Tag Archives: CI tools

Problem Solving, Process Improvement, Project Management

Tools for Solving Problems

puzzle

Persistent problems cannot be solved by repeatedly using the same knowledge and insights. Or, as Albert Einstein phrased it, we can’t solve the problems at the same level of thinking with which we created them!

Few decisions have a greater impact on the likelihood of success of an improvement project than the definition of the problem.

Stephen Covey says that the way we see the problem is the
problem.

Dr. Don Wetmore of the Productivity Institute says that a problem well defined is at least 50% solved!

However you choose to look at it, the way we define and communicate the problem the team is expected to solve will greatly influence the speed and efficiency with which a team will complete its work, the
degree of satisfaction between the team and the project sponsor, and the efficacy with which an organization prioritizes and sequences the problems to devote resources to.

So the first key step to problem solving is to define the problem. Four key best practices for doing so are:

  1. Write it down and share it
  2. Quantify the waste it is causing
  3. Be specific about the metric you are using to size the problem
  4. Avoid judgments or opinions about root causes

Once a problem is well defined, it is often best to use classic problem-solving tools to examine current reality from a variety of different angles. This will most often require the use of multiple tools to reveal more advanced insights and solutions, as in many cases no one tool will provide all the answers. These tools can include:

  • Pareto Charts to explore ideas about possible causes
  • Process Mapping to spot and quantify the waste and trace it to the primary cause
  • Cause and Effect Diagramming to stretch beyond initial ideas about possible root causes
  • Histograms to provide new insights into the dynamics of process performance
  • Run Charts to understand current process performance and distinguish between random variation and special causes
  • Scatter Diagrams to clarify the importance of possible causal factors on results measurements
  • Affinity Diagrams to find breakthrough ideas and natural relationships among the data
  • Priority Matrices to consider alternatives and identify the right things to work on
  • Interrelationship Digraphs to visually demonstrate the relationship among factors—causal factors (drivers) vs. symptoms
Continuous Improvement, Execution

Remove Obstacles to Keep Improvement Projects on Track

obstcle

Continuing with the theme of our previous post, while leadership, communication, and alignment are essential they are not totally sufficient.

People also need the training and skill development to follow the organization’s improvement methodology. Lack of training will prevent people from progressing very far.

But personnel policies or practices can also easily obstruct productivity improvements. Sometimes jobs are defined so narrowly that managers cannot easily move people around to take advantage of productivity improvements. When managers are rewarded financially or in organizational prestige based on the number of people who report to them rather than how efficiently and effectively they operate, managers have powerful disincentives to increase productivity and move their people to where they would add more value.

Often organizations lack an effective mechanism to match up the skills and capability that one department has in excess resources with the needs of another department with a need for resources. To move resources effectively to their point of maximum value, you must develop a system of information about the skills and capabilities of your workforce.

Who possesses what skills?

Who’s good at math? Computers? Customer service? Selling? Equipment maintenance? Attention to detail?

Knowledge of the whole person will enable an organization to move freed-up resources to where they can contribute the most value rather than laying off the excess people and snuffing out motivation for further improvements.

Hiring practices can also hamper the ability to move people from position to position as improvements are made. If narrowly-skilled people are hired, when their jobs are streamlined, it may be difficult to find another place where they can truly add value. Continuously improving organizations seek out people who have flexible skills and abilities so they can continue to add value when needs change.

One of the most challenging barriers to remove is that of an important individual in the organization who is simply not on board. The individual may feel uncomfortable or threatened by the new way of working and leading; or may simply not agree with one or more key principles of a continuously improving organization, such as the import of what the customer values, or the way to treat employees, or the imperative of constantly improving the work, or using facts and data instead of just opinion.

When someone in a position of influence is not on board, he or she creates a misalignment between what people hear and what they see. Actions speak louder than words, so if the misalignment is not corrected, the situation has the potential to bring the CI journey to a close.

No one but the leadership of the organization can remove the barriers to effective continuous improvement. Careful monitoring of progress to identify and remove barriers is essential to achieving a culture of continuous improvement.

Charting, CI Tools, Continuous Improvement

Using Flow Charts

Often we have a process through which we want to increase the throughput or output without adding resources. In these situations a Process Flow Chart or Process Evaluation Chart is an excellent tool to start with.

A Process Flow Chart or Process Evaluation Chart (the latter is populated with measurement data) can be created by bringing together the participants in the process and mapping it out together. Some organizations believe that mapping the processes with the frontline associates always results in lightbulbs going on and the associates voicing concerns and ideas once their process is on the wall.

There are always surprises, they find ‘black holes’ or dead ends, see the ‘wastes’, waiting and handovers get visible and they learn what the other ‘swim-lanes’ (teams or team members) do and how what they do impacts others and vice versa. They always start to create action logs based on the concerns/ideas and they serve as the basis for the improvement project.

Another approach is to start with observation. Follow the process, observe the work and gather what data is available about the current process. This can be compiled into a draft of a flow chart to bring to a meeting with participants from all areas of the process under study. At this meeting, the group goes through the draft, discussing, adding to, questioning, and correcting the draft to better reflect reality.

Below is a graphic summary of flow chart symbols and their meaning:

CI Tools, Continuous Improvement

All About Run Charts

Run Charts are simple line graphs of data plotted over time. They are used to better-understand the performance of a process, as they help people distinguish between random variation and special causes, or to track information and predict trends or patterns.

A run chart can also reveal whether a process is stable by looking for a consistent central tendency, variation and randomness of pattern.

One of the most common CI tools, a run chart is easy to interpret and does not require tedious calculations or special software to produce.

Sample Run Chart

How to create a run chart:

    1. Identify the question that the run chart will answer and obtain data that will answer the question over a specified period of time. For example, if you were looking at how long it takes to complete a task, you will make note of the time taken (in minutes) to complete it over a specified period of time.
    2. Gather data, generally collect at least 10 data points to detect meaningful patterns.
    3. Create a graph with vertical line (y axis) and a horizontal line (x axis).
    4. On the vertical line (y axis), draw the scale related to the variable you are measuring. In our example, this would include the complete range of observations measuring time-to-completion
    5. On the horizontal line (x axis), draw the time or sequence scale.
    6. Plot the data, calculate the median and include into the graph.
    7. Interpret the chart. Four simple rules can be used to distinguish between random and non-random variations:
      1. Shift – 6 consecutive points above or below the median
      2. Trend – 5+ consecutive points going up or down
      3. Too many/too few runs – too few or too many crossings of the median line
      4. Astronomical data point – a data point that is clearly different from all others (often a judgement call)
CI Tools, Continuous Improvement

All About Pareto Charts

The Pareto Chart

Simply stated, a Pareto chart is a bar graph that represents problems or opportunities in order of descending magnitude or frequency.

Considered one of the seven key quality and improvement tools, it is named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution. He is most well-known for his observation that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by about 20% of the population – now referenced as the “Pareto Principle” or “80/20” rule.

Pareto charts are used for a number of purposes, such as to analyze the frequency of defects in a process, to look at causes in a process, to figure out what the most significant problem in a process is, or to communicate data with others.

Here are seven simple steps for creating a Pareto chart:

  1. Decide what categories you will use to group items
  2. Decide what measurement is appropriate. Common measurements are frequency, quantity, cost and time.
  3. Decide what period of time the Pareto chart will cover: One work cycle? One full day? A week?
  4. Collect the data, recording the category each time, or assemble data that already exist.
  5. Subtotal the measurements for each category.
  6. Determine the appropriate scale for the measurements you have collected. The maximum value will be the largest subtotal from step 5. (If you will do optional steps 8 and 9 below, the maximum value will be the sum of all subtotals from step 5.) Mark the scale on the left side of the chart.
  7. Construct and label bars for each category. Place the tallest at the far left, then the next tallest to its right and so on. If there are many categories with small measurements, they can be grouped as “other.”
CI Tools, Continuous Improvement

10 Key Charting Tools

Continuing our theme of using the “right” tool for the right job, there are some key tools one might use when involved in continuous improvement.

Ultimately, persistent problems cannot be solved by repeatedly using the same knowledge and insights; solutions require the innovative use of multiple problem-solving tools to examine current reality from a variety of different angles.

Here are 10 tools you might consider using:

    1. Pareto Chart

    Pareto Charts contain both bars and a line graph, where individual values are represented in descending order by bars. They are commonly used to explore ideas about possible causes.

  2. Process Mapping is a tool that enables people to spot and quantify the waste and trace it to the primary cause.
  3. Cause and Effect Diagramming is used to stretch beyond initial ideas about possible root causes.
  4. Histograms represent the distribution of numerical data, providing an estimate of the probability distribution of a continuous variable. They provide new insights into the dynamics of process performance.
    5. Run Chart

    Run Charts are line graphs of data plotted over time. They can be used to understand current process performance and distinguish between random variation and special causes.

  6. Scatter Diagrams are primarily used to clarify the importance of possible causal factors on results measurements.
  7. Affinity Diagrams are used to find breakthrough ideas and natural relationships among the data.
  8. Priority Matrices can be used to consider alternatives and identify the right things to work on.
  9. Interrelationship Digraphs provide visual demonstrations of the relationship among factors—causal factors (drivers) vs. symptoms so that you get the most leverage on interventions.
  10. A dependable method of analyzing the data as outlined in recent posts.