Learning to improve systematically
Over the past few months, Srin and I have been sharing how the I&P Help Desk is laying the foundation of the House of Toyota toward the ideal state of delivering the highest quality IT services for City of Pittsburgh staff. We started with standardization and talked about identifying our customers’ needs and our teams’ needs so that we can determine what our ideal targets are for fulfilling them (ideal targets are also called True North or theoretical limit goals). Next, we focused on stabilization by using standard work, visual management, 5S organization and job instructions, so that we can calm the system and create some control over our processes and their outcomes. We need to standardize and stabilize first because the next step — improvement— can only happen if the entire system is in a calm and controlled state to apply rapid-cycle, iterative changes in a manageable fashion.
Direct observation of processes and systems is the keystone to any continuous improvement approach. It is used from the very beginning to learn more about what is happening in a system in order to stabilize it, and then repeated throughout to learn what progress has been made and to determine what new improvements should be made.
We use a Values-based Safe Observation technique that includes:
- Separation of people from problems (we don’t blame people, we observe the system)
- An objective and respectful mindset (we don’t ask why things are happening, we look for what is happening)
- Seeking to understand rather than problem-solve (we are learning about the situation, not fixing it)
We use this form of observation to understand the current condition, “to establish a common framework based on [observed] data that will serve as the starting point for design of an improved target condition” (PRHI, 2002). This means everyone involved, at several points along the way, should get out of their seats, get out of their offices, and Go See what is actually happening to learn where we are today (current condition) so that we can determine where we want to go next (target condition).
The next tools in improvement are team huddles and PICK charts. In a team huddle, the group gathers for a short period of time to review the ideal goals, the target condition (which we call KPIs or Key Performance Indicators), and the current condition metrics.
Since the current condition has not met either the target condition or the ideal goals, the team then identifies problems that are preventing them from progressing. It is important to note that it is problems identified, not solutions. Most people naturally call out the solution they think is needed and it takes effort and discipline not to jump to the solution, but to identify the problem which needs to be solved. Once problems are identified, the team can use a PICK Chart to prioritize which problems to solve. PICK stands for: possible, implement, challenge, and kill. These are quadrant charts which allow the team to prioritize problems based on the impact they will have if solved (high or low) and the difficulty of solving them (high or low).
Once problems are prioritized on the PICK Chart, we can solve the first Implement problems using the scientific method. To apply the scientific method, we tend to split problems into a Just Do It category or an A3 category.
Just Do It problems are those which have a readily available solution, are easily accomplished in a short period of time, and don’t take coordination across teams or higher-level authorization to make happen. An example might be that it takes too long to find the correct equipment in the closet when a customer needs to borrow a laptop. The Just Do It solution from the team is to 5S organize the loaner equipment closet. This uses the scientific method to the extent that we set a hypothesis and use the PDCA (plan, do, check, act) model to test it. For example, If we 5S organize the loaner equipment closet, then it will reduce the time spent looking for the right equipment from 8 minutes to 1 minute. The hypothesis is the plan, which we can then put into action, check the results, determine if we want to keep the improvement and whether the hypothesis was valid. If it was invalid, or didn’t get us all the way to our goal, then we take action to make another improvement.
A3 problems are those which need more investigation to determine why they are happening, must be coordinated across teams, or require higher-level involvement to break barriers or allocate resources. An A3 is short-hand for a problem solving methodology which includes: the problem statement, metrics, current condition, root cause analysis, target condition, hypothesis and an action plan (A3 is 11x17" paper, which is the size traditionally used).
The A3 guides the team in analyzing the problem carefully and designing a target condition, hypothesis to test and an action plan. Drawings are part of the A3 analysis because it depicts specifically what was observed (remember? Go See!) and makes apparent where problems can be found in a process. It is important to note that with either methodology — Just Do It or A3 — they are only a single iteration in an overall continuous improvement system.
To review, the tools we are using for improvement include direct observation to learn about the process, frequent team huddles to identify problems, PICK charts to prioritize problem solving, and the scientific method (PDCA or A3) to test our hypotheses about the solutions. In our next blog post, Srin will describe examples of how we have used these tools in practice.
Keep up with series on Pittsburgh I&P under Process Improvement and feel free to comment here with questions or concerns!
