Course Overview by Section

Welcome- Business Process Improvement

Launching a Business Process Improvement Initiative
Stakeholder Management
4. Applying Leadership to Business Process Improvement
DMAIC-D-Define- Process Mapping
DMAIC-D-Define- Process Reviews
DMAIC-M-Measure
DMAIC-A-Analyze
DMAIC-I-Improve
DMAIC-C-Control
Critical Leadership Qualities
Business Process Improvement Advice
Celebrate-Course Conclusion
 Why You’re
Probably Here…
1. Your company is making you
take this course
2. You have genuine interest in this
topic and decided to take it
yourself
3. You have a problem you need to
solve and are stuck
Regardless on why you're taking
this course, MY why is because I
truly believe in these subjects
 How BPI, Process You need all 3
Mapping, and Leadership components
Work Together to be
successful

 BPI- Business Process Improvement

 Understand the tools, frameworks, and
themes to assess how to best solve each
problem you face
 Process Mapping
 Understand how the process works and
integrates across departments, teams,
and systems. Communicate, share, and
build alignment.
 Leadership
 Communicate broken processes, build
support & buy in, and ensure processes
are fixed for good.
 Gather the support, funding, and
resources needed to succeed.
 Ensure the project has top leadership
visibility and is a priority.
 Learning
Outcomes
 Learn how to apply D.M.A.I.C. as a process
improvement framework from start-to-end to solve
real business problems
 Learn about the different types of process maps to
select the one best for your situation
 Learn how to diagram processes using modern tools
 Learn how to analyze problems and effectively
implement solutions by conducting process interviews
 Master soft skills and influence dynamics that are
critical to project success
 Learn how to consider different solutions and select
the best
 Learn how to lead your team to implement solutions
 Learn how to design and implement controls to
ensure solutions stick
Who am I?
 Certified Project Manager- PMP-
Professional of Project
Management- the highest
certification
 MBA- Trained as a business
expert
 CPA, CMA, CSCA- Expert in cost
accounting topics & leadership
 Most of all, I am a practitioner. I
have spent 10 years driving
business process improvement
projects, producing results, and
learning along the way!
 BPI is how we
ensure we don’t
get stuck in the
Introduction to BPI past

 When we step back, we realize not

optimizing processes makes us look
like the caricatures to the right.
 Business Process Improvement is a
core business skill where we
understand, analye, and redesign
an existing process.
 This can be the fun part of
business; departure from the
status quo responsibilities and
a great way to differentiate
yourself and your team.
 Change is constant-> we must
learn to adapt.
 BPI is valued by management,
where employees bring solutions to
challenges.
 Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a discipline
focused on delivering value through improving quality,
enhancing service, reducing costs, and increasing
productivity of an existing activity or business

What is process.

Business BPI is the tool used to identify the need for change,

Process analyze current processes, gain organizational

support, create new processes, and eventually
maintain those processes.

Improveme
nt?
BPI is a framework centered around DMAIC, process
mapping, & leadership. Each is a critical element.

If an organization is not continuously
improving the way it performs
processes, it will likely fall behind in
the market.
Why BPI Matters
Processes that are ineffective, poorly Business process improvement isn't a
defined, or otherwise inefficient can stand-alone activity
cause a variety of issues: When organizations commit to process
improvement, they continuously and
proactively identify, assess, and improve
their existing processes.
Customers may express dissatisfaction with subpar
goods or subpar services.
Team members become irritable
Work could be duplicated or never finished.
Costs may rise.
There could be resource waste.
Teams may encounter bottlenecks that cause them
to miss deadlines.
Increased
effectiveness and
productivity
By removing inefficiencies,
efficient practices that
support business process
improvement can ultimately
increase team members'
productivity.
The Benefits of Great Business
Processes
Improved product
quality
Companies can be more
assured that products will be
move production when
performance, security,
integration, and other issues
have been resolved.
Increased customer
loyalty and
satisfaction
Happy clients frequently
become repeat clients, and
this loyalty increases sales for
companies.
Increased staff morale
morale of even the most
hard-working employees to
decline if they start to feel
that all of their efforts are
being overwhelmed by the
flaws of a system.“
Competitive
advantage
Businesses can differentiate
themselves from the
competition by continually
improving their business
processes.
 Increased visibility and career
momentum
Individuals who hone their skills will gain enhanced
visibility due to the improvements they will
inevitably bring.
Promotions & new job opportunities with increased
salaries and other incentives.
Why Study Process Improvement?
How do “I” benefit?
Learn new skills that will always be in
demand
Learning various techniques and software
associated with process improvement grants
individuals with valuable knowledge and skills.
Open doors for greater employability and career
prospects.
Improving processes translates into an
increase in efficiency and reduction of
costs- more $ for bonuses & raises
These benefits will lead to an improved bottom
line, giving businesses a competitive edge.
Creates a direct benefit for any individual that
learns how to apply process improvement
techniques.
Examples of BPI in the Workplace #1
 Preventing Shipping Errors
 The Company: A mid-sized wholesaler
 The Scenario: A supplier delivers pallet loads of components directly to manufacturing
facilities for manufacturers.
 The delivery driver arrives at the listed address only to find out it's obviously a house rather than a
manufacturing facility.
 The manufacturing facility is listed as the shipping address on the credit card, the billing address
belongs to the business owner's residence.
 The client's billing and shipping addresses were mixed up by the delivery team, which resulted in a
pricey process flaw.
 The Business Process Improvement: Require delivery personnel to double-check shipping and
billing addresses by updating operating procedures.
 Make training resources (videos, online courses, written materials) and mandate that all delivery
drivers go through the training. Check to see if the materials have been viewed by all relevant
staff.
Examples of BPI in the Workplace #2
 Reducing Waste With Bulk Purchasing
 The Company: A regional pharmacy chain
 The Scenario: A pharmacy makes on-site topical medication mixtures by combining various
drugs with a base ointment.
 They purchase this ointment in one-ounce jars, and the pharmacist uses 50 of them each day.
 Their supplier has an ointment in a 50-ounce jar with a much lower price per ounce; by
switching their purchasing strategy, the company could save money.
 The Business Process Improvement: In formal operating procedures, note the preference for
bulk ointment purchases.
 Teach the purchasing team to always choose the 50-ounce jar. Require consistent training and
ensure that staff members have finished the training.
 Business Process
Improvement can
Examples of BPI in the Workplace #3 solve challenges in
any industry or
specialization!
 Improving Inventory Management
 The Company: A food and beverage company
 The Scenario: A company's supply tracking and ordering is disorganized. Chefs use a shared supply
storage but work on different teams. To find an ingredient, a team member must check storage inventory.
 If he can’t find an ingredient on hand, they must increase unnecessary supply ordering and incur expensive rush
delivery fees.
 Each supplier has different order records and protocols- Some list ingredients and ordering policies while others
don’t.
 Due to poor organization and tracking, employees often can't find these documents and request them from
suppliers multiple times or place incorrect orders.
 The confusing, inefficient process causes duplicate orders, frustrated suppliers, and high project costs.
 The Business Process Improvement: Inventory, order, and document management must be centralized.
Employees could "check out" ingredients from an automatically tracked inventory using a mobile app,
eliminating confusion about availability.
 Each team member should submit ingredient orders through the central application so they can see if any
are pending. During ordering, each supplier's protocols and relevant documents should be centralized
and easily accessible.
Different Problems- Similar Approach
 Each challenge in the 3 examples required a similar approach to
understand:
 The problem
 How painful the current process is (what it costs the business)
 The current business process and causes
 Possible solutions to solve the problem
 The solution implementation and control
 These points fall into a framework known as DMAIC
 Define
 Measure
 Analyze
 Improve
 Control
 We start here Define

DMAIC is a framework for

Measure
understanding problems

DMAIC- A
Valuable & We will use DMAIC to
organize and teach this
course. Each section will Analyze

Dynamic
fall under each of the 5
components:

Concept
Keep in mind, DMAIC is a
repeatable cycle. Once
you finish, you start
Improve
again. You learn, grow,
apply, complete, and
advance.

Control
DMAIC- Overview

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Define the Measure process Analyze the Improve process Control the
problem, performance. process to performance by improved
improvement determine root addressing and process and
activity, causes of eliminating the future process
opportunity for variation, poor root causes. performance.
improvement, performance
the project (defects).
goals, and
customer
(internal and
external)
requirements.
Business Process Improvement Borrows from Six
Sigma- DMAIC
The measure phase is all about the baseline of the current process,
data collection, validating the measurement system, and also
determining the process capability.

The beauty of Business Process Improvement is that it takes the best

parts of other methodologies and brings in the pieces that work and
produce results.

From Six Sigma, there are many things that are worth leaving out,
but DMAIC is very valuable as a framework.
 To teach the BPI concepts, we will walk through a
simulation throughout the course.

Course This will help you learn and apply the most recent
lesson so the information sticks.
Simulation-
Apply What We will also add short quizzes to test your memory on
core concepts.
You Learn
The best way to learn and use this material is to take
notes and think about how to apply this information in
real-life, during or shortly after completing this course.
 Case Study

 You are an owner of a hot dog

stand in New York City.
 You have hired staff for the cart,
advertisement, and salaries for
staff.
 One product will be sold which is
a hot dog meal deal, “The Best
Deal in the City,”
 The deal includes a hot dog with
all the condiments, chips, a candy
bar, and a drink.
The Scenario

1 2
Problem: Sales are Effect: Customers are
declining. The preparation unhappy and going
time to cook, prepare, and elsewhere for their
serve hotdogs to customers purchases as the line is too
is too slow and inefficient. long to wait in.
The Players:
New York Hot
Dog Stand
The Players:
Hot Dog
Vendor
The Players:
Street
Hawker
Problem- What isn’t working?

 Problem: Sales are declining.

 The Preparation time to cook, prepare, and serve
hotdogs to customers is too slow and inefficient.
 Effect: Customers are unhappy and going elsewhere for
their purchases as the line is too long to wait in.
 Possible Causes: (Sort into the following Cause categories)
• Equipment
• Process
• People
• Materials
• Environment
• Management
Possible Causes- Which Could It Be?

Hot dog stand has a No Line forms to Each order is

Too many customers
limited production order hot dogs- assembled
order at once
capacity of 50/batch crowd forms individually

The stand is a few

years old and lacks There is only 1 The hot dogs are
Too many customers
state of the art hot employee serving frozen and take
order at once
dog cooking customers longer to cook
technology

The condiments are

There is no system The owner doesn't
stored in different Too many customers
to queue up ask for the hot dog
locations which order at once
customers in order server’s advice
slows assembly

The street hawker

isn't directed to
assist with crowd
control
Let’s understand
and solve the
problem using BPI
& DMAIC!
Let’s start learning and apply out
knowledge as we go!
 Launching a
Process
Improvement
Initiative
How do we set the stage for a
successful transformation? What
do we need to be aware of?
What do we need to know before launching a
Business Process Improvement Initiative?
1. Identify Identify an Area of Improvement

2. Understand Understand Company Culture

3. Identify &
Identify & Manage Stakeholders
Manage

4. Create & Instill Create & Instill a Sense of Urgency

Identify an Area
of Improvement
 In most cases this is the first
and easiest step.
 However, in some cases
a problem isn’t super obvious
and you would have to search
for it. If that's true, this would
come later on.
 Let’s look at 6 examples of
Business Process Improvement.
Quality
Improvement #1
 Product defects and errors affect profitability, cause
dissatisfied customers, and hurt employee morale. That's
why quality problems are usually the go-to target for
improvement efforts.
 Some problems are easy to spot, but others take time to
understand and uncover.
 You can implement quality improvements by:
 Using control charts to understand variation and
detect trends
 Introducing process automation or mistake proofing
("poka yoke"), where possible, to eliminate the
opportunity for error
 Calculating the financial impact of defects and
rework
 Tracking customer complaints and reasons for
support calls
 Applying the "5-whys" problem-solving technique to
find the root cause of quality issues
 When you think about quality improvement, remember
that it isn't just the final products or services delivered to
customers that can have errors.
 Internal processes and information must be free from
defects as well.
Cost Reduction #2
 Keeping costs low is often considered to be the responsibility
of the finance team and C-suite leaders, but chances are good
that everyone in the organization can point to a way to reduce
costs.
 Those closest to the work know what activities add to time
and cost without any meaningful benefit.
 Common opportunities to reduce costs include:
 Limiting the purchase of perishable items except for
immediate use
 Shifting from paper records or forms to electronic ones
 Frequently reviewing vendor contracts to ensure they meet
current needs and conditions
 Reducing the inventory of products or raw materials
 Matching staffing to actual customer demand
 Regardless of why the team undertakes an improvement
project, most will have a positive impact on cost.
Revenue Generation #3
 Everyone can contribute ideas about cost
reduction; you don't have to be in sales or
product development to have excellent
ideas for increasing sales.
 You can grow revenue by:
 Creating new bundles or products or
services
 Addressing new markets or audiences
 Improving collections procedures
 Creative marketing to existing
customers
 Making it easier to do business with
the company
 Expanding partnerships to explore new
channels
 Many organizations are pleasantly surprised
by the ideas that their teams develop for
increasing revenue when invited to do so.
 Safety #4

 Safety is a more significant challenge for some types

of organizations than others, but every organization
should pay attention to the safety of its workers and
guests.
 This is one area where front-line workers can be
extremely valuable; they see the risks firsthand.
 Process improvement examples that improve safety
include:
 Employee awareness and training
 Workplace standardization and organization
 A well-documented and streamlined process for
reporting hazards
 Automation that reduces safety or ergonomic risks
 A method for analyzing close calls or near misses
 Signage or other visual indicators of potential
Customer Satisfaction #5
 Every person in the organization has a role to play
when it comes to customer satisfaction.
 Whether it is by creating products that maximize
customer value, delivering support or services,
insisting on excellent quality, or setting
competitive prices, customer satisfaction is a team
effort.
 Ideas for improving the customer experience
include:
 Optimizing auto attendants to route customers
to the help they need quickly
 Enhanced customer communications and
content
 Implementing a structured approach to
handling complains
 Skills-based contact center routing
 Transactional promoter score surveys
 Your front-line employees know what your
customers love and hate about working with your
customers. Tap into this valuable resource to find
areas for improvement.
Efficiency #6
 Efficient companies practice operational
excellence and get the most out of every
resource.
 When organizations are inefficient,
employees waste time and effort on tasks
that don't add value, resources are wasted,
and growth opportunities are missed.
 Ideas for improving productivity include:
 Eliminating duplicate work, like entering
the same data into multiple systems
 Limiting meetings to those that are
necessary and effective
 Streamlining approval processes
 Making sure that equipment and supplies
are stored where they are needed
 What to Look For-
Something to Think
About

Later on, we will spend

more time identifying your
best process improvement At this point, you don’t
opportunities and sharing need to have a project in
criteria to determine mind, just awareness.
whether a project is
feasible or not.
What to look Start small by working to create an
environment where optimized processes are
for- the norm and are expected.

Optimize
Everyday Require documentation
for all processes early on
to understand and catch
Avoid restrictive
requirements and
formatting

Operations process bottlenecks.

Something easy as requiring

process screenshots and a
quick note of each go far.
Why Leadership Matters in
Business Process
Improvement?
 You can find the perfect
process improvement
opportunity and complete
comprehensive process
mapping to understand a
process inside and out.
 But if you don’t understand
your organization’s culture
and you don’t gain
stakeholder support, it won’t
matter.
 That is what we will cover
next before going into depth
on the other 2 topics.
Understand the Company Culture

Assess the company culture

Can the company culture accept change?

How do I sell change to my company’s culture?

4 Ways to Assess
Company Culture
1. Gauge openness within
leadership
2. Look at incentive
programs (or lack
thereof)
3. Observe team
interactions
4. Determine attitudes
from answers
 Why Improving Company
Culture Matters to
Process Improvement?

 Successfully crafting a culture of

ongoing process improvement
involves the following:
 Employees remain engaged by
proposing ideas and discussing
suggestions
 Allemployees understand their
roles and how their performance
helps the company move forward
 Every employee is focused on
continually improving their job
processes
Improve the Company Culture

There is a huge difference between implementing a process

improvement program and a process improvement culture.

Building a culture that values process improvement requires

you to identify the behaviors that you would like employees
to exhibit on a daily basis.

Culture determines if change is accepted. Influencing a

change culture increases project acceptance & success.
How to Improve Company Culture-
Identify Your Stakeholders
 A successful process
improvement initiative requires the
participation of all stakeholders in
the business area affected.
 Stakeholders can be grouped into 4
categories seen here.
 Internal stakeholder groups may
include:
 Process Owners
 Staff Management
 Finance
 Facilities management
 Compliance
 Etc...
How to Improve Company Culture-
Identify Your Stakeholders
1. Low interest, low influence
 These are relatively unimportant people, but keeping in touch with them is a good idea, just in case their status
changes.
2. High interest, low influence
 These people can be difficult in that it is easy to ignore them as they apparently cannot derail the change, although
if sufficiently upset they may gain influence by low-level blocking and other techniques of resistance to change.
 Remember that minorities can be very powerful, particularly if they band together or if they get powerful allies.
3. Low interest, high influence
 People with a low interest in the change will not be particularly worried about what you are doing, so are are not too
much of a problem in the actual change. A problem can appear when they are persuaded to act for those who oppose
the change. It is thus important to keep them onside, for example with regular meetings that explain the truth of
what is happening.
4. High interest, high influence
 These people are both significantly affected by the change and most able to do something about it, either supporting
or opposing changes. It is particularly important to engage these people in the change, ensuring both that they
understand what is going on and also creating buy-in as they feel a sense of ownership of what is being done.
Stakeholder Failure Story

 Iovance story
 Top leadership had a different list of top priorities from finance organization
 Sponsors- Getting
Company Leadership
Involved
 Sponsors
 Sponsors are people with power who have a direct interest in the project.
As described elsewhere, you need to carefully manage your sponsors to
gain support and avoid opposition, especially where they are also Targets.
 There are four types of sponsor:
 Initiating sponsor: who kicks off the project.
 Key sponsor: who provides ultimate authority.
 Primary sponsor: who must be centrally engaged.
 Secondary sponsor: who needs to be kept informed.
 Targets
 These are people who will intentionally be affected by the change. You
many want them to change what they do and think, or even what they
feel and believe. Deeper change, is, of course more difficult.
 Interested party
 There are often a wide range of people who might have some more
distant interest. For example, if there are going to be job losses, then
government and the media may have an interest.
 Managing Stakeholders- A key leadership
function
• Stakeholders all have power, whether it is the formal power invested in a position of authority or it is social power of being able to persuade

Stakeholder power others to support or oppose the change.

• Those with higher power are likely to be your most useful supporters or most dangerous opponents -- thus power analysis helps you prioritize
your focus on stakeholders.

Active and passive • Some people will actively support the change, putting their necks on the line and working long hours to help it succeed. Others will work the
other way, vociferously seeking to scupper your efforts.
• These active people are where much focus often happens. However, there is often a silent majority who are more difficult to classify.

support and resistance

• These may be in gatekeeper positions, where rather than taking positive action, they can subtly support or oppose the change by allowing
things to happen or quietly blocking and hindering progress.

Fence-sitters in the
• In the middle are the fence-sitters who neither support nor oppose the change.
• They are often playing a waiting game, looking out for who is going to win the game. Once they have made this decision, then they will act.
• Other fence-sitters are simply undecided. Some people decide quickly whilst others need more reflection or persuasion.

middle • Either way, one of the most important things about fence-sitters are their numbers, which can be very significant. Work hard to convert them
and you may well win the game.

The dynamics of • The question after you have identified the current positions of people is how to use and move them. Usually this means moving them on the
chart.
• However, this movement usually has a cost, at least in terms of your time and effort. You thus need to seek what movement you can create at

change what cost and hence find the best alternatives for action.
 Tips for obtaining
stakeholder buy-in

Tips for obtaining stakeholder buy-in

• Getting people within your organization to support
process improvements can be a challenge.
Explain the rationale
• People are naturally resistant to change, even if
it’s for the better.
• That’s why you must explain the reasons behind
the process improvements to obtain buy-in.
• By detailing how the changes will deliver value,
such as a better customer experience,
stakeholders become motivated to help you.
Clarify roles
• Stakeholders hold varying degrees of involvement
in process changes.
• As a result, ensure every stakeholder is clear on
their role in the business process improvement
plan.
Stakeholder
Management &
Leadership
Stakeholder management and leadership
are intricately intertwined. As effective
leaders work to understand and
proactively engage stakeholders,
managers must develop strategies for
meeting stakeholder expectations.
Leadership works to identify stakeholder
needs and ensure they are addressed,
while management builds relationships
with stakeholders to keep them informed
and foster trust in their decisions.

By working together, a strong leadership

team can ensure successful project
outcomes and satisfaction from all
involved stakeholders.
Stakeholder Success Story

 Success of Power BI at Iovance

 Worked to get executives and head of each department aligned and on board
before executing
Stakeholder Management: Use Carrots Not
Sticks to Change Behaviors

Stakeholders should be rewarded for adopting work behaviors that reflect

their commitment to process improvement.

Offer Rewards.

Sell the benefits of how each stakeholder group will benefit.

Tie the initiatives to company themes.

Use “We” not “I”

Stakeholder
Management:
Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
 One of the most well-known change
model’s Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model
includes stakeholder as a key
component
 Essentially, without support, formal
and informal, you won’t succeed.
 Let’s review Kotter’s model to
understand how stakeholder
management fits in and also learn how
his entire framework is laid out.
 We can use Kotter’s and other
frameworks to guide our projects
as mental and project
management models.
 Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
STEP 1: CREATE URGENCY
 Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
STEP 2: FORM A POWERFUL
COALITION
 Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
STEP 3: CREATE A VISION FOR
CHANGE
 Kotter's 8-
Step Change
Model
STEP 4: COMMUNICATE THE VISION
 Kotter's 8-
Step Change
Model
STEP 5: REMOVE OBSTACLES
 Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
STEP 6: CREATE SHORT-TERM WINS
 Kotter's 8-Step
Change Model
STEP 7: BUILD ON THE CHANGE
 Kotter's 8-
Step Change
Model
STEP 8: ANCHOR THE CHANGES IN
CORPORATE CULTURE
Applying Leadership to
Process Improvement:
What to Do, Ask, and
Look For
What’s Next- Identifying a
Problem & Then
Diagramming/Mapping it Out
 So far, we have learned:
 What business process improvement is
 What makes for good process improvement
opportunities
 Stakeholder management tactics
 Company culture assessment and improvement
 Next, we will cover how to further define
and understand a problem through various
methods of process mapping
 We will identify and define the problem
Where to Start? Look
For Opportunities in
Everyday Operations
 Find the problem areas
 To identify the areas that require
improvement, look for clues that the current
procedure isn't working.
 Locate bottlenecks and areas where several
steps are necessary to complete just a small
portion of a procedure.
 When customers or employees start to get
impatient with the workflow, there is clearly
a process pain point.
 Locate the areas where work needs to be
done again frequently or is being done by
several people at once.
 You should try to stop this duplication of effort
because it wastes time and resources.
 Focus on addressing a clear, shared, business
frustration to build stakeholder support
Identify an Area of Improvement

 Group possible opportunities in a

brainstorming notes as you go
1. Possible Improvements!
2. Possible Improvements?
3. Impossible Improvements.
 Writedown ideas as you go and worry
about grouping them later
4 Methods for Identifying Opportunities

Involve Consider Identify Determine

Involve the right Consider how often Identify physical Determine how long
people and tools. the process is used. bottlenecks. current practices have
• Find opportunities for • High-volume or high- • Not every opportunity for been in place.
improvement with cross- frequency systems should be improvement will be • A process that works well—
team collaboration and prioritized. Improving these physically visible during and has for many years—
third-party tools. elements of your business your busiest times. may be initially passed over
Approaching a system or has a greater impact than Bottlenecks in any part of as an opportunity for
process from different similar innovations on your process are obvious improvement. However, as a
perspectives may help lesser-used systems. when you’re designing, company matures, older
identify unique or manufacturing, and shipping systems may be ripe for
untraditional ways to at high volumes. Identify changes that better align
increase productivity or where your products or with business goals and
decrease waste. services get stuck and work today’s best practices.
to eliminate those
problematic points in the
process.
Talking to people is a
great starting point to
uncover insights

 Tell me about your daily schedule and

tasks
 Describe this process in your own
words
 How do you feel about this process?
 Where does work stagnate?
 How do you define resource waste?
 What information do you need, and
how do you ensure you get access to
it?
If you hear one of the following answers, you know
that you found one piece of your process
improvement plan:
Waiting to obtain information from another source:
• Waiting to obtain information from another source.
• Spending extra time finding information.
• Slowing down because of information that is in a form that cannot be used.
• Actions pending because of information processing by humans.
• Time spent finding, researching, and correcting an information-based error.

Creating paper records when electronic ones would be good enough.

Slowing down because of information that is in a form that cannot be used.

Having to throw away perished stuff.

Spending extra time finding information.

Using space to store inventory that turns over infrequently.

Repackaging products to meet customer needs.

Doing tasks several times (duplication)

“I’ll Know it
When I See
It”
TRUST YOUR GUT
DMAIC- D- Define

1. Process
Mapping &
Diagramming
2. Process
Interviews
and Reviews
 Process
Mapping &
Diagramming
Use Diagramming Tool
to dig into problems &
identify solutions
 Analyze your
diagramming tool to:
 Understand the as-is
process
 Improve stakeholder buy
in
 Fully immerse yourself in
the process
 Perform a deep dive
 Identify the weak spots
and highlight them.
 1. Cause & Effect Diagrams (Fishbone diagrams)
Business
2. SIPOC Diagrams
Process 3. High Level Process Map
Improvement 4. Detailed Process Map
Mapping 5. Relationship map
Tools 6. Pareto Chart
Tip- Don’t Overthink Process Mapping

Some courses teach Why? Process mapping Your process maps By keeping process
only process mapping- without leadership should be intuitive, maps simple, you can
this isn’t valuable. and understanding clear, and help you gain stakeholder
how business process learn and support easier and
improvement works communicate a spend more time
end-to-end won’t lead process. understanding the
to much. process and finding
improvement
opportunities.
1. Fishbone Diagram
Fishbone Diagram

 A fishbone diagram organizes the possible causes of a

problem into a visual format that can be quickly
understood. This is also known as a cause-and-effect
diagram.
 The fishbone diagram is most useful when you are
identifying possible causes for a problem.
 It is especially useful when a team’s thinking tends to fall
into a rut. This can help you rethink the problem in a
different way.
Fishbone Diagram

 List the 4-6 main possible causes of the problem

 Ask: “Why does this happen?” As each idea is given, the facilitator
writes it as a branch from the appropriate category. Causes can be
written in several places if they relate to several categories.
 Again ask “why does this happen?” about each cause. Write sub–
causes branching off the causes. Continue to ask “Why?” and generate
deeper levels of causes. Layers of branches indicate causal
relationships.
 When the group runs out of ideas, focus attention to places on the
chart where ideas are few.
Scenario
Application
 Problem: Sales are
declining. The Preparation
time to cook, prepare, and
serve hotdogs to customers
is too slow and inefficient.
 Effect: Customers are
unhappy and going
elsewhere for their
purchases as the line is too
long to wait in.
 The Solution: ??? That’s what
we will work through
together!
Fishbone  Stop here and try filling in the Fishbone
Diagram yourself.
Diagram- You  Then test your knowledge by continuing
Try to the next lecture.
Fishbone Diagram- Completed
2. SIPOC
SIPOC Diagram

 Another brainstorming tool

 A SIPOC diagram is a tool used by a team to identify all
relevant elements of a process improvement project before
work begins.
 The team begins by considering:
 the suppliers (the ‘S’ in SIPOC) of your process,
 the inputs (the ‘I’) to the process,
 the process (the ‘P’) your team is improving,
 the outputs (the ‘O’) of the process, and
 the customers (the ‘C’) that receive the process outputs.
2. SIPOC- You Try

 Stop here and try filling in the SIPOC yourself.

 Then test your knowledge by continuing to the
next lecture.
2. SIPOC- Completed
3. High
Level
Process
Map
High Level Process

 The High-Level Process Map should be a visual representation

of the sequence of steps and decisions needed to perform a
process that represents the process as it is.
 Each step in the sequence is noted within by a standard
shape.
 Steps are linked by connecting lines and directional arrows.
This allows anyone to view the diagram and logically follow
the process from beginning to end.
 The Optional use of Swimlane Diagrams
 Most often, Swimlane diagrams are used by multi-department
organizations to illustrate cooperative business processes.
3. High Level Process Map- You Try

 Stop
here and try filling in the High Level Process
Map yourself.
 Then test your knowledge by continuing to the
next lecture.
3. High Level Process Map-Completed
4. Detailed Process Map
Detailed Process Mapp
 Often impractical in real-world scenarios
 Who has time to remember all of these
shapes and constantly reference a
guidebook?
 More shapes for specific scenarios and
interactions
 Use rectangles for events and diamonds
for decision points
 Both the Detailed & High Level Process
Map can utilize swim lanes
5. Relationship Map
Relationship Map

 Relationship Maps are technically not process maps since they

don’t detail the work that is done, but what they do is show
the participants involved and how materials, paper or
information flows between them.
 The steps to create a relationship map are the following:
 1. List out all the parties involved in the process
 2. Write them all down in a clear area. Draw arrows that
connect the participants and document the nature and
direction of the relationships.
 3. Once you have completed a rough draft, redesigning your
notes into an organized graph like the one depicted above.
5. Relationship Map- You Try

 Stophere and try filling in the Relationship Map

yourself.
 Then test your knowledge by continuing to the
next lecture.
5.Relationship
Map
6. Pareto Chart

A Pareto chart is a graphical tool to map and

grade business process problems from the most
recurrent to the least frequent.
 Leads to the “ah ha” insights.
 This helps to identify the most frequently
occurring problems or separate the vital few from
the trivial many.
 “Pictures say a 1,000 words”
 How to
Make a
Pareto
Chart in
Excel
Pareto Example for Simulation

 The Pareto helps us see what is “noise” and what matters

Getting Information to Map
Processes
 Now we have learned about the different
types of process maps and diagrams.
 Let’s spend some time learning best
practices on how to collect information
and learn more about the process we
illustrate.
 Getting the right information is critical to
understanding and ultimately improving a
process.
 Get a full review of the
Review process from the people most
involved and knowledgeable.

The Avoid Avoid making assumptions.

Importance
of Process Avoid
Avoid using faulty
assumptions.

Reviews
Get buy in for your
Get improvement effort.
 Walk Through the Process.

DMAIC- D
Define: Identify, Organize, and Document the
Steps in the Process.

Process
Ask Clarifying Questions and Gather
Mapping Metrics.

Steps
Complete the Process Charts/Diagrams.
 Use something to take notes
quickly with.

Documenting Type up handwritten notes right

the Process after conversation to remember
context of notes.
Reviews
Re-confirm your notes taken
with the process owner.
 Do simple tasks take a long time to complete?

Do miscommunications occur?

Process
Review Is there a checklist of tasks that are followed and
completed in order each month?

Questions Do people have an understanding on why they may

do a certain task?

Are reports being generated and sent out but are

not being used?
 Do people take
Are people
advantage of the
utilizing Excel
functionality of
lookup formulas
Excel or are
to complete
Process they manually
keying data into
spreadsheets?
data
analysis/entry?

Review
Questions Do people
complain that
Does a backlog
their work is
of work exist?
cumbersome and
arduous?
Process Review Questions

Was a process Are there many Are there external

Are there frequent
inherited from people do similar databases, 3rd party
and urgent requests
someone else and has things across the web tools, and home-
for data (known as
never been organization but in grown solutions in
fire drill exercises).
reviewed? different ways? place?

Are people working Have the same

Are deadlines
late hours or through people been in the
frequently missed or
their lunch breaks same role for a long
delayed?
consistently? period of time?
Process Review Questions

Does it add
value?

Can it be
eliminated?

Can it be
automated?

Why is this
process being
done on a piece
of paper?
Ask Effective Questions

Thinking about a problem in the shoes of Questions are most productive when they
another person or stake holder can help are open-ended vs closed, concise vs
to reveal new questions and insights. lengthy, and simple vs complex.
Considerations 1 2 3
to Keep in Mind
While Keep Challenge Ask
Conducting • Keep it Simple. • Challenge every process
step, every piece of
• Ask “Stupid Questions.”

Process Reviews
paper, every input and
every output.
DMAIC: M-
Measure
 Use Measures to determine how
effective a process is currently
to after you make
improvements
 Build a process or methodology
to collect and monitor the
results consistently
 This helps you build credibility
What are process metrics?

 Process metrics give data trackers both quantitative and qualitative ways to
evaluate an operation.
 Measuring these statistics can help you assess and improve operational
performance across an entire company.
 Determining which metrics best fit your processes can give you the right data
to make informed decisions.
 There are three major categories of process metrics, which include:
• Static process metrics: Relate to the properties of a defined process
• Dynamic process metrics: Relate to the performance of a process
• Process evolution metrics: Relate to making changes within a process over
time
16 types of process metrics

 1. Efficiency
 Efficiency is input-output ratio. It's how fast you can do something accurately or
how to make something with the fewest resources.
 Efficiency can reveal production waste.
 Formula for this metric: Efficiency = production time / total process time
 2. Productivity
 Productivity is how much you can do in hours. It's usually shown as a ratio of
production to resources. Productivity helps compare employees, methods, and
processes.
16 types of process metrics

 3. Cycle time
 Cycle time is the total duration of a process. Cycle time is measured in hours, days,
or years, depending on the process. A sweater's cycle time may include buying and
receiving raw materials, creation, and shipment. These smaller processes affect
cycle time.
 4. Turnaround time
 From order to delivery, turnaround time is measured. Customers measure
turnaround time, not producers. Cycle time can cover multiple business processes.
16 types of process metrics

 5. Takt time
 Takt time is the time required to finish one unit before starting another. Chocolate
bars may have a 15-second takt time. They can start a new batch every 15 seconds.
 6. Throughput
 Throughput is the rate of production. Throughput emphasizes speed over quantity,
unlike productivity.
 Metric formula:Throughput = units produced/production time per unit
 Stationery companies may want to measure greeting card production throughput.
They produce two cards per hour if they make 400 in 200 hours.
16 types of process metrics

 7. Error rate
 Error rate, also known as failure rate or defect rate, measures production cycle
errors. This percentage shows how many units or products failed your quality
control test.
 Formula for error rate: Error rate = units produced/errors
 A silverware manufacturer could calculate the error rate to determine how many
packages were missing utensils. If 25% of 500 silverware units were missing spoons,
the error rate would be 20%.
 8. Effectiveness
 Effectiveness compares process results to expectations. You want 100%
effectiveness, meaning your results met your expectations. Time, cost, and quality
determine effectiveness.
16 types of process metrics

 9. Cost-effectiveness
 Cost-effectiveness measures the cost of a benefit. Cost-effectiveness measures unit
or service costs. It measures non-financial factors like health outcomes.
 10. Capacity
 Capacity is the number of units you can produce in a given time. This metric shows
the best output if all factors were perfect, unlike productivity and throughput.
16 types of process metrics

 11. Quality rate

 The quality rate is the opposite of the error rate and shows how many units or
products meet your quality standards.
 Quality rate formula: Quality rate = (total quality units / total units produced) x
100.
 A soap company that produced 750 bottles of liquid handwash may find that 698 of
them met their standards. 93% quality.
 12. Profitability
 Profitability is the ratio of sales to production costs.
 Formula for this metric:Profit = sales – expenses
 If a cell phone company made $100,000 in sales in the last quarter and spent
$25,000 to produce all batches of products, their profit would be $75,000.
16 types of process metrics

 13. Competitiveness
 Your competitiveness metric compares you to market competitors. Market share
shows a company's market control.
 Market share formula:Market share = (company sales revenue/market sales
revenue) x 100.
 A day planner company with $160,000 in sales and a 13% market share has
$1,250,000 in sales.
 14. Value
 Value compares a product's price to what customers think it's worth. Location,
necessity, and competition can make any product valuable or not. A $3,000-per-
month one-bedroom apartment in a small suburb may be a bad deal, but in a big
city, it may be a good deal.
16 types of process metrics

 15. Return on investment (ROI)

 ROI measures the profit-to-investment ratio. This metric shows if a campaign or
process is profitable.
 ROI formula: ROI = [(total sales - total investment)/total investment] x 100.
 If a record player company received $100,000 in investments for its latest venture
and sold $400,000 in profit in the last quarter, its ROI would be 300%.
 16. Timeliness
 Timeliness indicates whether you can finish the task on time. Timeliness
determines how productive and efficient your process must be to meet a supplier's
three-week delivery deadline.
Identifying Process Metrics
Number Number of invoices processed

Number Number of check requests processed

Number Number of lines of data entered into the system

Number Number of A/P checks issued

Number Number of recurring payments

Number Number of incoming voucher errors

Number Number of invoices requiring adjustment after being input in the system
Identifying Process Metrics

Approval date
Cycle Time – Invoice date to Receipt by A/P
to receipt by
number of days approval date to payment
A/P

Number of Number of Number of

Number of
payment invoices vendors listed in
payments made
templates setup received the vendor
electronically
in the system electronically master file

Number of Number of
Number of
manually checks requiring
voided A/P
processed A/P a manual
checks
checks signature
Measure to Prove Results

 Choose several metrics to

quantitively prove the process is
more effective after your
improvements
 This helps you to quantify the
value to add to your organization
and career
 If you choose to pursue a project
management certification, this is
required to qualify.
 Been identified
Now that a process
Been mapped &
improvement diagramed
opportunity has: Been measured

Analyze to We need to pressure test and assess

Make Sense the process to ensure its fully
understood.
of Processes
If we don’t understand why the
process is really broken, a potential
solution may miss the mark.
DMAIC: A- Analyze

One of the best ways to break down a process and

develop a deep understanding is using the 5 Why’s
method

It is a collaborative and comprehensive approach

that has been proven over time in many industries
and challenges.
Analyze: Five Why’s
 Kiichiro Toyoda- founder of
Toyota Motor Corporation.
The Five
"Observe the production floor
Whys- without preconceptions.“
Origins
Go directly to the source and
keep asking, "Why?"
 The 5 Whys technique
can be a very useful in There are 4 main
day-to-day life (Things benefits to the use of
involving human Five Whys:
interactions or factors.

Five Whys: 1st; this approach lets

us quickly determine
2nd; there are no
additional costs

The What
the root cause of the incurred under its
problem usage

3rd; this approach helps 4th; simplicity. We just

in determining the keep asking why and
relationship between drilling into deeper
various problem causes levels of understanding.
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Step 1. Step 2. Define Step 3. Ask the Step 4. Ask Step 5. Know Step 6. Step 7.Monitor
Assemble a the Problem First "Why?“ "Why?" Four When to Stop Implement a Your Measures
Team More Times Asking solution

Five Whys-> Seven Steps to

Understanding
Step 1. Assemble a Team

 Meet and discuss

the problem.
 Designate someone
as a leader if one is
not already
present.
 The leader can help
provide guidance
and refocus the
group when
necessary.
Step 2. Define
the Problem
 Watch the problem
in action.
 Create
a clear
problem statement.
 Writethe problem
statement down.
Step 3. Ask the
First "Why?"
 Brainstormthe
root cause of the
problem.
 Don’tguess and do
challenge ideas.
 Record answers
clearly.
 Problem: Sales are declining

Why are customers leaving?

Why
Step 3. Ask
the First Why
"Why" Why

Why
Step 4. Ask "Why?"
Four More Times

 Build off of the first

answer.
 Rephrase the inquiry
each time to respond to
the answer that we just
recorded.
 Continue to repeat until
you reach the end of
the process.
 Problem: Sales are declining

Why are customers leaving?

Step 4. Why it takes too long for them to receive their

order
Ask "Why" Why there is no line system and orders are
created individually
Four More
Why the hotdog cart worker never received
Times training

Why the owner never considered efficient order

taking and batch assembly to be an issue
Conclusion

 Review and discuss the

findings.
 Develop a potential
conclusion
 The hot dog problem can
be solved by implementing
a system to take orders in
an organized manner
implementing a new
process to assemble
multiple orders at once
  The process is finished when
Step 5. Know the team cannot produce any
further root causes to the
When to Stop problem.
Asking  If the answers collected
aren’t good enough, consider
a different approach.
 Assign responsibility.

Step 6.
Implement a Educate.
Solution

Follow up.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your
Project
DMAIC: I-
Improve
Implement the Solution to Improve the
Process
 In Improve, we tie everything
together
 Before implementing, do one
last check to ensure we
covered all the bases to set
ourselves up for success.
 Then, we implement and
move on to Control
afterward.
Devise the Improvement Plan

Be SMART: specific, Ensure you “check”

Bring all the past measurable, all the foundational
lessons together. attainable, realistic, boxes from this
and time-bound. course

Follow the “10 Once again,

Create a step-by-
Commandments of communication is
step process plan.
CI” key.
Follow the “10 Commandments of CI”
Redesigning the Process
and Implementation
Checklist
 Build alliances
 Project sponsor &
stakeholder management
 Provide the resources
 Project sponsors
 Create the right
environment
 Stakeholder management
& culture
Redesigning the Process
and Implementation
Fundamentals
 Make it mandatory
 Be data driven
 Employees take
ownership
 Measure
improvement
Redesigning the Process
and Implementation
Fundamentals
 Answer, “What’s in
it For Me?”
 Provide Training on
Improvement Tools
and Techniques
 Update the
Procedures as you
change processes
 Focus Focus on addressing a clear, shared, business frustration.

Engage Engage cross functional teams formed of employees a diverse background.

Challenge and Empower Challenge and empower your team to achieve the goals set forth.

Lead Lead in an authentic, direct and matter of fact way.

How to Lead an Improvement

Initiative
The Four Stages of
Implementation

 Role model
 Show them
 Let them
 Help them
Tips for testing the changes

 When it comes to the test phase, follow these suggestions to bring a process
change to the point where it’s ready for a full rollout.
 Take time testing
 Be sure your testing is thorough. It should include all common scenarios for the
given workflow. Also, use a large enough sample size of test cases to catch issues
with the new process. It’s not enough to test a scenario once, so be prepared to
run through the changes multiple times to ensure you’re seeing consistent results
every time.
 Compile feedback
 Collect feedback throughout the testing phase to determine where further
improvements can be made. It’s rare to create a flawless new process, so this
feedback allows adjustments to happen quickly so that the new process can be fine
tuned and ready to roll out to the broader team or to customers.
Standardize the process

 Ensure your plan objective is to

develop a standardized process.
A new procedure must create
uniformity.
 Doing so improves both
productivity and quality as well
as making sure predictable
outcomes are achieved.
 Here, introducing a technical
solution to streamline the
workflow helps, particularly if
the solution automates many of
the process steps.
Your First Projects
Should Deliver
Quick Wins

 Deliver quick wins

 Remember Kotter’s 8
steps
DMAIC- Overview

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Define the Measure process Analyze the Improve process Control the
problem, performance. process to performance by improved
improvement determine root addressing and process and
activity, causes of eliminating the future process
opportunity for variation, poor root causes. performance.
improvement, performance
the project (defects).
goals, and
customer
(internal and
external)
requirements.
DMAIC: Control

Finally, we tie everything together and We will review some best practices and
implement the final step to ensure the tips to ensure your Controls avoid common
process improvement has stuck. pitfalls and are successful.
Why Do Business
Process
Improvement
Projects Fail?
 The most common reasons
that projects fail:
 Lack of support from the top
 The organizational culture
 Non-cooperative team members
 Project team is not
representative
 Process not fully understood
Control- Set the
Process up for Success
 Use metrics to measure
and control
 Document and train
 Periodically revisit the
process to ensure the
solution has stuck.
 If not, prepare to adjust
and document.
Using the 80/20 Rule
to Achieve Efficiency
 The Pareto rule states that roughly
80% of the effects come from 20% of
the causes.
 This applies to Business Process
Improvement because as we
investigate issues, we should only look
to solve the biggest problems and do
not need to worry about every last
detail.
Monitor and optimize

 Collect more feedback

 Continue to collect feedback from stakeholders, especially now that the process
changes are live across the organization. You’ll have a broader group of
participants to more comprehensively assess how the revised process is working.
 In addition, be sure to use data analysis in your monitoring and optimization efforts
so you can not only review measurable outcomes but also share these results with
stakeholders.
 Keep improving
 Even after you’ve achieved all objectives for the new process, consider how you
can continue to drive your company’s operational excellence further.
 Like Amazon’s push from two-day delivery to one, look through the lens of the
customer experience to identify how you can do more. Here, gap analysis provides
an ideal framework for evolving your operations.
Critical Leadership
Qualities for
Business Process
Improvement
Who Wants
to Change?
 Articulate the concerns of those who resist
change.

Communicate, Explain the likely consequences of not changing.

Communicate,
Communicate Explain the possibilities the future holds.

Describe the transition plan you have developed

to support the shift from the current to the future
state.
Communicating Your Process
Improvement
 Effective communications and documentation
will help you accelerate the pace of positive
change.
 You might think about the following:
 Frequently communicating strategic
goals and annual objectives
 Deploying improvement management
software
 Using digital wallboards to visualize
work-in-progress
 Using daily huddle meetings to structure
the day's improvement activities
 Measuring employee engagement and
activity
 Improving cross-functional information
sharing and collaboration
Perspective MAINTAIN AN OPEN MIND
 LEAD BY RESPECT

EXAMPLE
Active Listening LISTEN TO WHAT IS SAID AND
WHAT SOMEONE MEANS TO SAY
Tips and
Advice
Lessons Learned

LEARN A NEW PROCESS IN ITS MAKE SURE THAT THE NEW UNDERSTAND WHICH PROCESSES
ENTIRETY BEFORE TRYING TO RE- PROCESS CAN REPLICATE THE ARE INTERDEPENDENT AND
WRITE IT. OLD. WHICH ARE DEPENDENT.
Lessons Learned

This will undercut

Do not submit an
your trust and
underdeveloped
credibility within
solution.
your organization.

Do not improve a
Time/effort will be
process without
spent on a solution
management buy
that is never used.
in.
Lessons Learned
Be
Always Be Learning. Being on the razor’s
edge can help you understand the newest
tools and opportunities that you can help
your firm exploit.
Talk
Talk to other experts. Share war stories.
Most of the learning comes through real life
experiences and not textbook knowledge.
Frequent Roadblocks & FAQs
Why would I stop doing what
works for me now?
Share best practices in your field. Share the
benefits of the change and the reason for
doing so. Spend time with a user to quash
all concerns. This can be something as easy
as showing someone how to use Excel more
efficiently and store files on a shared
server.
You don’t have the authority
to tell me what to do!
Explain your role as a business partner. With
the support of management behind you,
hint that you do have explicit authority to
proceed. But focus on using implicit
authority and fly under the radar.
 Projects will only be improved if people think
that you are competent and that you are
The liked. to your work and then
The alternative is subterfuge
a disregard for your solution.
Importance of
Relationships
to Process Think of your business partners as customers
Improvements whom you want to delight.
They will spread word of how you have made their
work and life easier, and more people will head in
your direction.
Celebrate

 Reward performance
 Recognize
each team
member’s impact
 Gatherlessons
learned
 Repeat when you’re
ready