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A Whitepaper from Juran

The Source for Breakthrough

Performance Improvement

The No. 1 ReasonWhy PerformanceImprovementPrograms Fail

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JuranOur expertise has been developed over more than six decades of real-world experience, and our methods are

universal and have been applied in nearly every industry and culture around the world. We are trusted advisers,enabling global leaders to achieve measurable, breakthrough results. We provide best-in-class services

designed to improve our clients’ organizational performance and business results. Improvement is our business,and we are fully committed to our clients and believe that our clients’ success is our success.

2 The No. 1 Reason Why Performance Improvement Programs Fail

We hear it all too often: “Ourcompany invested a lot of time andmoney implementing a performanceimprovement program. We adopted amethodology, trained all ourmanagers, identified opportunities forimprovement, selected projects, andassembled project teams. But withinmonths, most of the teams fizzled out,and the ones that actually completedtheir projects were never able tosustain the improvements.”

Sadly, performance improvementprograms fail more often than anyonewould like, and they fail for a variety ofreasons. But before we give you ourNo. 1 reason why performanceimprovement programs fail – as wellas a number of secondary reasons –let’s first define “failure.”

Performance improvement programsare, by design, intended to improvethe long-term performance of anorganization. Whether theorganization seeks to reduce costs,remove waste from businessprocesses, eliminate sources ofdefects and variation, increase quality,or enhance customer satisfaction, theidea is to hardwire solutions thatachieve quantifiable goals so thatresults are sustained over time.

To that end, performance improvefailures include projects that are neverfinished; projects that are completed,but without improvements being

realized; projects that are completed,but with improvements that areinsignificant; and projects that arefinished with temporaryimprovements, but without any long-term implementation of the solution.

While there are a myriad of reasonsthat cause any of these scenarios tooccur, it has been Juran Global’sexperience – gleaned over threedecades and thousands of projects –that one reason is dominant over theothers. With that, the No. 1 reasonwhy performance improvementprograms fail is directly related to lackof management support.

Lack of Management Support

Management is critical to building asuccessful performance improvementorganization, regardless of themethodology adopted by thecompany. It is management’s job toensure that:

The right projects are selected, The right people are picked for

project teams, Performance improvement

methodologies are followed, Project roles and responsibilities

are clearly defined, Projects are appropriately

communicated, Education and training are

supported, and Management visibly supports

the project team.

The No. 1 Reason WhyPerformance Improvement Programs Fail

3 The No. 1 Reason Why Performance Improvement Programs Fail

The Right Projects

The success of performanceimprovement programs is rooted inthe projects selected. Unfortunately,many organizations fail to developcriteria for project solution, whichresults in projects that provide no realbenefit to the organization, such as aproject to redesign the flow of thecompany parking deck. If employeesaren’t working on the right projects, itdoesn’t matter how well the projectsare run – the results just won’t make adifference. Thus, the “right” projectsshould be linked to organizationalstrategies, have identifiable andquantifiable hard results, and berealistic in scope.

The Right People

Being selected to be on aperformance improvement teamshould be viewed as an honor, not achore. Because performanceimprovement projects are designed toachieve a sustainable improvement inthe organization’s performance,projects are ideal breeding groundsfor the next generation of leaders. Assuch, the “right” people include thoseemployees who have demonstratedleadership skills, problem-solvingskills, and the ability to make adifference in the organization.

Methodologies

Whether deploying Lean, Six Sigma,Focus PDSA, or some othermethodology, management mustensure that the methodology selected

is adhered to and used effectively.Performance improvementmethodologies have been developedover decades a real-world use indozens of different industries. Toallow project teams to shortcut theorganization’s adopted methodologyonly serves to tell employees that themanagement team is sloppy in itsapproach to performanceimprovement.

Roles and Responsibilities

Being clear about who is responsiblefor what is management’s job. Thisnot only includes the roles andresponsibilities of the members of theproject team, but also those who playad hoc roles. To ensure that the rolesand responsibilities of all projectstakeholders are defined, refer to theacronym RACI.

Responsibility: These are peoplewho are expected to activelyparticipate in the project andcontribute to the best of theirabilities.

Accountability: This is theperson who is ultimately heldresponsible for the project’sresults.

Consultation: These are peoplewho can provide expertise whenneeded, can contribute tospecific decisions, or who mustbe consulted before a finaldecision is made.

Inform: These are people whoare affected by the project, butwho are not active participants.

4 The No. 1 Reason Why Performance Improvement Programs Fail

Communications

Poor communications can quicklyderail any project team. If theimmediate supervisors of the project’steam members do not understand theorganization’s priorities, then they canbecome an obstacle in providing theteam members with the time requiredto serve effectively on the team. Ifproject team members are not clearon the project’s purpose, goals,boundaries, and expectations, thenthe project can quickly get off track –and stay there. And if staff is notaware of what projects are under wayand why, then they’ll likely come toresent their peers who are serving onteams, but only seem to be gonemuch of the time.

Education and Training

Regardless of the methodologyselected by an organization, to beeffective in deploying themethodology, there must be aninvestment in education and training.To cobble together an inadequatetraining program not only sendssignals that the organization is notcommitted to performanceimprovement, but it also sets upeveryone for frustration, aggravation,and failure.

Management Visibility

It is alarming how often we hear aboutexecutives who are named projectchampions, only to rarely – if ever –show up for meetings, ask forupdates, or show any real interest in

the project at all. If you wantperformance improvement to be seenas a strategic imperative, then youmust treat it like a strategicimperative. An executive’s mereattendance at a project meeting tellseveryone present that the project is ofthe utmost importance and a highorganizational priority. Show a lack ofmanagement interest in the project,and you will soon discover that theproject team shows a lack of interestas well.

Other Reasons WhyPerformance Improvement Fails

Project Scope is Too Large

All too often, organizations bite offmore than they can swallow. We callthis the boiling the oceanphenomenon – when an ambitiousexecutive believes that just becausethe organization’s passion forperformance improvement burns hot,the organization can boil the ocean injust a couple of months. Instead, whatthey discover is that the flame isdoused long before the water’stemperature is even raised. To makesure this doesn’t happen to you,follow the SMART criteria:

Specific: Target a specific areafor improvement

Measurable: Quantify anindicator of progress

Assignable: Specify who isultimately responsible

Realistic: State what results canbe achieved, given availableresources

Time-Bound: Specify when theresults can be achieved

Show a lack ofmanagement interest inthe project, and you will

soon discover that theproject team shows a

lack of interest as well.

5 The No. 1 Reason Why Performance Improvement Programs Fail

Poor Project Selection

While this is a failure of management,poor project selection occursfrequently enough that we included itas a failure mode of its own. To ensurethat the projects selected by yourorganization have strategicimportance, it is important to developcriteria to be used during the projectevaluation and selection process.Criteria falls into two categories:“Must” criteria and “Want” criteria.

Must criteria are yes/noconsiderations. Either the projectmeets the threshold of the Mustcriteria or it doesn’t. Only thoseprojects that get a yes on all of theMust criteria are considered further.

Want criteria are highly subjective,and the organization should establishsome type of rating system to ensurecontinuity among those selectingprojects. Both Must and Want criteriainclude four categories.

Solution Not Implemented

Measurable: Many times executives do not have a lot of data to determine howbad a problem really is. However, they know enough about the problem todetermine if it is measurable or not. Measurability refers to whether the defect isidentified and can be measured. Some problems that are not measurable are notsolvable.

Observable: The project should correct a continuing problem, not a recent specificepisode.

Manageable: Most projects should take no more than six months to complete.Projects that would probably take longer should be divided into smaller projectslikely to yield results more quickly.

Significant: When a project is completed, results should indicate the effort wasworthwhile. A great project is one that gains dollar savings and improves customersatisfaction at the same time. What determines significance is defined by yourorganization.

Impact on Targets: This is a measure of impact on the organization’s dashboard orbalanced scorecard. Measures should indicate the project’s potential impact toretain and attract new customers, reduce the costs of poor quality, provide a returnon investment, and enhance customer and staff satisfaction.

Urgent: Typically, urgent projects address performance problems in core services,problems that make the organization highly vulnerable to the competition, orissues that are crucial to key customers.

Risk Free: If there are known or suspected risks, the problem is likely to take a longtime to complete or have an uncertain outcome. However, if the expected pay-offis high, the project may be worthwhile.

Little Resistance: Among potential projects which are equal in other criteria, theproject likely to meet the least resistance is usually the best choice.

6 The No. 1 Reason Why Performance Improvement Programs Fail

Solution Not Implemented

This often occurs when the owner ofthe process that is the focus of theproject is not involved in the project,or simply refuses to get on board. Butthat’s not the only risk. If there is aproject handoff because of a changein project leadership, a fundamentalchange in the project team’scomposition, or competingimplementation schedules, thechances that implementation will fizzleincrease. Telltale signs thatimplementation might be in jeopardyinclude:

Minimal input, activeresistance, or no signoff bythe process owner.

Reassignment of the project’schampion, sponsor, or teamleaders.

Other projects that areimplementing solutions thatoverlap with functional areasbeing impacted by yourproject.

Putting the Odds In Your Favor

The Juran TransformationRoadmap is a time-tested frameworkto effectively transform your cultureand sustain desired change – be it anew company vision, creating a Leanenterprise, reducing cost, improvingbusiness processes, developing aculture of continuous improvement, orhardwiring the continued pursuit ofoperational excellence. We haveidentified five phases that allorganizations must complete to sustainthe gains of enterprise-wide change.

To learn more about the five phasesand the Juran TransformationRoadmap, contact us at:

Juran Global

160 Main Street

Southington, CT 06489

800.338.7726

info@juran.com

http://www.juran.com/contact-us

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