed from the HOC to move to the next stage. At the end of each phase, there is a tollgate review and often times due to unavailability of HOC and their busy schedules, the approval process gets delayed. In this scenario, it is ideal to email the tollgate deck to the HOC and get an approval through email with follow-up questions.
7. Implementing Quick Wins – DMAIC projects have a specified goal for instance reduce the number of unanswered calls from X to Y. We collect required data, assess current state, identify root causes and then find solutions based on prioritized root causes. By the time we implement solutions, it takes anywhere between 3-6 months, and another couple of months to see any real improvements as a result of implemented solutions. It is ideal to identify some Quick Wins during the project and implement them as this will showcase the power of DMAIC and project could reap benefits of improvements implemented during the project duration.
DMAIC is a great approach that has proven its applicability by improving business processes, making them efficient and effective, impacting the bottom line leading to increased financial benefits. I like to call it a legendary method which might lose its importance if not matched with new business needs. The answer is using DMAIC – The Agile Way.