Using the Tools in Your Performance Excellence Toolbox: Part 13 Improving Your Process – Tools

Using the Tools in Your Performance Excellence Toolbox: Part 13

Improving Your Process – Tools

 This is the thirtieth in a series of posts on using performance excellence tools.  You know better than to slap a Band-Aid on a problem.  You must permanently fix the root cause(s) of the problem.  Here are a few tools to use.

First our old friends the Histogram, Pareto Chart and Brainstorming can be used in this stage.  The first two help you measure results of ideas that you come up with as part of Brainstorming potential solutions.  You use them the same way as covered in the earlier posts.

You may want to use the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to evaluate ideas that are generated.  This helps you systematically evaluate critique and determine the viability of a potential solution.  It allows you to accept as is, modify or reject a potential solution with the minimal amount of effort, e.g. time, money, staff.

Though you may have run into the issue of change management in earlier stages, it is in the Improve stage that you need to begin to seriously address the issue.  Change management is a complex issue requiring a serious of post of their own.   However, there are a few tools that come to hand in assessing the degree of difficulty or obstacles if you prefer, that you may encounter.  Forewarned is forearmed.

First you might have picked up from your VOC work inclinations of individuals towards the project.  Is there overt or covert negative reaction to the project?  Even initial positive reaction can be a potential change management issue, best summed up as too much, too soon or impatience of people wanting something before it is ready.  You can lose your support through delays or miscommunications.

Second is the Commitment Scale a simple looking tool that takes some practice and skill development to actually be used effectively.

You (royal YOU – team, sponsor, etc.) complete the Commitment Scale following the steps in  Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Commitment Scale

The need for skill comes in with the need to accurately determine the individuals’ or groups’ current level of commitment to the project and the level you need to move them to in order to be successful.

You then build the mitigation plan for moving them from their current position to the needed level.

The Commitment Scale can be used to assess the commitment of individuals or groups of people who are outside the team.  For example, there may be within the organization a person not on the team but who has the political capital to make you or break you and has direct or indirect interest in the project (stakeholder).  I have developed an Influence Level Scale that I feel does a better job when used in conjunction with (prior to) the Commitment Scale.

Identify who the stakeholders are that you will be dealing with.  They can be divided into five categories.

• Power broker – an individual who has the power to manipulate the information flow, budget, communication, etc. concerning the project under consideration.  They may or may not be obvious in the decision making process.
• Decision maker – an individual who has the decision making power.  This may be a single person with straight up Yes or No decision powers or one who has strong influence with other decision makers.  They may or may not be the process owner.
• Influencers – an individual who does not have decision making power but who can influence the decision makers.  Often these are subject matter experts.
• Advisor – an individual who may be asked for their advice and input.  They do not have any decision making power.
• Follower – an individual who follows the decisions being made.  They have no input into the decision making process.

Be certain that you are dealing with the right people.  If you do not have the ear of the power brokers and decision makers, you are not going to make any headway or at best waste an enormous about of effort in gaining headway.

Using the Influence Level Scale (Figure 2), determine the influence that each person has on the success of the project.

Figure 2 – Example of Influence Level Scale Developed by Process Improvement for Non-Profits

After you have identified and classified the stakeholders’ influence, determine what level of commitment to the project you will need them to be successful using the Commitment Scale.