Tackling a Process Improvement Initiative

By Lynne Hambleton, MBA, MEd, PMP, CSSBB Co-founder, Magee Management Advisors LLC

Business process improvement initiatives focus on either optimization or innovation. More often, an enterprise embarks on tweaking an in-place process for productivity gains by squeezing costs or generating more revenues. On occasion, an enterprise will venture into the unknown, for the promise of greater returns, by investing in a clean sheet approach – scrap the old and embrace the new.

Either way, process improvement requires a vision and the organization's willingness to execute that objective.  Bridging the gap between vision and execution represents a critical juncture between a successful versus wasted investment.  That gap closure requires robust change management that encompasses the entire "system" - the people, process and supporting infrastructure of technology, tools, policies and procedures.

Regardless of size, scale or scope, the approach to ensuring success builds on the same fundamentals. The core principles hold constant regardless if the process operates within a single department or spans the entire enterprise (including even its external partners or customers). The foundational elements include: 

• Clarification of Purpose
• Analysis of the Process' System
• Comprehension of the Environment
• Development of a Robust Plan

Embarking on such an initiative, when done correctly, involves multiple dimensions.  It incorporates change management - change that promotes "stickiness," rather than a mere "flavor-of-the-month." An outside perspective, from either an external or internal resource, is another important dimension. It can add a check-and-balance to a process improvement initiative, particularly when this resource is unfamiliar with the process.  This external perspective should encompass a 360-degree view, examining each stage of the initiative:  vision setting, analysis, planning, execution and maintenance (or on-going operations). An outside perspective should ask the question "Why?" and confirm what works and does not work with impartiality.  Albeit important, any external assistance should be temporary; otherwise, the change management plan will have failed to instill ubiquitous improvements throughout the process.

Clarification of Purpose
Start an improvement initiative by articulating the process' value contribution.  It sets a vision for both the project and ongoing operations. A succinct statement should identify the target customer, the objective, the resulting outcome (e.g. deliverables or results) and critical success factors that drive its value.  The statement serves as the foundation that unites its stakeholders and informs the supporting infrastructure and environment as to what may be required to achieve this value.

Metrics enhance one's understanding of the critical parameters with unambiguous descriptors. Metrics clarify the "big picture" expectations of success. To minimize misinterpretation at the work performer level, metrics also can scale when decomposing a process into its component parts.  Well-designed metrics are traceable from the high-level down to the in-process detail work and corresponding inputs and outputs.  Metrics at the role-level identify what is meaningful, measureable and actionable to that contributor. Lean Six Sigma refers to these metrics as critical-to-quality (CTQ).  The use of metrics establishes the evaluation standard for work and resulting deliverables. In aggregate, metrics must work in-concert across the process. Employing synergistic metrics explains how the work coordinates to yield the required quality for each process player role, its inputs and its deliverables.  Fully developed metrics integrate across the process and eliminate independent silos. This clarification improves success during the initial launch of the improvement, as well as throughout ongoing operations to sustain the value.

Analysis of the Process' System
Start to understand performance by analyzing the process, its inputs and outputs.  In addition, examine the people and supporting infrastructure to fully comprehend how a process operates.  The people area entails the various kinds of stakeholders. The process players involved directly in the process, known as work performers, represent one segment. Those tangential to the process make up the remaining segments, which include suppliers, customers, regulators and management.  Analyzing the stakeholders' interdependencies is critical. The following evaluation questions uncover those relationships.

• Do those working in the process understand how their role and their contributions impact the process' overall value? 
• Do they understand what is intended? 
• Do the process players' understanding match the customer expectations (both final end customers and in-process customers)?

The second area encompasses the infrastructure necessary to support the people and the process. The term infrastructure intentionally represents an expansive set of support components. Infrastructure can comprise of pertinent best practices, polices, procedures, organizational structures, tools, templates, techniques and technology.  These components each can play a significant role in optimizing performance. In aggregate, however, they bolster and sustain the process and its stakeholders to ensure that they perform at an optimal level - regardless if the process is new or improved.

These three areas - people, process and infrastructure - frame the component parts of the overall system.   These three must be aligned, well understood and well communicated for a process to operate efficiently and effectively. 

Comprehension of the Environment
The environment, as a broad category, depicts the context within which a process operates.  It encompasses both the internal and external and the physical and non-physical factors.  The environment could literally refer to the elements - temperature, humidity, altitude, etc. The environment may also address traditional marketing considerations, such as the marketplace, customers, competition, suppliers and partners, each of which influence the process. It may also cover political, cultural, economic, social and geographic dimensions to describe the surrounding circumstances.  Consideration of the multitude of environmental factors applicable to a process provides insight into the robustness of its operation - whether it can withstand the test of time, as environmental factors change.

Environmental considerations encourage standard operating procedures to comprehend appropriate flexibility and adaptability that enable anticipation of and/or response to a change event.  The environment drives much of the thinking within the work needed for risk management and change management.  Both the risk and change management areas play an important role in the designing and development phases of a process improvement initiative.  They also serve as critical components in the transition phase to ongoing operations, which the process owner will actively manage.

Development of a Robust Plan
Build a dynamic plan to ensure completeness. A robust plan serves as a guide to not only the execution of the improvement, but also the ongoing operation of the improved process. Hence, a process improvement plan requires a comprehensive, end-to-end strategy that grows in specificity over time, throughout the life of the project.  The plan should reinforce the pursuit of well-understood requirements, validation of the critical parameters, and fact-based data and analysis.  Seldom can this objective be accomplished in one meeting.  The plan also declares the appropriate approach to follow - the method, tools, templates and best practices, including how to address any conflicts and change. 

The project scenario (the process, the initiate objective, the system and the environment) dictates the appropriate selection of method, tools and best practices.  For example, a key consideration involves whether the objective is to optimize or innovate, as they require unique methods. Moreover, the method must extend beyond the basic five-step approach of "Map Current Process -> Define Ideal Process -> Analyze Gap -> Redesign -> Implement."  A successful initiative comprehends the context of the entire system and includes the people and supporting infrastructure that require project and change management.  A diverse set of approaches exists to aid a team.  Various process improvement approaches include Conflict Resolution, Lean Six Sigma, Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) and TRIZ, not to mention the proprietary methods developed by consulting firms. 

The change management approach is equally important. A process improvement initiative represents a change to some or all of the process stakeholders.  The change approach addresses how to create forward momentum throughout the project lifecycle, into the ongoing process operations and across the various stakeholders.  A goal is to gain buy-in for the prescribed change and make the outcome more robust.  Being mindful of warning signs or symptoms of unrest requires input from both a bottom-up/grassroots and top-down view.  A successful change management plan extends beyond a communication campaign and beyond the design and implementation phase.

Evaluating the Need for External Support
Strive for an unbiased examination of the entire system.  The goal is to obtain a fresh perspective and avoid biases or thinking ruts. This objective is aided by an external view, which may come from an internal or external resource, as long as they are uninvolved in the process.

Hiring a consultant instead of utilizing internal resources involves more than just budgetary considerations. Employing external services typically fulfills a knowledge gap and/or a bandwidth constraint.  If knowledge and experience are needed to guide the initiative, a partner may provide consultative services and/or educational services. Consultative services range from less involved models of mentoring, coaching, role modeling and facilitating to directly managing and delivering any portion of the project. 

The ultimate value-add of a partner is to share expertise so as to maximize the project's investment.  A successful engagement gives an objective evaluation of an initiative's design, execution and sustainability.  An external partner ideally serves three important roles.  One role is as a check-and-balance to uncover any bias tendencies, ensuring comprehension of multiple perspectives and dimensions. Another role is as a "safe" confidant with whom stakeholders may discuss concerns and options. A third role is as subject matter expert who ensures a robust design and execution. These three roles establish the starting point in building the selection criteria of an external consulting partner.

The person and/or organization should possess not only technical competence, but also flexibility and openness.  The external partner's breadth and depth of background and experience often reflect their adaptability and creativity. A willingness to adapt experience, knowledge and skills to suit your environment and circumstances is crucial. More than likely, the consultative services involve facilitating or mentoring the initiative through design and implementation. To that end, the external partner must guide in the appropriate selection of the project's methodology, tools and best practices.  They may advise on the ranking of project priorities to better strive toward success. One of their most significant contributions should be the unique lens to view the entire "system" objectively, its environment, the risks, the change management challenges and solution options. Much of this work requires a co-design approach rather than "telling" or "listening and parroting".

Regardless of the improvement methodology employed, the project management discipline serves as a foundational element to the deployment and success of any approach. Project management excellence focuses on sponsor requirements, risk management, communication management, and adherence to commitments of quality, providing deliverables on time and within budget.  Moreover, an experienced project manager understands the critical role of a change agent and continually monitors stakeholder buy-in as a part of the change management plan. Oftentimes, an experienced outside perspective contains an unbiased and fresh insight. A fresh pair of eyes can more easily see and question the appropriateness of the status quo policies and procedures in current and future times. Plus, the partner can offer a safe haven for stakeholders to share sensitive input.

Some initiatives require educational services to build the knowledge and skills of its people. The process improvement initiative may require the improvement team to receive one set of content, while the process players may require a different set during and after implementation.  There are several education models to achieve this objective; however, a blended approach often improves effectiveness and longevity.  The various venues include the traditional face-to-face workshop, independent reading/video-watching, computer-based training (independent or group), role modeling and mentoring/coaching.  Partners that offer both consultative and educational services, especially those with the flexibility for content customization, offer a noteworthy value to its clients.  The most effective educational model incorporates situational application through current work and/or discovery learning and business-scenario simulations.

A company such as International Institute for Learning, Inc. (IIL) [http://www.iil.com] offers an array of educational venues across a rich set of process improvement-related topics ranging from project and program management to business requirements analysis to Lean Six Sigma.  It delivers a flexible blend of delivery modes, offering both traditional classroom training as well as innovative technology-based formats to meet client needs.  IIL also offers professional services spanning content customization, skills assessment and business consulting.  IIL's global presence of experienced and certified consultants enables it to meet local language requirements, while coordinating across international offices.

Putting Into Practice
One example of a successful process improvement initiative encompassed a multi-pronged approach to improve sales force effectiveness. Working with an international pharmaceutical company, the optimization initiative utilized the classic Lean Six Sigma, change management best practices and project management.  The improvement team relied on a phased-in approach of face-to-face workshops, then role modeling and ultimately mentoring to ensure appropriate transfer of competency. The work focused on clarifying the objective, determining the critical parameters and corresponding metrics, analyzing the system, testing alternatives, and ultimately recommending a comprehensive solution.  Post-implementation, the process players (including field operations) participated in an audience-appropriate array of ongoing group and individual education programs and community of practice events sponsored by a newly established internal program office to sustain the improvements. Once staffed and trained, the role of mentor and educator was transitioned to the internal program office.

In another successful case study, a global medical devices firm tackled its offering innovation and commercialization process using a less elaborate approach. The objective was to improve utilization of voice of the customer and marketplace data throughout this process. This initiative required implementation of a new process design, because key required functions (people, supporting activities, infrastructure and tools) were absent in the current process.  Hence, the initiative called for an integrated set of Design For Six Sigma end-to-end marketing methods, supported by multi-tiered stakeholder mentoring, as well as workshops and readings.

Lynne Hambleton, co-founder of Magee Management Advisors, LLC [http://www.MageeManagement.com], specializes in strategic process improvement planning, execution and change management for organizations. Hambleton guides businesses through transformations and new offering commercialization, drawing upon a variety of approaches and competencies. Publications include Treasure Chest of Six Sigma Growth Methods, Tools & Best Practice, and Six Sigma in Marketing Processes - An Overview for Executives, Leaders and Marketing Managers; both with Prentice-Hall.

Hambleton also partners with the International Institute for Learning, Inc. (IIL) [http://www.iil.com] as a senior consultant. IIL is a global leader in professional training and comprehensive consulting services in the areas of Project, Program, and Portfolio Management, PRINCE2^TM, Business Analysis, Microsoft® Office Project and Project Server, and Lean Six Sigma.