Tag Archive: continuous improvement

Process Mapping? I’d rather be Napping.

June 17, 2016Blogbusiness process improvement, business processes, consistency, consultant, consulting, continuous improvement, culture shift, data, efficiency, employee engagement, goals, process, Process Improvement, process improvement methodology, process map, process mapping, process mapping tools, swimlane diagrams, training, whiteboard consultingNicole North

So I’ve heard a lot of people say they are so fascinated by what I do in the process improvement world, and how great they think it is , but how “it’s not for them”. Using my coaching skills, I usually say something like, “Oh yeah? Tell me about why it isn’t for you”.

Here are some of the responses I get:

“Snore. Processes are super boring. My company is really intuitive, and we just know exactly what to do and we fix it.” – my super annoying friend

“Processes, who needs it? I already know my team is garbage and as soon as I can replace them, things will turn around”. – a client who later realized her team was great because process mapping revealed a culture issue

“Ugh. Sounds bureaucratic. I’m an entrepreneur. There is nothing corporate about he way I run my business, and to be honest we don’t need it.” – my sister-in-law

3 Signs You Need Process Mapping STAT!

Something is wrong and you “think” know exactly how to fix it. How do you know what’s wrong? What leads you to believe that? What is the expected outcome if you make the change? You might be right. Intuition is super important. Why not validate those gut feelings with some evidence in a process map? It’s a great way to get buy in from your stakeholders and employees!
You “think” your employees are the problem. They suck. While this is the first place many people look for solutions, it’s usually something else. Why do you think they suck? What tells you that? What could be inhibiting them? Have you asked them? Research shows that if you take great people and put them in a bad process, the process will win every time. Process mapping sometimes uncovers secrets that are hiding within a bad process.
You “think” process is too rigorous. Well, it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. The right people, the right style, and the right moment can take you from being a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants entrepreneur to a being a strategic one. Why not set the stage so you can pass the tasks that aren’t worth your time (or you aren’t great at) to someone who can actually add value (so you can go and be amazing). Process mapping identifies those tasks and lets you properly divide them up.

If you’re not a “process person,” or even if you are but don’t have a lot of time, we can help you. We are expert at coming in, talking with you and your team, and uncovering the hidden opportunities to improve your business.

Even better – why not build process improvement and process mapping capacity on your team? We offer public workshops that are fun, interactive, and relevant. Check them out by clicking here, and contact us if you want to know more.

#whiteboardworskhops #theyredifferent

Until Next Time,

Nicole

Whiteboard Workshop: Introduction to Process Mapping

June 10, 2016Blogbusiness process improvement, business processes, continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, decision making, efficiency, process, Process Improvement, process improvement methodology, process map, process mapping, process mapping tools, training, whiteboard consultingRuth Henderson

Process Mapping is awesome and fun and helpful and easy and so amazing, right?

No? If you disagree, you’re not alone. We did a quick Twitter poll and asked people what their thoughts are about Process Mapping. Here are some of the replies:

Process mapping? More like process napping! (Click to Tweet!)
Process mapping is critical, in that if you don’t do it, you can save the rain forest, your time, and your sanity.
Who needs sleeping pills when you could participate in a process mapping session?
Process mapping is the paleo of the workplace. (Click to Tweet!)
AT FIRST GLANCE THEY ARE SO INTIMIDATING AND COMPLICATED (this one was complete with caps)

So yeah. We get it. There are a LOT of people who don’t like process maps.

At least they think they don’t – they just haven’t met us yet.

But I “Need” to Do Process Mapping

Despite how people may feel about process mapping, they still need to use them. Either they have to design them on their own, or read some that have been designed by someone else. Some people know the “why” behind process mapping but still haven’t quite mastered it, and others have no idea what they are doing or why, only that “they have to do this for audit purposes.”

The truth is that process maps are necessary and critical in so many situations:

Training new people,
Documenting processes for audits,
Understanding the flow of information in an organization,
Having a picture of how customers are impacted by business processes,
Identifying areas to improve,
Identifying areas that are excelling (and should be modelled), and
Imagining a future state organizational structure.

So if you, or someone you know needs to do any of these things (or is responsible for others who are), then our latest workshop is for you. Read on.

Whiteboard Workshop: Introduction to Process Mapping

If you have been reading our blogs for a while, then you know we love to make processes better, and we loathe things that are over-complicated. It follows then, that we don’t do process mapping (or training, for that matter), like most organizations do.

Our latest workshop, Introduction to Process Mapping, was first delivered on May 26th, and was a great success. Some testimonials:

I have done process mapping in the past, but it has been a long time since I’ve been able to utilize those skills. I was so happy to attend and receive a great refresher. Thank you!
There was a wide variety of different folks with different backgrounds, and you did great to keep all levels engaged and interested.
This course came at the perfect time! Something I really liked was the actual process mapping we did as individuals – it helped me demonstrate what I learned from the course.
I loved your banter – so funny and yet still professional. (This was our favourite, because we think we are very funny.)

We have two more dates set this fall. Both are Thursdays, and both will be in downtown Toronto (location TBD based on the group).

People who attend this course will be able to

Understand the basics of process mapping theory and activities,
Articulate the value of process consistency and when it can be “too much” (too rigorous),
Demonstrate the ability to facilitate and develop a process map, and use appropriate levels, tools, and concepts (incl basics of Visio), and
Analyze process maps to identify improvement opportunities.

You should come. You really should. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. And if you have any questions, shoot us a note or Tweet us @whiteboardcons #ILOVEPM.

See you soon,

Ruth.

Sometimes the Flavour of the Month is Chocolate. And It’s Good.

February 5, 2016Blogbusiness process improvement, business processes, change, Change Management, Coaching, communication, communication styles, continuous improvement, culture shift, efficiency, flavour of the month, leadership, process, Process ImprovementRuth Henderson

If you work for anyone other than yourself, you have probably lived this phrase in some way:

“Ugh – this new initiative is nothing other than the new flavour of the month. It’ll never stick and next year they’ll roll out something else.”

Sound familiar? These words have probably assaulted your ears (or crossed your lips), when the organization is trying with best intentions to make a change or an improvement. The person who is responsible for the change is excited about the initiative, and is frustrated beyond believe with this blasé response from the team.

So why do people say it?

First, a little Change Management theory for you – we know from Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross‘ work that people experience grief in an emotional roller coaster. When Kubler-Ross pioneered the concept of the 5 Stages of Grief, people became aware that grief impacts us all the same way and yet differently too.

In other words, we all go through the stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance), but we may go through them differently. Some may linger in one stage or another, and some may fly through a stage so quickly as to appear to bypass it. The way in which we go through these stages is greatly impacted by our personal resilience, the amount of stress we are dealing with at the moment, and our experiences with grief in the past.

The same is true with change. In fact, Kubler-Ross’ model has been adapted to create the Change Curve, used by Change Management experts, teachers, and coaches. There are several different variations of the curve itself, and we like this one the best:

You can see the similarity to the 5 Stages of Grief – in this model we have Denial, Anger, Exploration, and Acceptance.

Imagine then, an employee who is not only experiencing change at work, but also at home (spouse has been demoted, child has moved out, parent is ill). This employee, we’ll call him Rob, has been a good worker and has been around for about 15 years. You are Rob’s manager, and very excited about a new program to create a more efficient process for doing the work of Rob and the entire team. When you meet to discuss it, Rob breaks open the “Flavour of the Month” remark, and the team snickers.

This is because Rob has been around for a couple of business cycles. He’s seen change implemented, re-implemented, de-implemented, and implemented again. He’s tired and his resilience is low – he feels that change is a pendulum, and that people should just make up their damn minds and stick with something.

Well, here’s the thing…

The United States’ National Bureau of Economic Research states that since 1945 the average business cycle has been just less than six years. That length of time may also be impacted by your industry, budget issues, technology advancement, and general business trends.

So in other words, every few years the business world changes. And in order to be relevant in that world, an organization must change with it. The change the organization is implementing is probably the right thing, for right now. In a few years it may no longer be the right thing. So yeah. It might well be the flavour of the month, and there’s nothing wrong with that (unless an organization is making change for change’s sake – and that’s a whole different discussion.)

The trick is to implement the “new flavour” carefully, using change management best practices from the outset and communicating the “why and why now” message in the most effective way for the team.

If that’s all done correctly, then the answer to Rob is as easy as, “Yes Rob, it IS the flavour of the month. It’s chocolate. And it’s good.”

Until next time,

Ruth.

The Same Only Different

January 22, 2016Blogbusiness culture, business innovation, business process improvement, Coaching, communication, continuous improvement, innovation, innovation vs. improvement, leadership, Process Improvement, roles and responsibilitiesRuth Henderson

Have you ever heard people use terms interchangeably that are really quite different? Does it make you cringe inside?

It’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people say “performance management” or “mentoring” when they mean “coaching.” Or when they say they need someone to “facilitate” when they actually mean they need someone to “train.” And one of my favourites: “leading” vs. “managing.”

Another, and the topic of today’s blog, is Innovation vs. Improvement. This mix-up, while seemingly innocuous, can lead to real organizational design issues, confused roles & responsibilities, and broken down processes.

Potato Po-tah-to?

The thing is, these groups of terms aren’t the same at all (although they can be related,) and yet people seem to use them as if they are synonyms. I’m not sure why, although I suspect it has to do with business culture that loves to invent words (incent, for instance), create catch phrases and buzz words (like Dashboard or Viewability), and even completely misuse words (like Key Performance Indicator for every single metric in an organization. Ummm… “Key” means “most important,” not “all encompassing.”)

In our course The Process of Coaching, we spend some time discussing what it means to coach vs. mentor. I hear the two phrases used jointly all the time:

“You need some coaching and mentoring.”
“Do you have a coach or mentor?”
“Let’s set up a coaching/mentoring program.”

The same is true of Innovation and Improvement.

“We have a great Innovation and Improvement department.”
“What we need to do to at this company is improve and innovate.”
“I’m the Innovation/Improvement manager.”

My Dad had a great phrase, and I think it helps here:

“ All crows are blackbirds, but not all blackbirds are crows.”

So all (or almost all) Innovation is Improvement, but not all Improvement is Innovation. The following diagram shows what I mean more clearly:

Why is this important?

Some of you may be thinking, “Oh come on. It’s just semantics.” Well, actually, no. It’s not.

Lets take a look at what makes these terms different:

Improvement, or process improvement, refers to looking at how something is done – the steps, roles, and materials used – and making it more effective and efficient (Side note: effective and efficient are two more terms that are often used interchangeably. Effective means doing something with high quality. Efficient means doing something in a way that makes the best use of required resources – either the company’s or the customer’s.) This could be something like boarding planes by zone instead of rows, bankers lines instead of individual lines, or even something simple like improved signage in busy places.
Innovation means doing or creating something that is new in order to grow, keep up with competition, or be groundbreaking industry leaders. It can be a new process (for instance, the ability to tap your credit card at many stores), a new product that changes the way we live (smart phones), or a new business model that changes the way we interact with organizations (online shopping). You can see that the new process of paying by tap is also an improvement to how you pay today, whereas online shopping was an entirely new model, never conceived of before. Does it improve things? Some would debate that! But it certainly changes things.

In “Coaching for Improved Work Performance,” Ferdinand Fournies said that the biggest reason for people not doing what they are supposed to do is that they don’t know what they are supposed to do.

Sounds so simple!

If we fail to distinguish between Innovation and Improvement, we fail to be clear in our message of expectations to our employees. Is an Innovation & Improvement team supposed to increase efficiency or lead groundbreaking change? A manager with skills and background that is heavier in one area than another could influence the direction of the team greatly.

In fact, the two goals are different enough that they could be at odds if not managed correctly. Imagine asking for project approval – which one gets higher priority in the budget? Or, think about what would happen if you hired a bunch of Process Improvement experts and asked them to be creative and innovative as well? I would argue these are very different (although not mutually exclusive) skillsets.

If you want both Innovation and Improvement, make sure that the team or teams are clear in what their goals and responsibilities are. And if both Innovation and Improvement are under the accountability of the same person, make sure he or she has a clear and balanced plan for each.

It’s not just semantics. It’s important.

Until next time,

Ruth.

The Office Version of Vitamin D

January 16, 2015Blogcontinuous improvement, employee engagement, goals, leadership, Lists, Process Improvement, Recognition, Vitamin DRuth Henderson

As I write this, it is a rare sunny winter day in Toronto, with blue sky and small fluffy snowflakes floating from the few clouds I can see. And because of this, I have altered my working location from my comfortable but dark basement office to my bright dining room table.

Why? Because I need sunshine. As much as I also enjoy the winter months, I crave sunshine! It lifts my mood and my spirits and my outlook and just makes everything better.

It occurred to me this morning that many of you do not have the luxury of working in your sunny dining room, and instead are holed up in your windowless office or cubicle. You may or may not have the opportunity to get outside and hold your face up to that sunshine, and you’ll go home after it’s dark, counting the days until spring.

And we wonder why we feel grumpy, edgy, or anxious this time of year.

There’s a reason for it, actually. Research shows a strong link between exposure to the sun, Vitamin D levels, and the incidence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD). Just a few minutes a day of unprotected (i.e. no sunscreen) exposure to sunshine are enough to maintain adequate levels of Vitamin D, boost levels of the “happy hormones” seratonin and dopamine, and thus ward off the symptoms of SAD.

Sounds easy enough.

What if you can’t get natural sunlight?

If you live in climates with a lot of winter cloud, decreased daylight hours, and frigid temperatures, it can be a real challenge to get yourself outside and bask in what little sunlight there may be. So what do you do?

Well, aside from taking a Vitamin D supplement, there are other things you can do at work (and at home, for that matter) to trick your brain into increasing its production of those “happy hormones.”

And guess what? The tricks involve process improvement and leadership – YAY! Our favourite topics.

5 Ways to Get Your Office Version of Vitamin D

Create some goals that will really make you happy to achieve, and then attack them in small bites. January is a great time for process improvement projects! When we achieve goals and cross things off a list, we create a little celebration in our brain that releases dopamine. The trick here is to make sure it’s a goal that will make you feel good, like fixing something you’ve always wanted to fix, and then actually celebrating, even if it’s just with a fancy latte or a glass of wine after work.
Break your “To Do” list into little tasks that are easily crossed off so you can achieve #1 above! It’s a lot harder to cross off “Fix The Widget Process” than it is to cross these things off: (and P.S. – the items below could be broken down even further)
- Define improvement opportunity
- Engage team
- Collect data
- Draw the current process
- Brainstorm opportunities
- Test ideas
- Implement solution
Think about continuous improvement vs. one-time improvement initiatives. If you know what your next goal is before you finish your current one, you can smooth out the dopamine “hits” into a flow.
Recognize the accomplishments of your team (in the way they want to be recognized). As we teach in our leadership courses, people are very individualistic in the way they prefer to be recognized, and as long as you consider the individual, then each thing that you do – email, bonus, quick word of thanks – will give THEM a dopamine hit.
Remember things that went well. Interestingly, the brain has trouble telling the difference between what you’re achieving now and what you’ve achieved in the past. In either case, it produces seratonin! So if you’re having a crappy day, or if one of your team members is feeling down, talk together about when things went well, and build on that.

So when you’re down because it’s another grey day and it feels like spring will never get here and you wish that those stupid ads for southern vacations would go away because you can’t take one this year and you just want to put your head down on your desk and take a nap…

Try making a list of little tasks and just crossing off a few. You’ll start to feel better in no time!

Until next time,

Ruth

Sources:

Guest Blog Post – OMG! Emotions in the Office!

October 24, 2014Blogbusiness process improvement, business processes, change, Change Management, continuous improvement, culture shift, customer satisfaction, emotional intelligence, employee engagement, Process ImprovementRuth Henderson

Linda Hills is a seasoned Learning & Organizational Development practitioner whose mission is to help leaders, teams and organizations create emotionally intelligent transformational change. Over the past 20 years, she has designed, developed and delivered learning and organizational development interventions while working in software, financial services and the not-for-profit sector. Linda has a Master’s degree in Adult Learning and is a certified Emotional Intelligence, and Vital Signs Assessor with Six Seconds, a certified Change Practitioner through Connor Partners CIBC program, and is also certified as a Strengths Deployment Inventory (SDI) Facilitator/Coach. She is currently an Executive Director in the not-for profit sector, leading her organization through an emotionally intelligent transformational change.

Linda will be offering The Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI™) at our upcoming course, Leading Process Change, in Toronto Nov 5 & 6. Find out more about that and about Linda HERE.

Linda over to you:

OMG! Emotions in the Office!

I’m with Linda North on this one: Process isn’t my favourite thing. But there are two other words in the title of Ruth and Nicole’s upcoming course (Leading Process Change) that strike a chord with me: leading and change. Why? Because both of these concepts are deeply rooted in human emotion, and helping people build emotional intelligence is my “raison d’etre”.

We first heard the term “emotional intelligence” in 1995, when Daniel Goleman wrote his groundbreaking book of the same name. Since then, much has been written, many versions of it have come along, and yet it remains largely conceptual, if not absent, in most organizations. Emotions are still seen as soft and disruptive, and are unwelcome in a professional environment.

And yet therein lies a critical misunderstanding about emotions. In a work setting the word conjures up images of someone losing their temper and yelling at colleagues, or storming out of a meeting. These are perfect examples of emotions that have not been managed, and that fuel the aversion to them. So in the business world, we prefer to “leave emotions out of it”.

This couldn’t be more wrong! Emotions are assets. They give us information and energy¹. Not to mention they are automatic and pretty hard to hide² (even when you think you are doing so masterfully, that twitching eyebrow gives you away :). Think about fear for a moment. It is seen as a negative emotion, but what is it telling you? If you guessed that it’s telling you that so Emotional Intelligence Image mething could go wrong, you’d be right. And how might that be a good thing? It can protect you from dangerous situations.

So what is emotional intelligence? The model I use was developed by Six Seconds, so named after the amount of time it takes for the chemical reaction in our brains to settle down after we react to something. The model comprises eight competencies that allow us to use thinking AND feeling to make optimal decisions. These eight competencies are divided into three main categories:

Know Yourself: This is about awareness. It’s being aware of your emotions, and recognizing the patterns of behaviour that they produce
Choose yourself: This is about management. It’s navigating your emotions, thinking about the consequences of your actions and behaviours, exercising optimism and engaging internal (vs. external) motivation.
Give yourself: This is about direction. It’s developing empathy for others, and pursuing a “noble goal” – a purpose greater than yourself.

These are easier said than done! It takes reflection and effort to build these competencies, but they can all be learned!

If you aren’t sold on emotional intelligence, consider this:

Harvard Business Review called it the “key to professional success”³
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that “…in the long-run, EQ trumps IQ…”⁴
At the US Army Training Centre, the saying is that “…Leadership is a lifelong journey of just 18 inches – from head to heart…”⁵

And if that isn’t enough, take a look at the bottom line stats: when leaders practice emotional intelligence the impact on outcomes is clear; it is predictive of⁶:

46% of Customer Service
28% of Performance
45% of Retention

With the last Gallup Engagement survey (2013) showing that 63% of employees worldwide are not engaged, and 24% actively disengaged⁷, it’s time for leaders to up their game. And that means developing EQ to (at a minimum!) match their IQ.

Looking forward to seeing you on November 6^th!

Linda

References

¹At the Heart of Leadership: How to Get Results with Emotional Intelligence, Joshua Freedman, Six Seconds, San Mateo, California, 2007

²Vital Organization Field Guide, Joshua Freedman and Massimiliano Ghini, September 2014

³ HBR “Breakthrough Ideas for Tomorrow’s Business Agenda,” April 2003

⁴Times of India, “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tells students, fall in love with what you do,” October 1, 2014

⁵ The Vital Organization Field Guide, Joshua Freedman and Massimiliano Ghini, September 2014

⁶At the Heart of Leadership: How to Get Results with Emotional Intelligence, Joshua Freedman, Six Seconds, San Mateo, California, 2007.

⁷http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx, retrieved October 22, 2014.

You Should Come to This Course. Yes, You.

October 7, 2014Blogbusiness process improvement, business processes, change, Change Management, communication, continuous improvement, culture shift, decision making, efficiency, employee engagement, leadership, process, Process Improvement, Six Sigma, the whiteboard way, trainingRuth Henderson

Our regular readers will know by now that Nicole and I are upbeat, positive people and we get excited about a lot of things. So, when I tell you that we are SUPER EXCITED about our upcoming course in November, please trust that it is not hyperbole.

Why are we so over-the-top and ridiculously excited?

Well, because we believe this course is innovative, and innovation is a good, positive, wonderful thing.

You’ve heard us talk about The Whiteboard Way© before (click here or here). We believe that our method of Process Improvement is what organizations need in order to take the first step into a Process Improvement culture. Often organizations hear about the buzz words – continuous improvement, process improvement, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, TQM, etc – and they go bananas implementing a new program.

And so many of them fail. I’ve seen it happen in three major organizations in both the private and the public sectors.

They fail because they haven’t set themselves up to succeed – they have not considered the importance of change management, culture shift, and stakeholder engagement. It’s as bad as if someone all of a sudden decided they want to be a farmer, and so they bought a big field and started sticking seeds in the ground, without tilling the soil, removing rocks, adding fertilizer, and ensuring the earth is rich and ready to receive the seeds.

Enough of the analogy. You get what I’m saying, and hopefully many of you are nodding your heads and saying, “yup – been there, done that.”

Our new course, Leading Process Change, offered Nov 5 & 6 in Toronto, examines the intersection of Process Improvement and Leadership Principles and enables the learner to influence change and develop a process-based culture. Everyone can benefit from this course, especially if they are responsible for, or thinking about, process improvement in their organization. (Click to Tweet)

You need to come to this course. Yes, you.

What? You don’t think you’re at the right level in your organization to attend? To that I say, respectfully, PFFT.

Whether you are an employee on a team in an organization who wishes you knew how to influence change so people would listen to your ideas, or a VP trying to figure out why you can’t make process improvements stick, (or somewhere in between), this course is for you.

We have designed the course in two modules, so that people can come to one or both.

Module 1 – is all about The Whiteboard Way©, and focuses on the basics of Process Improvement without getting all fancy shmancy and needing expensive software or textbooks.
Module 2 – examines essential skills in making sure that change sticks. We have expert speakers on how to communicate & promote your change initiative, how to work process improvement into your strategic planning, and how to be aware of your own emotional intelligence and its impacts on others.

More information is here in this link. I encourage you to read it, and then sign up and bring anyone else who needs to be there (which is everyone, so…). We have discounts for Earlybirds (before October 18th), former students, members of BNI or Verity, and employees of the OPS. And discounts can be combined!

I hope to see you at our course. I promise it will be fun – our past students have rated our training consistently in the top box! (Oh, and the lunch will be fantastic!)

Ruth.

PS – if you have any questions, just shoot us an email at info@whiteboardconsulting.ca/staging.

Getting to the Root of It

September 25, 2014Blogbrainstorming, brainstorming tools, cause and effect diagram, continuous improvement, efficiency, fishbone diagram, ishikawa diagram, process, Process Improvement, process map, process mapping, process mapping tools, whiteboard consultingRuth Henderson

Nicole and I have stumbled into a bit of a theme these days, talking about the basic activities involved in Process Improvement and sharing with you some user-friendly and simple templates. First, we wrote about how to actually map a process, and next we covered how to look at that process map and assess which steps are a waste of effort – i.e., they add no value. Both those blog posts include handy templates which you can edit and manipulate to suit your needs.

So now what?

In Nicole’s example, we learned that External Failures were taking 56% of the total time involved in completing a process. Since External Failures are clearly non-value-add steps, that is where we will focus. It may seem obvious, but often it’s over-looked so I’ll say it again: start your process improvement work on the steps that offer the most efficiency opportunities.

The next step then, is to look closely at the External Failures and think about what might be some root causes for them. By reducing or eliminating them, not only will we reduce the chance of upsetting a customer, but we will reduce the amount of time it takes to complete the overall time to do the process.

Root What Now?

Root cause. The main thing that is causing a process to fail. Here’s an example: a customer’s dessert arrives and it is burnt. What might the root cause be for that? There may be a few of them, so let’s brainstorm. The customer received the burnt cake because:

the server wasn’t paying attention
the oven was too hot
the recipe was wrong
the chef wasn’t watching the oven
the oven timer was broken

There are a few examples of why the cake might be burnt. Are they root causes? Nope. They are sub-causes. Let’s dig deeper:

the server wasn’t paying attention because:
- he/she was rushing
the oven was too hot because:
- the thermostat was broken
the recipe was wrong because:
- the chef made it from memory
the chef wasn’t watching the oven because:
- he/she was receiving an order of fresh vegetables during dinner service
the oven timer was broken because:
- it hasn’t had any maintenance in 5 years

So are those root causes? Maybe. Let’s take a look:

the server wasn’t paying attention because:
- he/she was rushing because:
  - three servers called in sick and there was no backup plan
the oven was too hot because:
- the thermostat was broken
the recipe was wrong because:
- the chef made it from memory because:
  - he/she learned it from someone else who didn’t write it down
the chef wasn’t watching the oven because:
- he/she was receiving an order of fresh vegetables during dinner service because
  - the delivery truck was late
the oven timer was broken because:
- it hasn’t had any maintenance in 5 years

Brainstorming with Fish

We’re getting closer. We have a few root causes in there now, and a couple of others might even be able to go further. A great way to do brainstorming like this is to think in terms of categories of what could possibly go wrong. You can use whatever categories will work for you or your business, but some common ones include:

Equipment
Process
People
Materials
Environment
Management

A tool we love to use originated in Japan in the ’60s. Known by several names (Ishikawa diagram, Cause-and-Effect diagram, and Herringbone diagram, to name a few), we use the most common title – the Fishbone Diagram. This diagram is nothing more than a brainstorming tool that helps groups think about potential root causes of a problem or issue. Lucky for you, click on this Fishbone Template for you to use in your next brainstorming session. It will download automatically.

Here are the steps in using it:

At the “head” of the fish, write the problem you want to address.
At the end of each of the “bones” of the fish, write the categories you’d like to use. (Whichever ones will stimulate the best discussion.)
You can start brainstorming sessions several ways. One we like to use is to give everyone a stack of sticky notes and a pen. Ask them to look at the categories and write down as many potential causes as they can – one per sticky note. Now have everyone put their sticky notes on the wall, clustered in the six categories. Discuss and add more (because people always think of more). Remove duplicates.
Draw a line towards each “bone” and write the potential cause on it.
Ask if there are any further “bones” that might go off of the one you just wrote. If there are, then draw a line connected to that line.
Keep going until you’ve written down all the ideas, and then ask if there are any more.
Done!

Now you have a big list of ideas, and the trick is to figure out which one of those is the most impactful. How do you know which one(s) to fix first? Well, Nicole will tell you that next week… so stay tuned!

Until next week,

Ruth

PS – details on our new course, Leading Process Change, are coming within the next few days. Stay tuned to our Twitter (@whiteboardcons) and Facebook feeds, not to mention our website.

How to Process Map When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

August 1, 2014Blogconsulting, continuous improvement, process, Process Improvement, process map, swimlane diagramsRuth Henderson

This week a friend emailed me to ask for some process improvement advice. He has been thinking about a business process in his office, and knows something isn’t working the way it should, but isn’t quite sure what it is.

In fact, he wasn’t even sure how to articulate what he was looking for.

“This is probably the kind of thing that you guys could do for me, but I don’t even know what I want yet. Do you have anything like a template or a document that lists your process for drawing out how a process is working?”

Funnily enough, we don’t. When Nicole and I facilitate process improvement sessions it comes to us naturally, based on a few key questions:

What is the “pain point” that you want to fix? Or, what is that “one thing” that drives you bananas when you drive home on Friday evenings, thinking “if only we didn’t have to deal with “this thing”, everything would be better?
What kicks off your process? What’s the first step? You might think this is an easy question, but we once spent 45 minutes with a client helping them answer it.
When is your process finished? What’s the last step? Is it when something is produced? Or when the customer recieves it? Or when the cheque comes in?

And that’s enough to get us started. From there we interview the key people involved in a process, draw it on huge Post-It paper on the wall, and then review it with people to ensure it’s accurate.

At that point the opportunities to improve pretty much jump off the page.

My Response to Him

Assuming you know nothing about a process map (forgive me if you do):

square shapes represent a step in the process
circles/ovals are beginning and end points
diamonds are decision points
arrows direct the flow from one step to another
the rows, or swimlanes, represent each person or group or organization who “touch” the process
A completed process map a beginning and end (duh), has all the process steps in the appropriate row depending on who completes the step, has decision points where ever an approval is needed (e.g. Approved? Y/N) and then appropriate steps for both Yes and No possibilities, has numbered steps (makes it easier to refer to specific steps later if you’re talking to someone about it).

You can use a pencil to document your process directly on the page, or you can have a big piece of paper on the wall and use sticky-notes (one for each step). This makes it easy to move them around if you need to. Use the attached template to help you out. (Click here for the process map template: WBC Process Map Template.)

Determine the swimlanes – who has some involvement (no matter if it’s only one step) in any aspect of the process?
Determine the trigger point – what kicks the process off?
Consider the end point – how will you know when the process is done?
Put a circle shape in the swimlane for the person/group that starts things off. Write the word “START” in it.
Put a square shape next to the circle and label it #1, and write the step.
Proceed with each consecutive step.
Add the arrows last (you almost always have to change them as you go).
When you reach the end point, put a circle with the word “END” in it.

His Response to Me

Ever the clown, my friend responded with, “do you realize how ironic it is that you don’t have a process document for your process mapping process?”

Isn’t it though. So ironic. See if I help HIM out again… sheesh…

Until next time,

Ruth.

October 31, 2013Blogbottlenecks, continuous improvement, duplication, Lean, problem statements, Process Improvement, process mapping, Six Sigma, swimlane diagrams, touch pointsNicole North

Last week Ruth started a series on The Whiteboard Way©, our very own process improvement methodology (this proved to be advantageous for me, as I was at a creative standstill with blog ideas. Thanks Ruth!)

First, a Little Background

A little recap – last week Ruth talked about the most critical step in The Whiteboard Way© – Define it! By removing assumptions and pre-conceived ideas about the solution, it allows you to be unbiased and creative in the possible solution.Today I’m going to delve into my love-hate relationship with process mapping.

Why do we process map?

Approximately 65 percent of the population are visual learners and people process visual information much faster. Visually representing a process allows you to see things that may not necessarily jump out at you when you read a procedures document or when you just “imagine” the process in your head. Here are some things that jump out at you when you process map:

Touch points. How many people, teams, departments must a product or service pass through to reach the customer? The higher the number of touch points in the process the longer the process will take, and the higher likelihood that a defect (or error) will occur.
Duplication. Process maps are great at visually highlighting work that is duplicated across the company by different teams. With our clients, we usually see a map highlight, for example, people that enter the same data into different databases, or forms in different areas of the organization.
Bottlenecks. Bottlenecks occur when there is a blockage in the flow of information or work. For example, when a busy executive is holding an approval at their desk for days upon end.

So Ruth helped you develop your problem here. Some examples of “Good” Problem Definitions are below:

In the last 3 months we have had to fix this issue 6 times for four customers, causing dissatisfaction for our customers and wasted processing time for our staff.
Each month we are 5-7 days late completing this process, impacting other departments and generating late fees for the company.
This piece of work costs the organization $5,000 per month. Best practices in similar companies is half that amount.

Step Two: Draw It!

So now, take your “good” problem definition from last week , and think about the process(es) that contribute to it. There are many types of process maps out there, each serving a different purpose. We like to use the swim lane process map because it allows you to identify the ‘hand offs’ or touch points in the process. At this point you are mapping the As-is current state process, not the Should-be (in an ideal world), or Thought-to-be (what we think it looks like). Get everyone in the room who touches that process and talk about what “ACTUALLY” happens.

There are four steps you need to remember when mapping a process.

Determine level of detail. A high level view of your process will require 3- 5 process steps, while a more detailed view can have up to 20 process steps.
Lay out your swim lanes. Identify how many people, positions, teams or departments are involved in the process (keep in mind the level of detail you have chosen to map it) . Create a swim lane for each. Your process should flow from the top to the bottom, left to right. So if your administrative assistant or your client starts off the process, their lane should be placed at the top. The same, if your shipping department is the last to finish the process, their lane should be placed at the bottom.
Use your Shapes. The are 4 key shapes to use when mapping. The oval represents the start and the end of your process. The rectangle represents your process step. The diamond represents your decision point. The arrows represent direction and connection. The diamond is the fork in the process and therefore will always two arrows, a Yes and No.
Number your Steps. Although the arrows help with direction, sometimes with complicated processes, you lose track of the flow, especially if there are a lot of decision point. For this reason it is important to number your process steps.

So get out your whiteboards, sticky notes, and markers, and start to Draw It! Let us know what you find out!

Leave us a comment below!

Until next week,

Nicole