Your First Practical Process Improvement Project – Five Necessary Points

This PIP I’ll dive right in without the usual lead in.  We’ll cover five necessary points to consider and get agreement on before we start a process improvement project.

First, start with a small project. It should not be too big or too ambitious. It should be big enough to be clearly beneficial to your department and the entire organization.  A Goldilocks approach is best.

Second, your organization’s top management must be committed to the project. Not involved but committed. The distinction? RIT quality improvement instructor John Compton described the difference: “To make a bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.”

Third, try to find something that “slightly hurts” the organization at this time. A little pain is ideal and for our purposes, it should involve something your department is directly responsible for that affects most if not all of the organization.

Fourth, set up a system to track the cost of the project before you begin. For the type of basic project you should start with, labor is probably the most costly component.  Fifth, review team size and skills.  Keep the team small, no more than four or five individuals, and involve the areas “touched” by the processes you want to improve.

I can’t guarantee any project will be a success but if for your first one you use these five points you will be on the road to delivering results for your department and organization.