“What’s Measured Improves”
Peter Drucker
Notable Quotes
Mathematician and physicist Karl Pearson coined the phrase "That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially."
"When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates."
Thomas S. Monson
“What gets measured gets managed.” “What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get managed. What gets measured gets done.” “To measure is to know.”
Unknown Author
According to Jeff Slater, there is a lot more that goes into any process than just measurement. There are three fundamental practices that are needed for your scoreboard or dashboard to be effective:
The goals and metrics you are measuring have to align with corporate goals. If they align with your overall strategy, those goals and metrics still need to pass the “gut check.” Does it make sense? If I do this, will I get the results that I want?
Demonstrate the link between the metrics and the overall corporate goals. Just because they align does not mean that the people performing the work see that connection. The metrics/goals must be simple enough that each person sees that the tasks they work on each day impact the overall company’s performance.
Leadership has to follow-up – simply measuring something will NEVER ensure an action (or actions) “gets done.” Leadership must review, challenge and provide feedback on the work being done.
The Six Sigma Phases
Six Sigma phases solve both the organizational and the operational issue. The process for Six Sigma is abbreviated as “DMAIC” and each letter in this abbreviation corresponds to a phase.
D = Define
M = Measure
A = Analyze
I = Improve
C = Control
The Kaizen Process
The continuous cycle of Kaizen activity has six phases:
1. Identify a problem or opportunity
2. Analyze the process
3. Develop an optimal solution
4. Implement the solution
5. Study the results and adjust
6. Standardize the solution
29 Questions to Get You on the Road to Rapid Continuous Improvement by Maggie Millard
1. Are all critical processes documented?
2. Are all process documents up to date?
3. Can everyone who needs them access the process documents?
4. Could process documents be improved with images or video?
5. Is there a new hire training plan for each role?
6. Is there a process in place to promote and facilitate cross-functional collaboration?
7. Is each workspace adequately arranged and equipped for the work that happens there?
8. Do employees have an easy way to report potential opportunities for improvement?
9. Have employees been trained on the rapid continuous improvement philosophy and introduced to Kaizen?
10. Is there a catchball system (catchball ensures that everyone who should give input, does. And ensures that everyone is committed to doing what everyone agreed to.
11. Do managers have a way to broadcast improvements?
12. Is there a recognition engine for those who contribute to positive change?
13. Do managers spend at least some time each month going to the place where work gets done to observe and reflect?
14. Are individual, departmental and company goals all aligned?
15. Have the company’s short and long term goals been communicated to every employee?
16. Is there a structure in place to support the PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) approach to improvement?
17. Are employees given constructive feedback frequently enough?
18. Is there a repository for documenting improvement efforts and capturing tribal knowledge?
19. Have you trimmed down on excess inventory, parts, or projects?
20. Does each area of the business have a clearly defined list of key performance indicators and a way to measure them?
21. Is it easy for a prospect or customer who visits your website or calls your organization to find the information or person they need?
22. Can employees easily identify and reach others in the organization who might be able to help them with a challenge?
23. Are the results of improvement activities measured against business objectives such as cost savings, quality improvement and revenue?
24. Is employee engagement actively managed and measured?
25. Is there a process for getting to the root cause of product defects or dissatisfied customers?
26. Is the process of buying from you as painless as possible?
27. Is there a simple way for customers to provide both positive and negative feedback?
28. Do managers have real-time visibility into the status of improvement projects?
29. Do employees feel empowered to speak up when they spot an urgent problem?
Additional Reading
The ASQ Quality Improvement Pocket Guide Basic History, Concepts, Tools, and Relationships By Grace L. Duffy
Lean Six Sigma QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Lean Six Sigma by Benjamin Sweeney and ClydeBank
Point of Reflection
“Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.”
Robin Sharma