SUMMARY OF

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
METHODOLOGIES
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SIX SIGMA - DMAIC

Principle
Focuses on increasing quality whilst reducing defects and
variations in the process. One of the most frequently used
process improvement approaches used in operational service
environments.
CONTROL DEFINE
Pro’s
• In a customer-centric operation, it helps improve customer
experience and satisfaction through improved quality
• Reduces cost and increases output through lowering levels of
IMPROVE MEASURE rework and repeated tasks
• Frequently combined with Lean principles

Con’s
ANALYSE • Overly used and requires knowledge and skill to apply
effectively
• Heavily reliant on statistics which can be time-consuming and
expensive to collate
• Can stifle creativity and create increased problems in more
complex environments
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TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

Principle
Every colleague in an organisation must be involved, believe and Customer
Focused
feel accountable in the drive to create a quality product or
experience for their customers. Every piece of work or activity
should be looking to increase customer quality and experience. Factual All
Decision Colleague
Making Involvement
Pro’s
• Delivers better customer experience and outcomes along with
increased brand loyalty from internal teams and customers
• Reduces cost and increased output through lowering levels of TQM
rework and repeated tasks Total Quality
• Helps define and embed an organisation’s DNA Strategic & Management
Process
Systematic
Orientated
approach
Con’s
• Takes time, effort and strategic decisions for every person to truly
commit to a TQM culture
• Due to its effectiveness, in the early days it can be daunting as Continuous Constant
increased communication highlights dissatisfaction more effectively Improvement Comms
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LEAN
Principle
Focuses on maximising productivity and minimising waste.
Traditionally deployed within manufacturing as is suited to
repeatable and uniform processes, but suitable for some office-
based processes.
PERFECTION VALUE
Pro’s
• Compliments simplification of the process into smaller more
manageable steps
• Typically creates an increased number of touch points which can
VALUE be measured to pin-point blockages clearly and promptly
PULL
STREAM • Frequently combined with Six Sigma principles

Con’s

FLOW • Problematic if there are delays as the process “flow” becomes

imbalanced and inefficient
• To undertake wholescale process reengineering can be costly
and time-consuming
• Overly reliant on statistics which can be time-consuming and
expensive to collate
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KAIZEN (CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT)

Principle
Similar to TQM, Kaizen requires all colleagues to be involved but utilises working
groups of all levels/grades to target specific areas for improvement and waste
reduction. There are several approaches within the methodology, but
nothing is ever considered complete as it should always be evolving in REPEAT BRAINSTORM
the pursuit of improvement.

Pro’s
• Some approaches deliver much faster results as they focus on tasks BRAINSTORM
• As the philosophy embeds over time, it creates a collaborative culture (again) MEASURE
and drives a mentality of teamwork
• Increases both colleague and customer satisfaction

Con’s
INOVATE COMPARE
• Due to the fluid and collaborative nature changes can be hard to govern
• Can create a burdensome training requirement due to the frequency of change
• For full effectiveness it takes time to embed and when not strategically
managed changes can be uncoordinated and ineffective
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WHY “DID IT” ANALYSIS

Principle
The 5 Whys is one of the simplest improvement methods used. It
provides a simple structure for analysing and assessing problems.
When asking the question “Did It” against each of the diagram
slices, you create a clear and effective set of tests to use.
NOT HAVE
A BESPOKE HAPPEN
PROCESS Pro’s
• Very simple and effective approach to determining both what
the problem is and what the problem is impacting
NOT • Supports fast decision-making that is easy for all to follow
FOLLOW BREAK • Does not depend on a large volume of statistics to create an
PROCESS accurate output

Con’s
NOT GET • Primarily used for tactical assessments where failure has
CHECKED already occurred and is known
• Unlikely to go into enough detail for making significant changes
to an organisation’s policy or process
• Can create contentious outputs as you can arrive at different
answers when using the method for complex issues