The Secret to Rapid Process Improvements

Guessing is Risky
Without a process improvement method such as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) or a turbocharged version such as ZOOM, teams propose to management changes that they think will work. However, a guess by the team, followed by a decision from management is risky business!

Tests Provide Proof
People make guesses based on experience, but it is still guessing and a poor business practice. In a disciplined approach that uses a proven process improvement methodology, like ZOOM every idea, no matter how obvious or obscure, is tested ZOOM is a proven methodology for eliminating decision risk.

The Secret to Testing
Testing tries ideas to prove whether they work (or don't work) on a small scale before time and money is invested in making a change. The secret is to do simple tests. Simple tests are quick, inexpensive, and provide valuable information.

Simple Testing - Personal Example
You drive to work everyday on the freeway. Traffic is getting worse and worse. You want to decrease the drive time. Because you think the freeway is the cause, you try a surface street route. To test this, you will time your freeway drive to work for 5 days. Then you will time your drive to work using 1 street route for 5 days. You can try as many different routes as you want but you have to repeat the same route at least 5 times so you have a good sample and adequate data on which to base your decision. Using PDCA or ZOOM you'll be right 99.996% of the time because you tested the idea first.

Here's an example of your data:

• Freeway drive = average of 47 minutes/trip
• Street route 1 = average of 42 minutes/trip
• Street route 2 = average of 45 minutes/trip

Looking at your data, you decide you need another solution. The next week you take the bus 5 days and time the trips. The data helps you make an effective decision.

The beauty is that with minimal time and effort you gathered significant information.

Simple Testing – Business Example
Staff in your department enters customer data from a form into your computer system. There's a backlog of forms to enter, so you create a process improvement team to decrease data entry process' time. The team decides the cause of the problem is the forms. The customer data forms have three pages and are not organized in the same order as the computer screens.

The team’s solution is to simplify the form by eliminating duplicate data and reorder the form so it matches the computer. Printing and distributing new forms will be a big expense. How do you know if it will work? The team tests their idea before they propose it to you.

Two simple tests:

• Test 1: Time 1 person entering 5 old 3-page forms.
• Results: Old form entry time = 12 min/form
  
  
• Test 2: Time 1 person entering 5 new 1-page forms.
• Results: New form entry time = 3 min/form

That's a big improvement! Your data supports the argument that the backlog will disappear. If you're not convinced the new form is a good investment, the team can calculate the ROI. How will your customer react to the new form? That's another test. But you test 5 customers not 500, and the risk of making a change is reduced to a minimal cost.

Simple Tests Are Fast, Easy and Meaningful
The simple test captures what you need to know in the simplest and fastest way. The team-proven, new form is faster without duplicating the whole process and without additional costs except their meeting time. Even if the old form has been used for a hundred years, this data is a compelling argument for change.

Evaluate for yourself our sample class where you can see how to get better results from your process improvement efforts. Because we practice what we preach, checking out our class is a simple way to make a simple test before committing to training!

Learn how to improve customer satisfaction.