Lean Six Sigma. Part 3.

 

Now that the team understands what’s causing the problem, how will they solve it? Once the project team has sifted through the data and studied the process to verify the root causes, it’s time to develop solutions. This is the fun part!

The Improve Phase is where the team gets to solve the problem. They develop solutions, pilot the process changes, implement their ideas and collect data to confirm they made a measurable difference. This is where their hard work pays off.

If they’ve done their work right, they’ll have the opportunity to create innovative and elegant solutions. They’ll positively impact the baseline measure, create better work life for employees and a better product or service experience for customers.

Gather the Best Ideas to Fix the Problem

Throughout the life of the project, the team has been gathering ideas—from process participants, colleagues, customers, suppliers and leadership. Problem-solving opportunities generally start cropping up early on in the project. Teams come into the project with ideas and immediately find more opportunities during the Process (Gemba) Walk in the Define Phase. With a good Solution Parking Lot they’ll amass a useful collection of countermeasures by the Improve Phase.

It’s good to research internally but it’s also good to look beyond the process for innovations. Other departments, other business units or even other companies and industries may have solved a similar problem. The team can benchmark and cast a wide net for ways to address the root cause of the problem.

They could also revisit the many classic solutions developed in the Quality world. There may be new ways to solve the problem but there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. Many teams draw from time-tested techniques like 5S, Work Cell Design, Setup Reduction, Kanbans and other well-defined methods to improve process flow.

Tools: Brainstorming, Benchmarking and Classic Lean Improvements

Select the Practical Solutions

In some cases, a project team can employ as many improvements as they see fit. But given the time and effort involved in most process changes, it makes sense to apply some criteria to make good choices between options. Tools like the Solution Selection Matrix allow them to list the possibilities and assess each one to make the best decisions. They can also use the Impact Effort Matrix to assess which solutions provide the most impact for the least cost or effort.

Tools: Weighted Criteria Matrix and Impact Effort Matrix

Weighted Criteria Matrix

What is a Weighted Criteria Matrix?

A Weighted Criteria Matrix is a decision-making tool that evaluates potential options against a list of weighted factors. Common uses include deciding between optional solutions or choosing the most appropriate software application to purchase.

Typically, a Weighted Criteria Matrix takes the form of a table, with multiple options listed across the top and criteria (e.g., Ease of Use, Cost, Time to Implement) listed in the leftmost column. The criteria are weighted relative to their perceived importance and then each option is scored against each criteria.

The process of scoring the options turns this into a powerful communication tool regardless of the final scores.

Impact Effort Matrix

What is an Impact Effort Matrix?

The Impact Effort Matrix is a 2 x 2 grid that helps you assess solutions for their relative impact given the effort required. It provides a quick way to filter out solutions that might not be worth the effort. The best solutions are in the upper right quadrant, easy to implement but with substantial impact.

Develop Maps of Processes Based on Different Solutions

Solutions often reduce issues like rework loops, waste and wait times. That means the team has refined the process and removed or altered steps. Once they’ve determined the new flow, the team creates a revised map of the process which is also known as a To-Be Map. The new map guides the team’s efforts and provides a quick reference as well as a training tool for new employees making it easier for everyone to learn the new process.

Tools: To-Be Map, Value Stream Map and Swimlane Map

Test and Refine the Best Solutions

In order to ensure they develop the best countermeasures, the team may run mini-testing cycles known as PDCA or Plan Do Check Act to refine the solutions while collecting valuable Stakeholder feedback. These cycles are a great way to find out if small improvements are viable in a fast and low impact way.

They can also consider the unintended consequences of making changes to the process. Any changes, even good ones, introduce an element of risk. Tools like the Failures Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA) help the team think through the potential impacts of altering the steps and features of the process and plan ahead.

Tools: PDCA/PDSA, FMEA

PDCA/PDSA

PDCA is a four-step methodology for problem-solving. PDCA stands for Plan Do Check Act/Adjust. It can also stand for Plan Do Study Act. This methodology can be used continually to improve processes.

Plan: Plan or outline a problem.
Do: Do or apply countermeasure to address root cause.
Check: Check or assess if the problem is fixed.
Adjust: Adjust or fine tune the fix.

PDCA is a method developed by Dr. Deming that favors trial and error over extensive planning and trying for perfection up front with the assumption the each test allows for essential fine tuning. PDCA is often paired with A3 Documentation.

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA)

What is Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA)?

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a risk management tool that identifies and quantifies the influence of potential failures in a process. FMEA analyzes potential failures using three criteria:

1. Occurrence (failure cause and frequency)
2. Severity (impact of the failure)
3. Detection (likelihood of failure detection)

Once assessed, prioritized failures are addressed with mistake-proofing for preventable failures and contingency plans for unpreventable risks.

FMEA Resources

Implement the Solution(s)

Making sure solutions are successful requires careful planning. The team has to consider logistics, training, documentation change management and communication plans. Although it often feels counterintuitive, the more time the team spends planning, the faster process participants will adapt to the new process.

For large-scale implementations, the team can run a pilot to ensure the changes work prior to implementation—it’s a good practice to create an Implementation Plan. Running pilots and including others prior to making process changes is a great way to build a sense of ownership of the new process. Acceptance of change is equally important to the quality of the improvement.

Tools: Pilot Checklist and Implementation Plan

Pilot Checklist

What is a Pilot Checklist?

A Pilot is a limited implementation of the solution to allow you to learn and make improvements to the solution and implementation. A Pilot is a defined test of a solution that will result in fine tuning before a full roll out.

Implementation Plan

What is an Implementation Plan?

The Implementation Plan provides a structure for detailing the action steps, due dates and people responsible for implementing solutions.

Measure to Validate Improvement

Once the team has implemented their changes to the process, they can collect data to check whether or not they have improved the baseline. This can take anywhere from 1 week to 4 months depending on the length of the process cycle. Once the team demonstrates that their solutions resulted in measurable improvement, it’s time to celebrate success!

The team should recognize themselves as well as all the process participants who helped with the implementation. It’s important to give credit and spread the good news. A little momentum goes a long way. Then the team can move on to the Control Phase.

https://goleansixsigma.com/

Problems ‘for’ and ‘of’ governance

 

Problem classification

Every field of human endeavour has problems, and the myriad problem solving approaches that have been identified through history reflect that diversity. Even within a field, such as non-profit governance, the variety of problems that come before a board of directors can be extremely diverse. Strategic, risk, financial, structural, logistical, human, technological, safety, policy, political, stakeholder, performance, timing, reputation, procedural and other problems, are littered throughout our board agendas.

Notwithstanding the qualitative differences between the various types of problems on our agendas, non-profit boards often resort to using a standard problem solving methodology, thus demonstrating the aphorism “if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” (see header image).

Improving our understanding of the types of problems we face would aid us in better defining any particular problem we need to solve. That in turn should point us to more suitable approaches to problem solving. Just as health practitioners need to provide the ‘right treatment to the right patient at the right time’, directors need to provide the ‘right solution methodology to the right problem at the right time’. This was Einstein’s point when he said “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it”.

Problem classification systems tend to be either very high level (e.g. structured Vs unstructured problems), or narrow-band (e.g. IT troubleshooting), and I have not yet located a taxonomy of problems which could be described as comprehensive. One response to that is to aggregate a collection of typologies, as illustrated in the chart below.

In the following chart, the debt owed by various problem solving models to the scientific method is suggested. These linear processes each propose a series of steps by which to understand the problem and then explore solutions.

Exploring problem and solution ‘spaces’

Exploring both problem and solution spaces has been ‘unpacked’ for us by various mechanisms and models over the years, and the juxtaposition of two such models in the chart below shows some of the parallels between organisational problem solving and design thinking.

When focusing on the problem space, problem analysis has its own set of filters and perspectives., some of which are highlighted in the next chart. The slider metaphor is used to hint that each attribute of the problem may be present to a greater or lesser degree.

Governance problems

Another approach to problem classification is to narrow the focus to a selection of the major types of problems encountered by directors, and acknowledge that this is only a very partial survey. As referenced in the title to this article, boards deal with both problems for governance, usually called ‘decision-making’ or the object of board deliberations, and problems of governance, related to the effectiveness of the processes and systems used by the board to perform its role. Of course, each of these problem types can also be described using perspectives such as those listed in the problem analysis chart above (e.g. complexity, scale, risk profile, etc.).

Often when compliance issues are identified by regulators such as the ACNC, ASIC, or Registrars of incorporated associations, the real problem turned out to be governance processes (problems of governance) rather than the issue on which a poor decision was made (or neglected).

Approaches to problem solving

Just as there are many types of problems, each possessing different qualities and characteristics, there is a multitude of methods, algorithms and models available from which we can choose a suitable problem solving approach. Regrettably, we don’t always identify the most appropriate approach. Consequently, our efforts may fall short of a durable solution.

A separate typology is required for problem solving approaches, encompassing linear, cyclic, and multi-dimensional models and methods. The selection of approaches illustrated in the next two charts only scratches the surface of the range available.

The problem cube offers another way of classifying problem types, and brings together a generic typology, various organisational foci, and a few of the qualities or attributes that may exist in greater or lesser degree depending on the type of problem and circumstances being dealt with.

Another aspect of approach relates to the disposition or orientation of the problem solver/s. The following chart seeks to contrast conventional ‘inside the box’ thinking (problem mindset) with the more collaborative and solution oriented thinking (solution mindset) recommended for best practice governance and management processes.

When your problem solving process invites you to define the problem, consider the type of problem you are faced with before identifying the most suitable methods, orientation and approaches to solving it. Not every problem is a nail.

Published by polgov1

https://bit.ly/3Rla3O6

Structured Problem Solving Process

From my practice when we faced a challenging situation at work than we used Ed Muzio's approach. It has 7 steps of problem solving. The first step is definition. Definition asks the question what is the problem really. Until you that you can't go any further. The second step is data collection. Data collection answers questions what is going on. Step three is cause analysis. This answers questions why what's going on here. Step four is solution planning. That is a lot of work. This can take quite some time to plant a solution well and to implement it. It's worth the effort. Step five is evaluation of efforts. The question here is did it work. Is our solution work or we are still not done. Step six is standartization. The idea of standartization is we have gone through a lot of work to get the solution. Let's see how widely we can use it in the organization. Step 7 is evaluation of whole process. The idea here is to learn something based on the work we have done.


Batkhuyag Naigal, Ph.D.

How To Use Structured Problem Solving

If everything worked smoothly in your work, there would be no need to keep you on the payroll. Even if you did stay, your daily work would quickly become boring. Facing new challenges prompts us to grow and develop new skills. To use an athletic analogy, you don’t build endurance until you push yourself to work harder. This multi-step process is a proven method to get work through challenging problems.

When Should I Use Structured Problem Solving?

It is important to use the right tool for the task at hand. This is a powerful method that takes some time to plan and use. As a result, it only makes sense to use it on medium or large problems. If you are facing a minor computer glitch, simply restarting your computer will solve 95% of such problems. If you are facing a problem with a multi-million dollar project, this process makes sense to use. Finally, this process is useful to apply when you are facing an unfamiliar or frustrating problem.

Why Should I Use Structured Problem Solving?

Using a disciplined problem solving metod is useful in several circumstances. Consider using this process when are facing a situation that meets some or all of the criteria below:

• New Problems. If you face a new problem that initially baffles you and defies solution, look into using a structured process to address the situation.
• Stressful Problems. Certain problems – such as those involving weak skills or difficult people – trigger stress feelings. Emotion does help in motivating you to act. Unfortunately, emotion does not tend to generate specific solutions.
• High Risk Problem. High risk problems have the potential to cause significant damage to your organization and career if you do not take action.
• Priority Impact. If a given problem directly undermines your ability to achieve success on a priority goal, then it makes sense to apply some additional resources on solving the problem.

Ultimately, you will have to use your professional judgement to decide whether and how to apply this scenario. If you are just getting started with this process, I suggest using it on a small problem first. That way, you can build confidence in using the strategy.

The 6 Step Process For Problem Solving

Use these steps in sequential order to gain the best results in solving complex and important problems.

Step 1: Identify the problem

At this stage, you are defining the scope of the problem you have to solve. Points to consider at this stage include: problem origin (if known), problem impact (e.g. on customers, on staff or reputation) and timeline to solve the problem.

Example: “Three important vendors for next week’s conference have failed to meet several milestones defined by the contract. Vendor non-performance will result in conference attendee complaints and reputational damage.”

Note: the time factor is important to consider because it influences how much time you can dedicate to thinking through the problem. In extreme conditions, you may run through this entire process in less than an hour.

2. Structure the problem

Putting the problem into a clear structure for analysis is one of the great insights that consultants and MBA graduates bring to their work. What does it mean to structure a problem? It means identifying the important issues.

Example: Vendor non-performance in this case has the following points. First, there is a contract aspect to the problem. Second, there is a problem relating to our oversight and monitoring over the vendor. Third, this problem has an impact to the attendee experience.

Popular structures to use include Porter’s five forces model, connecting the problem to company goals or connecting the problem to a balanced scorecard.

3. Develop solutions

According to research by Chip and Dan Heath in their book “Decisive,” most managers develop only two solutions: “Do x or do not do X.” It will come as no surprise that this approach rarely delivers success. Binary choices tend to have a 50% or greater failure rate. On the other hand, fifty solutions is probably too many to handle especially if you are working through a problem solving process on your own.

The Solution Sweet Spot: developing three to five solutions is usually enough according to business consultant and author Michael Bungay Stanier.

To return to our vendor scenario, here are five solutions one might consider:

1. Hire a new vendor to deliver.
2. Enforce contract penalties for non-performance.
3. Escalate the issue to a higher level (e.g. your executive calls the executive at the vendor) to discuss the situation.
4. Implement new milestones with daily status reporting.
5. Cancel the event if there is no way to produce a quality outcome according to schedule.

4. Select a solution to the problem

With a list of possible solutions on the table, it is now time to decide. If you face a personal problem or one that only impacts your work, choosing the option that strikes you as best is enough. In other situations, use a scoring process.

In our conference example, your decision criteria could be: cost, quality and reputation. Writing up a few notes to explain your decision is helpful if you need to convince something else to support your decision.

Example: I recommend hiring another vendor to complete the printing because we have a list of three backup vendors and the additional cost is within our planned budget.

Note: For large scale problem solving, you may have to follow an organizational template or policy if your solution requires a large amount of money.

5. Implement a solution

In this step, you put the solution into action. Implementation may become a project of its own. In that case, you have a full toolkit of project management tools and processes to call on.

Tip: If you are solving a novel problem, stay humble about your solution. It may not work or there may be a better way.

6. Monitor for success

Monitoring the solution and situation is a key step to ensure the problem is truly solved. Failing to follow up – especially if you have assigned the task to someone else – is a recipe for disaster. Monitoring is also important because problems are sometimes symptom of a deeper problem.

Tip: Increase the quantity and frequency of reporting when you are working through an important problem. In the conference example, you may ask for daily progress reports if the conference is ten days away.

Further Resources For Problem Solving

Consultants, authors and other professionals have done great work in creating tools and methods for business problem solving. In this section, you will find a few resources to continue your problem solving education.

McKinsey & Company Case Interviews. The global consulting firm provides business cases and other resources to assist job applicants seeking a role at the firm. Take a look at the practice problem solving tests to refine your skills.

CasePlace.org. Created by The Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, Case Place is a rich resource of case studies on a variety of organizations. Of special note: users can find cases by business discipline such as accounting, law and operations.

Are You Solving the Right Problem?. This Harvard Business Review article points out that problems vary in value. You may face several problems on any given day – choosing the right problem to work through matters.

https://goo.gl/YJnXPT