Process Mapping: Part 2.

In an earlier post, I had outlined how to construct a simple flowchart. In this post, let us see how can add more detail and enhance this flowchart using different techniques like SIPOC (six sigma), value stream mapping (lean), swim lane etc.

Swim lane diagrams: This is an extension of flowcharts and includes additional details like

• Actors: The people, groups, teams, etc, who are performing the steps identified within the process.
• Phases: These might reflect the phases of the project, different areas of the project, or any secondary set of key elements that the process flow needs to traverse to successfully complete this process.

Some times, these are also called cross functional flowcharts. This method of allows you to quickly and easily plot and follow processes and, in particular, the handoffs between processes, departments and teams and identify inefficiencies easily.
For example, if you look at the image shown, the flow chart is extended with additional information (phases are distinctly listed in the columns and the actors are listed in the rows).



SIPOC diagrams: This is an extension of flowcharts and clearly indicates the suppliers, input, process, output and customers. In some cases, the process can be shown not only in a simple flowchart but also using swim lanes. SIPOC depiction of the process is very useful because it clearly identifies who supplies the information, which organization is impacted by the process and who generates the output and what the deliverables are.



Value stream mapping: This is an extension of flow charts & swim lanes and clearly identifies management and information systems that support the basic process. This methodology started as part of LEAN manufacturing with an emphasis on reducing wastes within manufacturing, but the benefits of using this across all business processes are valuable. The primary goal of this depiction is to clearly identify value added and non value added tasks performed in order to minimize wastes. It clearly outlines all tasks tasks, cycle time for each of the tasks so that the reviewer/management can identify how the process can be improved.



"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Process Mapping: Part 1

Process Mapping refers to activities involved in defining a business process (Who does What, When, Where, how and Why). Once this is done, there can be no uncertainty as to the requirements of every internal business process.

It is a visual depiction of the sequence of events that occur from the beginning to the end of the business process.

Process maps can be constructed using a number of different techniques like flowcharts, swim lanes, process maps. Six Sigma methodologies recommend using a SIPOC approach. SIPOC stands for supplier, input, process, output and customers to clearly identify the handoffs, the inputs and outputs.

Let us start with the simplest approach, a flowchart.

How does one create a process map with a flowchart?

Step 1: Determine the Boundaries: Identify the start and end of the processes. Observe the process in action (if possible).

Step 2: List the Steps in the process. My recommendation is to start with post-it notes, identify the steps.

Step 3: Sequence the Steps: now place the post-it notes in the order

Step 4: Draw Appropriate Symbols

1. Start with the basic symbols:
2. Ovals show input to start the process or output at the end of the process.
3. Boxes or rectangles show task or activity performed in the process.
4. Arrows show process direction flow.
5. Diamonds show points in the process where a yes/no questions are asked or a decision is required.
6. Usually there is only one arrow out of an activity box. If there is more than one arrow, you may need a decision diamond.

Step 5: Finalize the Flowchart

1. Check for completeness and duplication/redundancy
   
2. Ask if this process is being run the way it should be.
3. Do we have a consensus?

Here is an example of flow chart.



"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are metrics used to help an organization define and evaluate how successful it is, typically in terms of making progress towards its long-term organizational goals.

KPI’s can be specified by answering the question, "What is really important to stakeholders?”. KPI’s evaluate business data against business goals and display current status by using easy-to-understand graphical indicators. For example, a KPI can use traffic light icons to indicate that customer satisfaction is exceeding, meeting, or failing to meet goals.

KPI’s are quantifiable measurements, agreed to beforehand, that reflect the critical success factors of an organization.

They will differ depending on the organization. A business may have as one of its Key Performance Indicators the percentage of its income that comes from return customers. A school may focus its Key Performance Indicators on graduation rates of its students. A Customer Service Department’s Key Performance Indicators could be percentage of customer calls answered in the first minute. A Key Performance Indicator for a social service organization might be number of clients assisted during the year.

Guidelines: refer to the posting Metrics

Categorization of indicators
KPIs can be summarized into the following sub-categories:
Quantitative indicators which can be presented as a number.
Practical indicators that interface with existing company processes.
Directional indicators specifying whether an organization is getting better or not.
Actionable indicators are sufficiently in an organization's control to effect change.
Financial indicators used in performance measurement

Are KPI’s and metrics interchangeable?
The term "metric" is generic. It is typically used to mean just about any sort of measurement applied to gauge a particular business process or activity. KPI’s are metrics, too, but they are "key" metrics. KPI’s are meant to gauge progress toward vital, strategic objectives usually defined by upper management, as opposed to the more generic metric used to measure a more mundane (i.e., less strategic) process. The goal is to foster greater visibility, better execution of strategy, faster reaction to opportunities and threats, and improved collaboration and coordination across key business operations

In previous posts, I had outlined SWOT analysis and setting strategy based on the analysis. KPI’s provide a way of measuring progress towards accomplishing the goals set by the strategy. In this post, I have outlined the definition and details regarding KPI’s and in upcoming posts, I will discuss performance management and evolution of balanced scorecards.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

SWOT Strategy

In a previous blog entry, I had described how to go about SWOT analysis. Now that you have completed the analysis and created a matrix of your Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats, let us discuss how you can construct a strategy to address your findings.

You will have to match each component with one another. For example, match the internal strengths with external opportunities and list the resulting Strengths / Opportunities strategies in the matrix chart. This will result in four strategy types, which are:

S-O strategies pursue opportunities that match the company’s strengths. These are the best strategies to employ, but many firms are not in a position to do so. Companies will generally pursue one or several of the other three strategies first to be able to apply Strengths-Opportunities strategies.

W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities. Your job is to match internal weaknesses with external opportunities and list the resulting Weaknesses-Opportunities strategies

S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. Your job is to match internal strengths with external threats and list the resulting Strengths-Threats Strategies

W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firm’s weaknesses from making it susceptible to external threats. Your job is to match the internal weaknesses with external threats and record the resulting Weaknesses-Threats Strategies

Here are some examples on the type of strategies based on SWOT analysi:

Strength-Opportunity Strategies
Expand
Increase advertising
Develop new products
Diversify

Strength-Threat Strategies
Diversify
Acquire competitor
Expand
Re-engineer

Weakness-Opportunity Strategies
Joint venture
Acquire competitor
Expand

Weakness-Threat Strategies
Divest
Retrench
Restructure

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a methodology used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving success.

Successful businesses and individuals build on their strengths, correct their weaknesses and protect against internal vulnerabilities and external threats. They can monitor overall business environment and quickly identify and exploit new opportunities faster than competitors.

SWOT analysis can be used for all sorts of decision-making, and the SWOT template enables proactive thinking, rather than relying on habitual or instinctive reactions.

SW – Strengths & Weakness are influenced by internal factors – the strengths and weaknesses of the organization or individual. These are competences and resources that the organization or individual possesses and that are under their control.

OT - Opportunities & Threats are influenced by external factors that an organization or individual faces from trends and changes in their environment. These external factors are not under the control or influence of the organization or individual

How do I go about it?

(1) Start with an objective

(2) Now/Present: identify your strengths and weakness,

a. Strengths

i. What are your advantages?
ii. What do you do well?

b. Weaknesses

i. What could you improve?
ii. What do you do badly?
iii. What should you avoid?

(3) Future/What might be?: identify potential opportunities and threats

a. Opportunities

i. Where are the good opportunities in front of you?
ii. What are the interesting trends you are aware of?

b. Threats

i. What obstacles do you face?
ii. What is your competition doing?
iii. Is changing technology threatening your position?
iv. Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your potential?

(4) Develop a plan of action to

a. maximize strengths to turn them into opportunities,

b. maintain and leverage strengths

c. convert weakness into strengths, create a remedial action plan to improve

d. counter or minimize threats, if not threats will turn into weakness

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Problem solving 101, Part 3.

Cause and Effect Diagrams were developed by Kauro Ishikawa of Tokyo University in 1943. Cause-and-effect diagrams or fish bone are used to list the many and varied causes that can be attributed to a problem. These diagrams can help identify the reasons why a process is not performing as intended or hoped.
Cause and Effect Diagrams help you to think through causes of a problem thoroughly. Cause and Effect Diagrams are also known as fish bone Diagrams, because a completed diagram can look like the skeleton of a fish.
How to Use the Tool:
Follow these steps to solve a problem with a Cause and Effect Diagram:
Identify the problem:
Write down the exact problem you face in detail. Where appropriate identify who is involved, what the problem is, and when and where it occurs. Write the problem in a box on the left hand side of a large sheet of paper. Draw a line across the paper horizontally from the box. This arrangement, looking like the head and spine of a fish, gives you space to develop ideas.
Work out the major factors involved:
Next identify the factors that may contribute to the problem. Draw lines off the spine for each factor, and label it. These may be people involved with the problem, systems, equipment, materials, external forces, etc. Try to draw out as many possible factors as possible. If you are trying to solve the problem as part of a group, then this may be a good time for some brainstorming. Using the ‘Fish bone’ analogy, the factors you find can be thought of as the bones of the fish.
Identify possible causes:
For each of the factors you considered in stage 2, brainstorm possible causes of the problem that may be related to the factor. Show these as smaller lines coming off the ‘bones’ of the fish. Where a cause is large or complex, then it may be best to break the it down into sub-causes. Show these as lines coming off each cause line.
Analyze your diagram:
By this stage you should have a diagram showing all the possible causes of your problem that you can think of. Depending on the complexity and importance of the problem, you can now investigate the most likely causes further. This may involve setting up investigations, carrying out surveys, etc. These will be designed to test whether your assessments are correct.
Strengths
Rigorous analysis which overlooks no possible problem source
creates an easy to understand visual representation of the causes, categories of causes, and the problem statement
Weakness
The simplicity of a fishbone diagram can be both its strength and its weakness. As a weakness, the simplicity of the fishbone diagram may make it difficult to represent the truly interrelated nature of problems and causes in some very complex situations.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Problem solving 101, Part 2.

In early 1990’s Ford Motor Company introduced a standardized set of steps to be followed in solving problems by quality improvement teams within the company. These eight step process of problem solving is known as 8D (Eight disciplines). It is the basis for all subsequent problem solving technique developments such as 6D, 7D, 9D and 10d.
The 8D is a methodology for product and process improvement, with an emphasis on team synergy.
The 8 steps are
D1. Establish the Team. Assemble a cross-functional team that has the knowledge, time, authority and skill to solve the problem and implement corrective actions. And set the structure, goals, roles, procedures and relationships to establish an effective team.
D2. Describe the Problem. Define the problem in measurable terms. Specify the internal or external customer problem by describing it in specific, quantifiable terms: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, How many.
D3. Implement Containment Actions. Define and implement those intermediate actions that will protect any customer from the problem until permanent corrective action is implemented. Verify the effectiveness of the containment actions with data.
D4. Identify and Verify Root Causes. Identify all potential causes that could explain why the problem occurred. Test each potential cause against the problem description and data.
D5. Choose and Verify Corrective Actions. Confirm that the selected corrective actions will resolve the problem for the customer and will not cause undesirable side effects.
D6. Implement and Validate Permanent Corrective Actions. Choose ongoing controls to ensure the root cause is eliminated.
D7. Prevent Recurrence. Identify and implement steps that need to be taken to prevent the same or a similar problem from occurring in the future:
D8. Congratulate the Team. Recognize the collective efforts of your team. Publicize your achievement. Share your knowledge and learning throughout the organization
Strengths
• Effective approach at finding a root cause, developing proper actions to eliminate root causes, and implementing the permanent corrective action.
Weakness
• 8D training can be time consuming and difficult to develop.
Usage
• Major non-conformances
• Customer complaints
• Reoccurring issues

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Problem solving 101, Part 1.

The first step in problem solving is to understand the symptoms and then try to identify the root cause. There are many methodologies widely used. The “5 Whys” method is a simple method and can be effective in most cases.

For most problems, we can get to the root cause by drilling into proposed explanations by repeatedly asking "Why?" The 5 Whys method was developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation. It is based on the observation that five iterations of asking "Why?" is usually enough to get to the root cause of most real world problems.
Example
The following example demonstrates the basic process: My car will not start. (the problem)
Why? - The battery is dead. (first why)
Why? - The alternator is not functioning. (second why)
Why? - The alternator belt has broken. (third why)
Why? - The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and has never been replaced. (fourth why)
Why? - I have not been maintaining my car according to the recommended service schedule. (fifth why, root cause)

Strengths
1. It helps to quickly determine the root cause of a problem
2. It is easy to learn and apply

Weakness
1. The results are not repeatable. We may well end up with different results depending on who runs the exercise.
2. Inability to go beyond the investigator's current knowledge - can't find causes that they don't already know

Getting to the true root cause can be tricky to a beginner! but continued practice of this exercise help. Don't stop at the first or second simple answer, or be blinded by the symptoms or settle for the first ‘apparent’ cause. The first ‘cause’ offered is almost never the real root cause.

Even though this method was popularized by Toyota, this method of inquiry has been around for ages. I remember a poem/song my wife sings to our son.

For want of a nail a shoe was lost,
for want of a shoe a horse was lost,
for want of a horse a rider was lost,
for want of a rider an army was lost,
for want of an army a battle was lost,
for want of a battle the war was lost,
for want of the war the kingdom was lost,

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Continuous improvement Vs Continual improvement

"Continuous improvement" and "Continual improvement" are used interchangeably and shouldn't be used in that manner!. There is a difference. Let us start by analyzing the semantics of these words.

Continuous indicates duration without interruption.
Continual indicates duration that continues over a long period of time, but with intervals of interruption.

Continuous improvement means that organizations are in a constant state of driving process improvements. This involves a focus on linear and incremental improvement within existing processes.
Continual improvements means that organizations go through process improvements in stages and these stages are separated by a period of time. This period of time might be necessary to understand if the improvements did actually help the bottom line! In some cases, the results might take a while to come to fruition.

After researching this, I have found that the usage of these terms is very loose and interchangeably…A number of authors have recently published their opinions indicating that continual improvement is of a broader scope than continuous improvement.
I agree with their sentiment and in my opinion, it is best to focus on continual improvement and ensure that learning is captured through effective knowledge management.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Process Improvement Methodologies.

From my research into methodologies I have found that the two most popular methods are (1) PDCA and (2) DMAIC.

PDCA ("Plan-Do-Check-Act") is an iterative four-step problem-solving process typically used in business process improvement. PDCA was made popular by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, who is considered by many to be the father of modern quality control;
Plan – What are you going to do?
Do – Based on analysis, decide on solution.
Check – Verify the solution worked.
Act – Standardize and decide on next PDCA step.
When you are done with PDCA, you do it again. Or, in other words, you are never done because you must practice continuous quality improvements.

DMAIC ("Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control")is a five step process involving the following steps. DMAIC is one of the two key method used in Six Sigma (business management strategy, initially implemented by Motorola).
Define high-level project goals and the current process.
Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
Analyze the data to verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered.
Improve or optimize the process based upon data analysis using techniques like Design of experiments.
Control to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects.

PDCA and DMAIC are very similar, but have some differences. PDCA emphasizes more the need to repeat the steps, while DMAIC adds the Control step lacking in PDCA.

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"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Metrics!

What is a metric?
A metric is essentially a clear, quantitative, objective measure to assess performance or progress towards a goal.

Metrics can identify important events and trends in the organization and can help guide the organization toward informed decisions.

Every metric will affect actions and decisions.


Guidelines for developing metrics: Metrics and measurements should indicate the ability to meet established business goals (customer satisfaction, cost reduction, improved quality, productivity and cycle time)
1. Ensure that the metrics are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time bound)
2. Ensure that the metrics are relevant to the business goals
3. Ensure that the metrics are clearly grouped together to indicate the value for e.g. performance to business goals
4. Include past performance to indicate how today compares to the past
5. Keep it simple
6. The metrics should be able to tell the story!

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Metrics: Effectivess Versus Efficiency

Before you go through improving processes, try and understand how the process is working today.

How do you know if the process is working? Try and get to know how the process is measured and analyzed. What are the metrics? Are these metrics related to Effectiveness or are they related to Efficiency?

Are they these the same? No

Effectiveness means that the job was done correctly. Whereas, efficiency means that the job was accomplished on time.

Another way to look at it...you hire a data entry person who has to enter data into multiple spreadsheets/data systems. How do you know if this person is working properly and is doing the job you hired them for?

(1) Did you have to correct the data? If yes how many times did you do so? Effectiveness.
(2) Did the person complete the activity within the time allocated? Efficiency.

Each and every process should ideally have measurement of effectiveness and efficiency. If these metrics don’t exist; Work with management, key stakeholders, process owners and the worker bees to define these.

Don’t stop here, having measurements/metrics doesn't mean everyone will adhere to these. In order to ensure adherence to standards, you will need a governance/accountability system.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"