Administration of Continuous Improvement Initiative:A Structured Approach

Written by:Maurice C. Spann, LSSBBCofounder/PresidentJ Griffin Group, LLC (860) 281-9690

15J Griffin Group, LLC

Administration of Continuous Improvement Initiative: A Structured Approach

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ContentsINTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3

A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT...................................................................4

SEVEN KEY ELEMENTS.................................................................................................................................5

Structure Approach Diagram for the Continuous Improvement Model..........................................7

STRUCTURE APPROACH DIAGRAM EXPLANATION......................................................................................7

The Organization..................................................................................................................................7

Continuous Improvement Leader.......................................................................................................8

Continuous Improvement Initiative.....................................................................................................8

Vision & Goals.......................................................................................................................................9

Process and System.............................................................................................................................9

Manage & Improve.............................................................................................................................10

Execute & Monitor..............................................................................................................................10

Train & Deploy.....................................................................................................................................11

TRAINING AND TOOLS...............................................................................................................................11

What is the D.M.A.I.C Cycle?............................................................................................................12

Purpose and Tools..............................................................................................................................12

Annual Process Audit Procedure......................................................................................................14

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INTRODUCTION

In pursuit of excellence, a customized continuous improvement strategy provides the roadmap

for organizations to achieve a blue ocean experience. To execute this strategy key elements

must exist within the organization. There must be executive buy-in from the beginning for the

initiative to be successful. A continuous improvement leader must be appointed or hired to lead

the initiative. The culture of the organization must be primed to understand the reason and

importance for executing the initiative. Process owners must be identified to assist in

documenting and managing processes, policies, and procedures. Finally, division leaders must

be trained to be project champions to execute divisional level improvement for the organization.

Structure is the key to success in every implementation. The power of having a structured

approach allows the organization to break up the continuous improvement initiative into

manageable chucks. It is not unusual for an organization to have multiple continuous

improvement projects running at the same time. This provides the organization the ability to:

Create quick wins building momentum and forward progress through the initiating phase.

Train project champions to be the voice of the business with the authority to select

projects based on the strategy and direction set by the continuous improvement leader.

Monitor and assess the initiative at designated intervals to assure pivotal milestones are

completed within the allotted timeframe.

Focus its culture on the importance of consistently finding opportunities to improve

processes, procedures, and systems.

Very few organizations implement continuous improvement as an enterprise initiative. Some

organizations choose to implement continuous improvement projects for quick fixes. Some

organizations choose to implement training to educate employees on Lean and Six Sigma tools.

Unfortunately those organizations are not reaping the full benefits at the enterprise level.

However, when an organization decides to administer a structure enterprise continuous

improvement initiative at the enterprise level, the benefits are:

Increase market shares creating a blue ocean experience for the company.

Reduce cost to provide best in class services to its customer at a competitive price.

Increase employee satisfaction rate creating a culture for success.

High efficiency in its processes, procedures, and systems.

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Administering a continuous improvement strategy brings to light inefficiencies, ineffectiveness

variability, and vulnerability. To achieve excellence, an organization must be willing to expose its

weaknesses, be open to changing the status quo, standardize the way it does business, and

commit to the timeframe and resources needed to achieve the goal. Administering a continuous

improvement initiative with a structured approach allows the organization to identify and

implement industry best practices, continuous improvement tools and techniques, and quickly

resolve risk and issues before they become deep-rooted problems for the company.

A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Implementing continuous improvement through individual projects can yield great success at the

division level. However, to achieve enterprise success, a structured continuous improvement

strategy must be implemented. The organization must be willing to link continuous

improvement to all its enterprise goals. It must not be seen as an individual project that has a

beginning and ending date. It must be viewed and seen by the organization as a necessary tool

to achieve it mission, vision, and goals. To achieve this, the organization must structure the way

it administers continuous improvement. A structured approach encompasses seven key

elements. The key elements are:

Adopt continuous improvement as a pillar for achieving success.

Appoint or hire a leader that understand and know how to customize a continuous

improvement strategy to fit the needs of the organization.

Select champions and project teams to lead the charge to embed best practices and

standardized processes.

Develop and execute a training strategy for employees teaching them how to identify

and resolve defects, process inefficiencies, and workflow flow redundancies.

Create a close loop communication strategy for champions and project teams to used to

disseminate information.

Select process owners to manage all processes within their respective divisions.

Build an electronic repository to store electronic process flows, policies, and procedure

manuals.

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SEVEN KEY ELEMENTS

I. Adopt Continuous Improvement – Profit in business comes from repeat customers,

customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them ~W

Edwards Deming~. Continuous improvement is not a fad. It is a movement. It is a

structured approach to shift the culture and align the organizations resources, processes,

systems, and strategies. The purpose of this culture shift is to increase the organization’s

market share and provide customer with quality products and services. By adopting

continuous improvement as a pillar the organization as a whole is better equipped to deal

with and continually resolve negative impacts to its bottom-line. In addition, it allows the

organization to service repeat customers and their referrals with excellence.

II. Continuous Improvement Leader – Having a competent leader at the helm of this

initiative is half the battle. Jim Collins wrote in his book Good to Great that good-to-great

companies made a habit of putting their best people on their best opportunities, not their

biggest problems. Administering a structured continuous improvement initiative is one of

the best opportunities for an organization to maintain and attract existing and new

customers. Appointing or hiring the best leader to spearhead the initiative provides the

organization with the greatest opportunity for success. This leader must understand the

importance of collaborating, coaching, training, and auditing the efficiency and

effectiveness of the organization.

III. Champions and Project Teams –The role of the champions are twofold. The

champions are the Lieutenants and commission with leading their respective project

teams. The champions are the voice of business and therefore communicate the strategy

and direction set by the continuous improvement leader. As the initiative matures the

champion becomes a vital resource. The champion must ensure the intensity and passion

for excellence does not diminish. They are the gatekeepers. However, the project teams

are made up of employees from each division within the organization. It is imperative for

the project teams to be diverse. The project teams must have a project leader, process

owners, lean six sigma professionals, and divisional representatives. Each project team

members will play a crucial role in the success of the continuous improvement project.

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IV. Training Strategy – A structured training strategy is the key to embedding continuous

improvement into the culture of any organization. The strategy should have three sections.

The first section is knowledge sharing. The second section is application. The third section

is execution. The knowledge sharing section is usually a five-day instructor led session.

The session is used to educate champions and project teams on the importance of

continuous improvement, DMAIC Methodology, process audit procedures, and project

management. The second section is usually a four-day session to educate the project

teams on the tools and techniques used to embed continuous improvement into the

culture of the organization. The third section will be used to identify and prioritize potential

improvement projects based on the data collected in the application section. Once the

projects are selected, the project teams will be assigned to the respective projects to

execute the knowledge learned in the first and second section of the training strategy.

V. Communication Strategy – Creating a communication strategy provides the

champions and project teams with a structured approach to how information is

disseminated. With this closed loop system, the continuous improvement leader is kept up

to speed on the progress of the assigned projects. The continuous improvement leader is

able to communicate detailed updates to the executive leadership team about the

progress of the enterprise wide continuous improvement strategy.

VI. Process Owners – An organization cannot effectively function without having

standardized processes and procedures. The focus of the process owners is to manage

the processes at the enterprise level. Although activities within a process may expand

across division, having a single owner to manage the entire process creates stability. In

addition, the process has a greater opportunity to deliver consistent, reliable, repeatable,

and sustainable results.

VII. Electronic Repository – The purpose of the electronic repository is to be a single point

of storage for the organization. The purpose of this storage is to store electronic copies of

process flows, policies, and procedures. With an electronic repository, the administrator

can grant permissions to employees based on read, limited access, or full control. In

addition, process owners are able to update and upload and store revised documents.

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Structure Approach Diagram for the Continuous Improvement Model

STRUCTURE APPROACH DIAGRAM EXPLANATION

The Organization

The role of the organization is crucial to the success of the continuous improvement

initiative. The commitment and involvement of senior level executives shows the division

leaders how important the initiative is to the organization. The organization is an advisory

body that consists of executive leaders from each division within the organization. As an

advisor, the organization will:

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Advise on impacts that proposed solutions may have on the enterprise strategy and

goals.

Model the behaviors needed to move the culture to become prolific at finding and

resolving defects, waste, and redundancies.

Encourage senior level managers to take an active role in ensuring processes are

meeting the desired outcomes for the organization.

Continuous Improvement Leader

Appointing a continuous improvement leader to oversee and manage the initiative shows

commitment on the part of the organization. The role of the leader is to collaboratively work

with the executive leadership team to build a customized continuous improvement strategy.

In addition, the leader designs a continuous improvement model that corresponds with the

needs and desires of the organization. This model must provide a common structure,

principles, concepts and behaviors necessary to achieve operational excellence. In addition,

the continuous improvement leader will:

Establish, implement and manage a closed loop communication system so that every

level of the organization is kept up to speed.

Establish, implement and facilitate training and education for all levels of the

organization on the continuous improvement model.

Coach and mentor champions and project teams.

Facilitate monthly and quarterly reviews to ensure the initiative is meeting the

expectation of the organization.

Continuous Improvement Initiative

The first phase of continuous improvement begins with establishing champions and process

improvement teams. Their initial focus is to define and document the organization’s current

state processes, policies, and procedures. The next phase is assigning process owners to

walk through each procedure within the process looking for non-value added steps,

redundancies, missing controls, and bottlenecks. The next phase is to identify and execute

solutions that would standardize the process improving its efficiency and effectiveness.

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The initial phase of a continuous improvement initiative can take anywhere between three to

five years to complete. This allows the champions and project teams time to conduct a

thorough review of the enterprise processes, address any risk and issues preventing the

process from performing with efficiency, and establish the correct controls to ensure the

process consistently deliver repeatable and sustainable results. The benefit to establishing

and committing to a continuous improvement initiative is:

Resources are best aligned to effectively collaborate and resolve process risk and

issues.

Provide tools and best practices for the organization to use to deliver world-class

services to its internal and external customers.

Create a culture that thrives on continuously seeking opportunities to improve its

processes, policies, and procedures.

Vision & Goals

The vision of the continuous improvement initiative is to foster a culture that embraces the

attitude to always look for opportunities to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the

organization. The pursuit for operational excellence is the mantra and therefore lends itself

to:

Determine, adopt, and implement world-class best practices into processes and

procedures.

Eliminate variability and non-value added steps in processes.

Reduce redundant work across the various divisions within the organization.

Develop a standardized communication strategy that is shared and agreed to by every

executive leader and their senior management team.

Process and System

Processes and systems are designed to streamline the way every employee works within

the organization. To consistently deliver world-class services to internal and external

customers, processes and systems must be continually evaluated to measure its efficiency.

When processes and systems are well established and standardized; there are fewer errors,

delays, rework and duplicate efforts. As a result, the organization experiences a higher

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satisfaction rate amongst employees and customers. By having a well-defined continuous

improvement initiative, the organization will notice:

Reduction in customer complaints about poor services rendered.

Frustration amongst colleagues due to work silos and communication gaps.

Missing deadlines are eliminated due to work flow blockages.

Cost reduced because employees are able to effectively complete their work in the

shortest time possible.

Manage & Improve

To reap the full benefits of this initiative, continuous improvement must be infused as a core

pillar within the culture of the organization. As processes are defined, documented, and

standardized, audit requirements must be established. This will ensure ever process

continually yield repeatable and sustainable results. By continually managing and improving

each process the organization will:

Be empowered to continually solve issues that prevent a process from delivering

repeatable and sustainable results.

Build cross function collaboration between each division to resolve inefficiencies

within a particular process.

Constantly seek ways to improve creating an environment for excellence.

Mature to operational excellence becoming a cost savings organization.

Execute & Monitor

Once a potential improvement has been determined and approved it is the job of the project

team to execute and monitor the change. Every improvement comes with a cost. For

example: The improvement can either increase or decrease employee morale within the

organization. The improvement can eliminate or prolong bottlenecks within a particular

process. An improvement can also cause a process or system to loose efficiency due to

poor planning and execution. To ensure that all processes and procedures are operating

optimally, every process and system will undergo a strategic audit approach. By being able

to answer the following questions, the project teams will be able to confidently execute and

monitor each improvement with minimum impact to the organization.

Who is the process owner?

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Are the procedures properly identified and documented within the process?

What order should the procedures be performed?

Which divisions within the organization are responsible for completing the

procedures?

Under what circumstances should the procedures be completed?

What information is needed to complete the procedures?

Is the employee responsible for completing the procedures properly skilled and

knowledgeable?

Does the system support the employees responsible for completing the procedures

within the process?

Is there proper metrics in place to measure the efficiency of the process?

Before any changes can be implemented, the entire process with the recommended

changes must be piloted and monitored for a period of time. This will ensure the changes

are implemented with the lowest amount of negative impact to the organization.

Train & Deploy

Training is imperative to obtain a successful deployment of any new or enhanced system or

standardized process. It is the responsibility of the project teams to train employees to

effectively use the system or standardized process. In addition the continuous improvement

leader will develop and execute the communication plan to communicate the new or

enhanced system or standardized process to the rest of the organization.

TRAINING AND TOOLS

Most senior executives notice their organization operates at a 3 to 4 sigma level when taking

a short-term view. However, when taking a long-term view, most senior executives notice

their organization operates at an even worse sigma level than what the short-term view

predicted. World-class organizations operate on a 6 sigma level when viewed within a short-

term and operate at a 4.5 sigma level when view over a long-term period. To consistently

provide world-class services, organizations must continually look for opportunities to

improve its processes to at least a 4.5 sigma level. The only way to accomplish this goal is

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by training a group of employees on tools and techniques used to improve the sigma level.

The training consists of helping the group move from philosophy to action. There are four

key elements to making this happen. The four key elements are:

The group must be trained on the proper procedures to define and document current

state processes.

The group must learn how to determine the variation or defects preventing the

process from performing with efficiency.

The group must learn how to examine the data to confirm the variation or defect that

is the problem causing the process to underperform.

The group must learn how to build and implement an improvement plan.

There are selected groups of tools used to perform this procedure. The most popular tool

used is D.M.A.I.C. cycle. The D.M.A.I.C cycle is used for improving, optimizing and

stabilizing business processes. However, DMAIC is not exclusive to Six Sigma and can be

used as the framework for other improvement applications such as a customized continuous

improvement initiative.

What is the D.M.A.I.C Cycle?

DMAIC is an abbreviation of the five improvement steps used to improve business

processes: The five improvement steps are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control.

All of the DMAIC process steps are required and proceed in the given order.

Purpose and Tools

Define - The purpose of this step is to clearly articulate the process issue, goals for process

optimization, potential resources, and high-level timeline for implementing the process

improvement. The following tools are usually used in this step of the cycle:

Voice of the Customer

Voice of the Process

Affinity Diagram

5 Whys

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SIPOC

Measure - The purpose of this step is to establish a current benchmark as the basis for

improvement. This step must be objective and determined by data collected while following

the procedures within the process to assess its performance. It is standard for the

implementation team to invest a lot of effort into assessing the suitability of the proposed

measurement procedures. Good data is at the core of the DMAIC cycle. The following tools

are usually used in this step of the cycle:

Check Sheet

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Process Capability

Minitab

Analysis - The purpose of this step is to identify, validate and select root cause for

elimination. Most of the time a large number of potential root causes (process inputs, X) are

identified. The implementation team must take the top 3-4 potential root causes using multi-

voting or other consensus tools for further validation. Many times this process is repeated

until "valid" root causes can be identified. The following tools are usually used in this step of

the cycle:

Fishbone Diagram

Control Charts

Swim Lane

Value Stream Mapping

Improve - The purpose of this step is to identify, test and implement a solution to resolve the

root causes to process failure. To improve the process the implementation team must work

together to identify creative solutions and implement a pilot program to test the solutions. In

addition, the implementation team trains staff on the new standardized process to ensure

consistency across the division within the organization. The following tools are usually used in

this step of the cycle:

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Design of Experiments

PDCA Cycle

Failure Mode And Analysis

Control - The purpose of this step is to monitor the improvements to ensure continued and

sustainable success. In this step the process owner in collaboration with the implementation

team creates a control plan, update policy and procedures manual, and process flow. The

updated manual must be uploaded to the organization’s continuous improvement site. Control

charts are the main tools used to monitor the effectiveness of the process improvement. The

following tools are usually used in this step of the cycle:

Three-way chart

P-chart

U-chart

Time series model

Annual Process Audit Procedure

Print out the Job Posting Policy and Procedures manual.

Schedule a kickoff meeting consisting of a representative from each division within the

organization.

Schedule a thirty-minute meeting with each member to audit the activities they are

required to complete within the process.

Document any nuances that do not currently exist within the current state process.

Ask pointed questions of the member performing the activity to understand the reason

for the nuances.

Document the reason and determine if it is an activity that needs to be added to the

process to make it more efficient.

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Make the necessary changes to the policy, procedures, and process flow.

Save the changes with a new version number on the document and in the document

description.

Post the new version to the electronic repository.

Send a communication to every employee responsible for completing the activities within

the process to let them know about the enhancements to the process.

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Administration of Continuous Improvement Initiative: A Structured Approach

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