In this post we’ll discuss targets and their relationship with measures. A target is a desired level of performance. Its importance cannot be disputed, particularly when coupled with an actual performance level, or baseline. The difference between the actual and target is known as the gap. Therefore, the legitimacy of the gap depends on the… Read more »
The Fallacy of Measuring Performance by Using Averages It may not make sense at first, but customers can be very dissatisfied even when your performance is exceeding their critical requirements. You’ve done your homework, conducted focus groups, analyzed customer feedback and even analyzed research data. You’ve concluded that customers will be very satisfied if served… Read more »
Developing effective, feasible and permanent solutions is the key to process improvement. Problems are identified, root causes are verified, countermeasures are developed and implemented, and permanent solutions are created. Methods used to create countermeasures can dictate whether they will become solutions, or not. Let’s start by understanding the difference between a countermeasure and a solution,… Read more »
Why Are Charts Useful for Visualizing Data? Last year, one of my Yellow Belt students asked why he should use a Pareto chart to identify an item of significance when he could slice and dice the data with a spreadsheet and reach the same conclusion. I responded something like “And how would you easily… Read more »
What is a Root Cause, and How is it Identified? This has probably never happened to you, but what if you created a solution that cost your organization a lot of money, and it didn’t have much effect? Or shaken your head when somebody proposed an expensive project that you felt wasn’t a big priority?… Read more »
Henry Ford once said, “Most people would rather work around problems than try to solve them”. Perhaps that’s why we often find ourselves addressing the same complaints, obstacles, and challenges hoping to never deal with them again. Well, hoping isn’t enough. Today, we must constantly improve and innovate to not only succeed, but to survive.… Read more »
Have you ever wondered why so many organizations have improvement approaches like Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, or PDCA underway, but never seem to make significant changes in operating performance and outcomes for customers? Or why they are always reacting to problems? Most of the time it’s because they’re trying to improve a process or system… Read more »
How can project teams better ensure they get the support needed for process improvement initiatives? By support, we’re talking about resources-funding, people, and time. When the performance indicator and its gap aren’t enough, consider including the Cost of Poor Quality. The Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) represents costs and lost opportunities that would disappear if… Read more »
A new ets client’s Chief Training Officer stated that their previous provider’s program for Lean Six Sigma training received very high satisfaction scores, but after almost four years, the Senior Leadership team questioned the value for the time and money spent to train a large percentage of the organization. This is a common and valid… Read more »
Part 2 of 2: Improve and Control DMAIC and Throughput Efficiency In Part 1, we shared common shortfalls in achieving Throughput Efficiency by Green and Black Belt project teams in the Define, Measure and Analyze steps of the DMAIC methodology. Here, we conclude our discussion with the Improve and Control steps. Improve: Selecting effective and… Read more »