Critical path even more critical in down economy

The man who started the world on the journey to continuous process improvement was W. Edwards Deming, who also is credited with helping to rebuild Japan into a manufacturing powerhouse after World War II.

In his 1993 book, “The New Economics:  For Industry, Government and Education,” Deming wrote that America was living on fat, a transformation in management was needed, and only a quality product or service would create a sustainable market.  His writings form the beginning of our journey to systems thinking, innovation and strong customer focus.

As a result of what I call the “quality reformation” we became aware of the value and power of defining work processes and tracking their performance.  It was a discipline that everyone recognized would produce greater efficiency, and most of us have been through a series of process and quality management training over the last decade – Kaizen, True North, Lean Six Sigma, and Total Quality Management, to name a few of the available systems.

However, in the 1990s, we were in a time of abundant resources and the desire to create discipline was not there. Not everyone “wasted” the process knowledge, of course; franchise businesses live and die based upon repeatable processes.

Why should we care about total quality management TQM in 2010?  Limited resources, unpredictable markets, constant change and uncertainty are the norm.  As we come to grips with the fact that ever-expanding growth is not sustainable, perhaps we need to take a hard look at quality and process management for direction.

We could start with one Japanese company that became known for its quality manufacturing process and culture of continuous improvement – Toyota. They are now becoming the poster child for what happens when you grow too quickly by abandoning practices that once produced products synonymous with quality and longevity.

During these lean times every organization must face an exciting challenge. Will you water down your services and deliver a weaker version of customer service?  Or will you appropriately downscale your services to a shiny, new nugget of high performance that retains your current customers and creates “sustainable” growth?  Are your processes repeatable and predictable?  Can you track the performance of processes over time?  Are you able to make data-driven decisions? 

If you answered no to any of these questions, you are not alone. The ability to improve performance and identify our essential services directs us to adopt a system for optimization that enhances performance and inspires people.  Focusing on the essential services will help identify waste and allow your organization to reclaim capacity.

Define your critical path

The overall goal of process management is to create work processes that are defined, understood, repeatable and predictable.  This can be a simple task of defining the steps in a given process, determining the input and output, and identifying the issues and challenges that exist.  Roles and responsibilities must be clarified and accountability for task completion agreed upon.

The process will help you define the “critical path” – a project management term that means you know which tasks are required to achieve a milestone in the shortest amount of time.

What three steps could you take right now to move your organization toward a process management discipline? 

• First, identify the low-hanging fruit: You could make obvious and easy changes that would produce results immediately.  Low-hanging fruit is usually found in processes that currently have workarounds and are known to be problematic.  Identify and prioritize the issues your organization faces today and there will likely be opportunities for improvement.
• Second, seek the advice of individuals from across the spectrum of work.  Be sure to include everyone who touches the process: managers, financial analysts, customer service, sales, and any other appropriate functions.  Each person has a unique perspective on the work and together they will construct a complete picture of the process for producing a given service or product.  With everyone working together it is easier to identify waste and areas where even small changes can make a big difference.
• Finally, research and educate yourself on process management.  Read a book, search the Web, but most of all keep it simple.  Complexity is your enemy at the start.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a more complex approach will produce better results.  If you make it too complicated, you will fail. 

Shirley Esterly is a master facilitator and systems thinker who works with clients to build sustainable business practices. She can be reached at sae@quantumwest.com.

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