Rapid Process Improvement
ProjectTraining.com
| Providing Project Management and Process Improvement Training for over 20 years |
5-day Workshop
Crow Development Corporation uses a highly interactive, fact-based approach to
process re-engineering. This approach utilizes the strengths of the organization’s
members to analyze, design, and implement significant improvements in the
work processes of the organization. Underlying our approach is an assumption
that virtually every process contains waste - activities that do not directly add value
to the organization’s customers. Finding and eliminating as much of this waste
as possible is the goal.
The Rapid Process Improvement model we use is based on the simple idea that
the people best suited to improve the way work is done are the people who do the
work. With this in mind, a typical Rapid Improvement Workshop is usually
presented to a group of employees - from all levels of the organization - who have
intimate knowledge of the process, its inputs and its outputs.
A process-improvement engagement typically begins with an assessment of the
organization. This is usually completed through a combination of an organization-
wide survey and one-on-one and small-group interviews that cover a diagonal
slice - top to bottom - through the organization. Information from the assessment
is used to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. Following the
assessment:
While each workshop is custom-designed for the organization where it will be
presented and the issues it will address, a typical workshop follows this general
pattern:
Day One:
Introductions
Day Two:
Day Three:
Day Four:
Day Five:
Follow-up:
In the weeks following a workshop, there is follow-up work that needs to be done.
The process needs to be implemented and monitored. This usually includes fine
tuning the process, cleaning up the documentation, measuring progress toward
goals, etc.
In these workshops, we don’t do the work for the client; we show them how to do
it more effectively and efficiently whether participants are senior or middle
managers, supervisors or front-line associates. And, speaking of front-line
associates, we believe that the knowledge, ideas, and energy of the workforce
are a vast, untapped resource for improvement. We can show how to combine
top-down direction with bottom-up initiative to make huge improvements.
Crow Development Corporation uses a highly interactive, fact-based approach to
process re-engineering. This approach utilizes the strengths of the organization’s
members to analyze, design, and implement significant improvements in the
work processes of the organization. Underlying our approach is an assumption
that virtually every process contains waste - activities that do not directly add value
to the organization’s customers. Finding and eliminating as much of this waste
as possible is the goal.
The Rapid Process Improvement model we use is based on the simple idea that
the people best suited to improve the way work is done are the people who do the
work. With this in mind, a typical Rapid Improvement Workshop is usually
presented to a group of employees - from all levels of the organization - who have
intimate knowledge of the process, its inputs and its outputs.
A process-improvement engagement typically begins with an assessment of the
organization. This is usually completed through a combination of an organization-
wide survey and one-on-one and small-group interviews that cover a diagonal
slice - top to bottom - through the organization. Information from the assessment
is used to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. Following the
assessment:
- Agreement is gained from the entire Senior Management Team regarding
the purpose and goals for the initiative. - Specific, measurable, targets for improvement are developed. These
commonly include targets for improvements in cost, schedule, and quality.
These targets are used at the end of the engagement to determine
whether the desired improvements have been achieved. - A Steering Team is identified and charted to act as the primary leadership
body to guide and facilitate the work of the Process Improvement Teams. - The Steering Team identifies the members of the Process Improvement
Teams. These teams should represent a diagonal slice of the portions of
the organization that are directly involved in the processes to be re-
engineered. - Process Improvement Team members are freed of all work
responsibilities for a one-week period. The intensity of the workshop
experience is such that protecting members from outside distractions is
extremely important. In most organizations, team member are simply “on
vacation” as far as the organization is concerned for the duration of the
workshop.
While each workshop is custom-designed for the organization where it will be
presented and the issues it will address, a typical workshop follows this general
pattern:
Day One:
Introductions
- Review of purpose and goals
- Education on basic improvement concepts and team dynamics
- Process walk (the group will physically walk the process to see how work
moves from place to place, what work is done, by whom and, for how long - Development of an “as is” map of the current process
Day Two:
- Education modules on waste, continuous-flow and the “value stream” to
the customer - A client-specific three-round simulation shows how significant
improvements can be made
Day Three:
- Education modules on process improvement, now using the candidate
process as an example - The large group sub-divides into small groups to begin work on
development of a “vision” of the improved process. This “vision” is not a
process design. Rather, it is a set of specific characteristics (quality,
speed, cost, etc.) that the new process will have.
Day Four:
- Sub-teams address specific areas of the process
- Integration meetings occur as needed where the sub-teams come
together to share progress, ideas, discoveries and, to get and give
feedback - By day’s end, the basic structure of the improved process is in place. This
usually includes:
- The steps in the process
- The work inputs to each step
- Detailed descriptions of the work done at each step
- The tools, guidelines, forms, templates, etc. necessary to do the
work - The skills needed to do the work
- The outputs from each step
- Estimates of the time required to complete each step
- This information is captured on a very large wall chart. If available,
a documentation team is used to translate the wall charts into a
working document. The goal is to develop sufficient information to
allow the improved process to be implemented immediately.
Day Five:
- The first part of this day is spent finalizing the process
- Integration meetings occur as needed
- Final “bugs” are worked out of the process
- General “test cases” are used to check the process
- A presentation of the results or the workshop is developed for
presentation to management
Follow-up:
In the weeks following a workshop, there is follow-up work that needs to be done.
The process needs to be implemented and monitored. This usually includes fine
tuning the process, cleaning up the documentation, measuring progress toward
goals, etc.
In these workshops, we don’t do the work for the client; we show them how to do
it more effectively and efficiently whether participants are senior or middle
managers, supervisors or front-line associates. And, speaking of front-line
associates, we believe that the knowledge, ideas, and energy of the workforce
are a vast, untapped resource for improvement. We can show how to combine
top-down direction with bottom-up initiative to make huge improvements.
"The Crow
Development team
helped us reduce our
time-to-market by
about 50%. The
products we delivered
were of significantly
higher quality and we
did it without an
increase in personnel.
Their project
management
approach is extremely
practical and is usable
throughout our
organization. Their
process improvement
methodology has
helped us clean up
processes all over the
business and we’re still
using it years later."
Curtis Peltz
President,
Timberline
Software
Portland, Oregon
Development team
helped us reduce our
time-to-market by
about 50%. The
products we delivered
were of significantly
higher quality and we
did it without an
increase in personnel.
Their project
management
approach is extremely
practical and is usable
throughout our
organization. Their
process improvement
methodology has
helped us clean up
processes all over the
business and we’re still
using it years later."
Curtis Peltz
President,
Timberline
Software
Portland, Oregon
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