Welcome to August 2015 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.
The search for “Improving measures of measurement of process” took us to the first building block -‘performance measures and metrics’, followed by the search for resources relating to the ‘structuring for the process of improvement’. Then we took one more step forward, so as to look at some basics for “Deploying the Improvement Process”.
Presently, we will explore different ideas and approaches in “Implementing the Improvement Process”.
‘Steps in the Continuous Improvement Process’ recommends the classic PDCA approach
6 Tips for Implementing Continuous Process Improvement : Continuous process improvement stops you from getting comfortable with the status quo and accepting sub-par results. Six tips that it enlists for successful implementation of continuous improvement process are:
1. Solicit feedback
2. Share More, Not less.
3. Document stuff
4. Don’t automatically blame the tool.
5. Identify changing requirements
6. Think Lean
How to implement Change Successfully has ‘change’ as the keyword in the title. We have used the article here simply because any change has to lead to improvement and every improvement, at the minimum, results in change. The article revolves around three basics: –
– Break down the changes into manageable task and achievable targets
– Keep informing and getting feedback
– Pilot the change under ‘controlled’ conditions and test the potential weak spot before going for full-scale implementation.
6 Steps for Implementing Successful Performance Improvement Initiatives in Healthcare is a good presentation that deals with implementing the continuous improvement initiatives
Step 1: Integrate Performance Improvement into Your Strategic Objectives
Step 2: Use Analytics to Unlock Data and Identify Areas of Opportunity
Step 3: Prioritize programs using a combination of analytics and a deployment system
Step 4: Define the Performance Improvement Program’s Permanent Teams
Step 5: Use a content system to define program outcomes and define interventions
Step 6: Estimate the ROI
Why Do Most Continuous Improvement Programs Fail? by Hammad M. Hammad deals with misunderstanding of the role of such programs, lack of focus in the deployment of CI resources, and misalignment of the goals and rewards of performance improvement. …[In fact] effective CI programs are not limited to deploying problem-solving and process-improvement techniques. They require a major cultural shift that takes time, resources and direct involvement from all levels of the organization. Management needs to display clear commitment to continuous improvement, follow up on the progress in implementing the program, and hold people accountable for their performance.
The follow-up article, Why Successful Continuous Improvement Programs Succeed essentially emphasizes that:
• Long-term commitment from management
• Operational performance (measurements) drives continuous improvement
• Alignment of rewards based on the impacts of performance improvement
are the key drivers of success.
The next post deals with the steps needed to transform the organization to a continuous improvement culture.
Guide to Implementing Quality Improvement Principles is a manual, wherein the following steps have been identified –
A. What are the principles that we are trying to achieve?
B. Assessing your nursing home’s [or for that matter that of your organization or department or team] readiness to achieve these principles
C. Next Steps
D. Tools
Top 10 Imperatives for Leading a Successful IT Improvement Program presents solutions and best practices for mitigating challenges and successfully deploying such initiatives.
As we search for more literature on the subject, we observe a wide range of universe of from basic common sense approach to highly developed, technology-enabled processes using several tools. As a result, we are led to conclude that successful implementation of the CI process calls for continuous learning from each of the experiences and build the learnings into the future stages of the implementation.
We would continue our journey of the process of improvement for three more months.
In the meanwhile, in the second part, we have, from among the Influential Voices Blogroll Alumni, Mark Graban’s Lean Blog. Mark Graban’s passion is creating a better, safer, more cost effective healthcare system for patients and better workplaces for all. Mark Graban’s blog is indeed a treasure of information on Lean in the manufacturing world, focusing more on healthcare. Some of the most popular posts from the past months would provide us the insight to Mark Graban’s approach to Lean:
• See How a British Psychiatrist is Using LEGO Videos to Explain Lean Healthcare
• Using Lean to Organize Hospital Closets… NPR Commenters Are Not Impressed
• Moving from “Visuals” to “Visual Management” and to Broader Lean Thinking
• Fear, Lies, Failure, and Success (and Laughs) on the Show “Silicon Valley”
• Flashback Friday: Lean Won’t Work Here, We’re Different
We have now exhausted out the present listing of the Influential Voices Blogroll Alumni.
We turn to our regular sections now:
Bill Troy, ASQ CEO has presented guest post of James Lawther – Creating a Performance Culture: What Not To Do. The author has picked up “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society’ to define the term ‘Culture’. And then, in the process of answering the question ‘Is it possible to manage behaviors and influence performance?’ he lists following “Not To Do” actions:
- Jumping up and down on poor performance.
- Challenging management information
- Changing the calculations
- Blaming and shaming
- Always create more metrics until something positive can be identified for emphasis
- Minimizing the negative
He goes on to conclude that “performance management” doesn’t create a culture of high performance. It creates one of low performance and fear. (Therefore), The way to create a high performance culture is to seek out poor performance, embrace it and fix it, not punish it.
Julia McIntosh, ASQ communications in July Roundup: Using New Technology in Quality and Beyond sums up how the ASQ bloggers have reflected on the way technology helps them as quality professionals—both at work and beyond..
We then move over to ASQ TV Episodes: Cost of Quality, wherein ASQ TV defines and explains cost of quality (CoQ), identifies its link with pricing and shows “unquality” at its finest. For more information, do visit ASQ … Knowledge Center: Cost of Quality “How Better Quality Affects Pricing”.
We had carried a full post on Cost of Quality in January 2014, and would certainly like to revisit th subject some in future too.
Our ASQ’s Influential Voice for the month is – Pam Schodt.
Pam Schodt is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer and a member of the Raleigh, North Carolina section of ASQ, where she volunteers on the Communication Committee. Her blog, Quality Improvements in Work and Life, includes posts about certification testing, book reviews, and lifestyle issues. She also blogs about technology issues @ Web Technology and gardening @ Garden Lady. Currently, she is active as an iStock photo contributor and social media advisor.
I look forward to your active participation in enriching the blog carnival as we pursue our Improvement journey ………….
The world is too small? or Is it? 
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