a l it y

u
QproveMple...
e n t
iM S i M
a d e t !
M F a s
an d

Matthew J. Maio
Quality
iMproveMent
Made SiMple...
and Fast!

Matthew J. Maio

ASQ Quality Press

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
American Society for Quality, Quality Press, Milwaukee 53203
© 2010 by ASQ
All rights reserved. Published 2010
Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.

Publisher: William A. Tony

Acquisitions/Project Editor: Matt T. Meinholz
Production Administrator: Robert L. Kraus
Illustrator: Sue Keely (www.suekeely.com)

ASQ Mission: The American Society for Quality advances individual, organizational,
and community excellence worldwide through learning, quality improvement, and
knowledge exchange.

Attention Bookstores, Wholesalers, Schools, and Corporations: ASQ Quality Press

books, video, audio, and software are available at quantity discounts with bulk
purchases for business, educational, or instructional use. For information, please
contact ASQ Quality Press at 800-248-1946, or write to ASQ Quality Press,
P.O. Box 3005, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005.

To place orders or to request ASQ membership information, call 800-248-1946.

Visit our website at http://www.asq.org/quality-press.

Printed on acid-free paper

Although the process for making incremental and fast improvements has been provided in this book,
ASQ has created an online community* called Simple Quality (http://community.asq.org/networks/
simple_quality), which can be used as a resource to share ideas, ask questions of the author, network
with other users, download the forms from the book, and much more that will help you on your
journey. The online community is another powerful tool to gain knowledge and continue the journey!

*ASQ online communities require registration with ASQ to participate. Registration is free.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all who ask questions and challenge themselves
and others to do better. Those who think there must be a better way to do this or that,
or solve a problem, can use the materials here to change how things are done, and to
make change that brings positive results.
I want to thank my wife Janna and daughters Brianna and Hayley for
their love, support, and dedication. They are always there to help me work through
problems and keep things simple. To my parents, John and Marge, thank you for
challenging me to do better as you raised me—maybe the biggest challenge of all—
and for your support in interests that required me to think through problems and
have fun!
Finally, I want to thank my employers, clients, and friends—past and
present. The opportunities presented to me at Raytheon, JT3 LLC, and Honeywell
have allowed me to apply these principles and have encouraged me to want to help
others and continually improve. Hopefully, with the help of this book, you will be
able to use these basic principles and a simple approach to make positive change!
Foreword
Most of us work in small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofit organiza-
tions. It goes without saying that we each want to deliver the best to our clients and
customers. We carry with us a strong belief in the value of what we could be offer-
ing, if we just had the money...the time...the right people. Meanwhile, the daily job of
just getting things done overwhelms our drive to do things better.
This book is focused on you. The money, time, and people probably won’t
change significantly soon, so it is fruitless to wait for a more auspicious time to talk
about how to be the best, or at least better. This book is designed to capture the most
important things you can do now, and what you need to know to get started.
Are you a teacher who wants to improve how you help children learn; a
nurse who always has to work around obstacles to improving health, or the manager
of a small business or nonprofit aspiring to be successful? This book offers what you
need for the journey from “pretty good” to “a whole lot better.”
In 25 years of work in quality management in the public, private, and
community sectors, I have seen the power of using simple principles and practices
to improve customer care, reduce waste, and ultimately strengthen the bottom line,
while making the organizations better places to work. I have been part of hundreds
of efforts in the boardroom, the workplace, or the community where ordinary people
were able to make extraordinary contributions to improve results because they used
these basic but powerful tools.
Read this book, pick up your new tools and get to work. Identify what is
keeping you up at night, and use the practices outlined in this guide to get started.
The learning will come from the doing. If you follow this simple guide, you will
know whether the changes you make are, in fact, real improvements!
Go for it!

Tom Mosgaller
Director of Change Management
NIATx-University of Wisconsin
Past President and Chairman of the Board, ASQ
This Is Ridiculous (Introduction)

It is simple—all of us have experienced some service or product that has

caused us to say, “This is ridiculous!” Our frustration could have been spurred by one
too many confirmations, too many mouse clicks, too many forms to fill out, redun-
dant information being requested, excessive packaging, long waits, poor service, a
broken item, receiving the wrong item, poor or botched handoffs, etc. Although our
frustration is usually summed up in “ridiculous,” it is more important to be able to
answer questions like “How did
this happen?” or “How can this
happen?” These simple ques-
tions demonstrate our interest in
and commitment to quality and
improvement.
This interest in quality
and improvement can be fostered
and applied to any organiza-
tion—small or large, for-profit
or nonprofit. Here are a few
basic quality and improvement
principles that can help us foster
our basic instincts to improve
products and services. This book
focuses on outlining basic quality
and improvement principles and
provides examples of how to apply
them—with a focus on small businesses and nonprofit organizations. When progress-
ing through the principles, two examples (one a small business, the other a nonprofit)
will be used to show how these quality and improvement principles can be applied.
Chapter 1 – The Basics: A quick overview of the history of these principles.
Chapter 2 – The Customer: This chapter provides the foundation for under-
standing customers. Who are they? What is important to them? What are they experi-
encing? Are their needs, or more important, their expectations, being met? Goals and
their relationship to the customer and organization are discussed.
Chapter 3 – The Plan: Explains the concepts of planning to move from cur-
rent to future performance levels. The good news is planning can be simple or elabo-
rate; it is up to you! Here change leader selection and empowerment are discussed.

5
 Chapter 4 – The Do: This is where the rubber meets the road, when a dif-
ference is made! In most cases, this can—or should—be quick to get positive results
with as little effort as possible.
Chapter 5 – The Study: Explains the need to study the results of what is
happening during implementation and what happened after completion. This is
done to ensure progress is being made in the right direction. It’s important because
things don’t always go as planned, but adjustments can occur. But, if “The Study” is
skipped, then status toward goal achievement cannot be known.
Chapter 6 – The Act: This might seem redundant to “The Do,” but it is
different. The primary purpose of “The Act” is to make sure the results reviewed in
“The Study” are addressed to help achieve the goal (with adjustment if necessary),
or to determine how successful the project was. Without knowing where to go (the
goal), the actions/adjustments cannot be made to ensure it is reached or, at least, the
effort is moving in that direction. When the goal is achieved, decide if the improve-
ment activity is done. Or, start a new plan and “raise the bar” to continue to improve.
Chapter 7 – Now What?: A quick highlight of what can be done from here.
Other resources and principles that can be used—they take a little more effort—and
what might be a reasonable next step. Or, the next step might be to continue to apply
the basic principles and tools already being used to other opportunities.
Chapter 8 – Summary: A quick review of all you learned in the first seven
chapters.
Chapter 9 – Tools: Provides blank tools (checklists, forms, etc.) for use;
these can be copied to make your efforts easier.
Before starting, let’s introduce two
fictitious organizations that will be used
throughout this guide. First is Services for You,
a nonprofit organization that provides per-
sons with disabilities vocational training and
employment opportunities. They have several
locations within a small regional area and
provide both on-site services at their custom-
ers’ locations and in-house opportunities at
their locations. Training is done in-house and
the employment opportunities are service and
product related. Second, Castle Remodeling, is
a local home improvement small business that
provides services ranging from “handyman”
to complete remodels and additions; it only
provides residential services.
Our goal: Make simple changes,
focused on customers, to improve efficiency,
effectiveness, and customer satisfaction!
6
Chapter 1 – The Basics

The basics described in this book are rooted in decades of execution and
success. They are based on the principles of quality and improvement from the
founders of quality and customer satisfaction, including Dr. W. Edwards Deming and
Joseph M. Juran—among many others—and pioneers like Henry Ford, John “Jack”
Welch, and Taiichi Ohno. Dr. Deming (1900–1993) is recognized for his 14 points
and is credited with launching the Total Quality Management movement. Joseph
M. Juran (1904–2008), like Deming, worked with the Japanese after World War II
to help them rebuild their manufacturing. He is recognized for his Quality Trilogy
(quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement) and the establishment
of the Pareto principle (80 percent of the problems result from 20 percent of the
causes—or “the vital few and the trivial many”).
Henry Ford (1863–1947) established the modern production line—gain-
ing efficiencies in how automobiles were manufactured to lower prices and gain
market share. His mass production principles are still used today. John “Jack” Welch
(1935–), former chairman and chief executive officer at General Electric (GE), is
one of the early adopters of Six Sigma principles. His efforts and commitment led
GE to improve quality; reduce variation, scrap, and rework; and improve customer
satisfaction while positively impacting growth and profits. Finally, Taiichi Ohno
(1912–1990) is considered the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which
evolved into lean manufacturing. Under Ohno’s guidance, TPS implementation was
focused on customers’ needs, the elimination of waste, and continual improvement.
Companies like Motorola, Ford, Toyota, GE, Western Electric, and Allied-
Signal have taken these basic principles and tools to new levels. They have used them
to ensure customer focus while improving product and service quality. Organizations
like ASQ are on the quest to make these principles and tools available to everyone—
small and large, for-profit and nonprofit, and government and non-government.
There is a strong history behind these principles. There have been a lot of
successes after applying these principles and tools. There have also been failures—
usually related to the level of support and commitment from leadership. Apply-
ing these principles now may turn a struggling organization around or can help a
performing organization be better. A focus on the customer and simple incremental
improvement goals can help root out waste and improve productivity, quality, and
customer satisfaction, resulting in keeping or gaining customers.

7
Critical success factors include:
• Customer focus
• Simplicity
• S.M.A.R.T. goals (defined later)
• The plan-do-study-act rapid cycle improvement model (defined later)
• Small incremental improvements
Understanding what our customers want and need, finding and using pas-
sionate change leaders, and looking at what and how things are done with fresh eyes
are necessary. Avoiding the “we have always done it this way” or “we know better
than our customer” mind-set helps ensure an open thought process and can enable
change.
The will to make things better is the first step!

Identify and
Understand
Your
Customers

ACT Phase Identify and

Celebrate
Prioritize PLAN Phase
Improvement
Goals

Act Identify and

Empower
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate) Leader

Study
Plan
STUDY Phase (Know What
Is Happening
(To Meet
Goal)
/ Happened)

Do
(Implement
the Plan)
DO Phase

Figure 1: The plan-do-study-act process wheel: Aligning with our customers’

needs to make simple and quick improvements!

8
Chapter 2 – The Customer

While working with a client, a Castle Remodeling worker

stated, “I consider my customer the one who pays for my product
or service.” This seems right, doesn’t it? But sometimes it is not
quite this easy. For example, Castle Remodeling has customers
who hire its workers to paint a room or remodel a kitchen. But it has other customers
like neighbors of those having work performed who expect that their yards or park-
ing won’t be impacted, or the city inspectors and planning departments that expect
permits to be pulled, work to meet certain standards, or architectural drawings to be
in a certain format.
So what does this mean? Simply, look at things differently. Take a step
back and look at your organization through different eyes—those of the customer.
Who gets anything of value? Value is defined as where you see a need fulfilled.
This value can be an architectural drawing, a painted room, or a cleaning service
completed.
When focusing on customers to better understand who they are and what
they expect, ask simple questions like:
• Who pays for the product or service?
• Why do they buy from us?
• How often do they buy?
• Who else could they buy from?
• Who else (besides those who pay) receive a
product or service from us?
• What do they get from us?
• What unique products or services are provided?
• What do they really want?
• Why do they want it?
• What happens if they are not satisfied?
• How does satisfying their needs help us?
• How is customer interface done (face-to-face, phone, Internet, etc.)?
• What is it like to be our customer?
• Can I walk in their shoes to determine how they see us?

9
 Identify Your Customers
• Who are your customers?
• Do theyy get
g different p
products or
services?

Things To Consider
Identify and
Understand
U d t d
• Do yyou have direct contact with
Your
Customers them?
Celebrate
Identify and
Prioritize
Improvement
• How do they receive your products
Goals
or services?
• Do they pay directly for your product
or service?
Act Identify and
Empower
• Are they typically repeat customers?
• Do they come from referrals,
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate) Leader

marketing, or other methods?

• How different are the dollars or
Study
Plan
volumes between customers?
• Do you provide a product or service
(Know What
(To Meet
Is Happening)
Goal)
/ Happened

Do to their requirements or do you

(Implement
the Plan)
“push” the product or service?

Figure 2: Identifying our customers and their expectations.

In some cases, grouping customers might help to better understand them.

Why? Well, it might help to better define their requirements and expectations be-
cause they receive different products or services—like full remodel versus painting
or janitorial services versus event preparation. In some cases, the type of product or
service provided requires different actions, skills, processes, etc., to happen. Know-
ing answers to questions like those provided above can improve our ability to deter-
mine what our customers really want and to meet or exceed their expectations.
For example, Castle Remodeling currently sends one person to quote all
jobs. This requires a visit, a trip back to the office, and a couple of days to determine
the cost and provide it to the customer. By identifying and grouping customers in
four categories—painting, handyman services, remodel, and new additions—Castle
Remodeling can have the right processes, forms, skills, and resources to provide a
quote and meet customers’ expectations in a timelier manner. Using this approach,
painting quotes could be provided on the spot, handyman services could be quoted
(in rough terms) over the phone, and only one or two days is needed for quoting
remodeling or new additions.
Another way to group customers is by the amount of money they spend or
their time as a customer. Why would this matter? There could be discounts to long-
term customers or for the amount of work previously done. These approaches are used
by many businesses, including hotels, airlines, and coffee shops (e.g., buy nine, get the
10th free).
10
 Take a moment to think about this and capture some notes. First, who are
your customers? List between five and 10 by name. Based on your list, does it make
sense to group your customers? Jot down the answers to some of the questions
above. Are there any questions that can’t be answered? Would getting information
from the customer help answer the questions? The primary goal of understand-
ing who our customers are is to understand what drives our customers—what do
they want? When do they want it? How do they want it? Keep these notes; they are
needed to start the improvement journey.
One challenge here is to avoid thinking you have all the answers. Make sure
to find out what the customer wants and understand why they want it. This probably
sounds a little odd because after all,
our customers come to us for our
products and services. But this is
important! Sure, they use our products
and services, but what do they really
want? To know this, the customer
must be involved; help them to help
us understand. This involvement is
critical to our success.
How are customers involved
to gain information? There are many
ways including, but not limited to, face-to-face discussions, surveys (paper, phone,
and Web-based), and focus groups. In small businesses, local government, or
nonprofit organizations where there is direct contact with customers it is easier to
gain their involvement—especially with customers who work with you on a regular
basis. Try to gain the involvement of infrequent or one-time customers, too. Do this
to understand why they were either satisfied or dissatisfied. Remember, a happy
customer will tell a few people; but an unhappy customer will tell many.
When customers are involved,
consistency is important. Having
the same people interface with the
customer, asking the same questions,
and using easy terminology will help
bring consistency to our customer
involvement and the information
we gain. Asking two similar ques-
tions can yield drastically different
answers. For example, “How pleased
were you with the results of the
work performed: extremely, ade-
quately, a little, or not at all?” versus
“What did you think of the work we performed?” will provide different responses
and information. Be as consistent as possible when asking questions and gathering
information or data.

11
 Identify and Prioritize Goals Things To Consider
• What do your customers not like? • Customer Expectations
• Involve yyour customers • What do they want?
• When do they want it?
• What keeps you up at night? • How do they want it?
• What keeps your boss up at night? • How will you involve your customers?
• To identify goals
• To prioritize goals
• What is really happening?
• Not what you think is happening

Identify and
• How will the goal be measured?
U d t d
Understand
Your
Customers
• Time
Ti reduction
d ti
Identify and • Percent improvement / reduction
Prioritize
Celebrate
Improvement
Goals • Measurement scale
• Extremely satisfied, dissatisfied, etc.
• Good / Bad (Go / No-Go)
• Actual versus expected tolerance
Act Identify and
Empower
• Customer / Internal data
• Can the goal be divided to make
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate) Leader

incremental progress?
• What feedback have your customers
Study
Plan
given you?
(Know What
Is Happening
/ Happened)
(To Meet
Goal) • What can be done to be better?
Do • What are you doing because you
(Implement
the Plan)
have always done it that way?

Figure 3: Identify and capture goals based on customer and organization needs.
Using the information gained above, an improvement goal can be set. Is the
goal realistic? Having a realistic goal is not setting the goal low. It is setting a goal
that stretches for improvement, but the goal is not so far out that there is a low prob-
ability of success. The primary concern here is to make sure gains are seen. Several
small gains are better than none. To help with goal setting, use the S.M.A.R.T. goals
(reference example below) approach:
• S – Specific: The goal description clearly identifies what is to be accomplished.
• M – Measurable: We define how the goal will be measured (time, units or
production per hour, customer satisfaction score levels, scrap reduction, revenue
growth, etc.).
• A – Attainable: We aim for things that can be done—several incremental goals
that stretch the organization some are usually better that one. For example, im-
prove order processing time by 15 percent is more attainable than 100 percent.

12
 • A – Attainable: We aim for things that can be done—several incremental goals that

stretch the organization some are usually better that one. For example, improve order

processing time by 15 percent is more attainable then 100 percent.

• R – Relevant/Realistic: The relevant check ensures the goal applies to our

• R – Relevant/Realistic: The relevant check ensures the goal applies to our customers’
customers’ needs and our organizational vision. Ensuring a goal is realistic helps
validate thatand
needs theourgoal is within the
organizational organization’s
vision. ability
Ensuring a goal to control
is realistic (a goalthetoability
helps validate be the
biggest painting company in the state might not be realistic for a small 14-person
to positively
business, influence
but to grow is within
revenue andthe organization’s
personnel by a ability to control
specified (a goal
percent thistoyear
be thewould
be realistic).
biggest painting company in the state might not be realistic for a small 14-person
• T – Timely: Simply the date the goal is due to be completed or accomplished.
business, but to grow revenue and personnel by a specified percent this year would be
Without a date, assigned goals may never be reached.
realistic).

Date:
Goal Name: Improve Service Request Time March 20, 2010
The goal description should answer questions like: What are you going to do? Why is this important? How will it be done (not a full plan, just top
level)? How much do we want to improve (e.g., reduce order processing time by 10 percent from last year’s average)?

Goal Description:
Reduce the time to process vehicle service appointment requests by 50 percent from the 2009
average of 13 minutes.
Measurement:
How will this goal be measured? Examples include measures based on time (reductions in processing), waste (elimination of redundant
information, waiting, unused data, etc.), and quality (reductions in rework or scrap, improvement of first time acceptance, improvement in
customer satisfaction levels, etc.). How often will the goal be measured (event or time based) and for what duration? Remember, once we attain a
goal we still want to sustain our gains and may want to improve further.
Measurement Description: Measurement Frequency:
Capture service appointment time Weekly
processing and obtain an average time by
service writer.
Attainable: Relevant/Realistic:
List resources, etc., needed to achieve this goal. List things like why this is important to your organization and customer,
1) Call logs what are you doing now to make this happen, etc.

2) Service writer ID This goal is important as it helps save our

customers time and allows our service writers
additional time with the customer when receiving
or delivering their vehicles.

Figure 4: S.M.A.R.T. goal example.

A needed part of the S.M.A.R.T. goal is measurable. As noted in the form,

how a goal is measured needs to be defined. There are many ways to measure some-
thing—time, good/bad, measurement scales (inches, meters), weight, etc. A quick
tool to gather data is the tally sheet or histogram. For example, Castle Remodeling’s
customers complained the time from initial phone contact to receiving a quote was
too long. Castle Remodeling used a simple tally sheet/histogram to gather data. This
initial use of the tally sheet/histogram helped Castle Remodeling confirm that quota-
tions usually took longer than four days to get to the customer. This data is used to
establish current performance and the improvement goal.

13
 Customer Wait Time Individual Total Count
(Days) Counts

0-2 ||| 8

3-4 ||||| 5

5-6 ||||||||||||||| 18

7-8 |||||| 6

8 -9 ||||||| 7

10 or more | 1

Figure 5: Tally sheet/histogram example.

In the example above, most customers waited five or more days for a quote.
Based on this data, Castle Remodeling can establish a goal to reduce customer
response time to four days or less. This would be a great goal, but as discussed, what
do the customers expect? For Castle Remodeling, after involving its customers it
identified that two days or less was desired with many handyman and painting/stain-
ing customers wanting a faster response. A tally sheet/histogram is a quick tool used
to gather data and provide a visual representation of the data gathered. It shows how
often an event occurs—in this example each hash mark is one occurrence.
This is a good time to touch on Juran’s Pareto principle, which simply stated
is 80 percent of the problems or issues result from 20 percent of the causes. Juran
also stated “the vital few and the trivial many.” This can be applied many ways, two
include:
• Your top 20 percent customers account for 80 percent of your revenue.
• 80 percent of defects or complaints come from 20 percent of the potential causes.
Based on a review of their approach, Castle Remodeling found that most
delays were related to having only one person provide all of the quotes. This is the
focus of its improvement activity—to provide quotes faster. Continuing through the
processes in this guide, Castle Remodeling’s efforts will be discussed to show how it
established its goal and progressed on its improvement journey.

14
 Now that customers have been involved, information is available to act on.
The next chapter, “The Plan,” will discuss this information, the effort needed, who
should be involved, and how to proceed to make improvements. Working to capi-
talize on these opportunities (the information gained by involving customers) can
improve customer satisfaction and retention, employee morale, and result in top-line
(revenue) and bottom-line (profit) improvement. The great part is the information is
right there for the taking. Just a little effort can result in information we can use each
and every moment to make small, incremental, and continual improvements!
The table below outlines where Services for You and Castle Remodeling are
after focusing on the customer and gathering some data and their specific goal.

Focus Area Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

Customer Things • Who are the customers? • Who are the customers?
Considered • What products or services do they buy? • What products or services do they buy?
• What do they like? • What is frustrating them?
• What is frustrating them? • Why do they or don’t they return?

Action Taken • Reviewed customer records for past three years to • Talked with customers from past year and current/
group by product and service provided, purchase potential customers.
frequency, and amount.
• Performed customer survey with product and
service customers that were in top 85 percent of
revenue or registered a complaint.

Knowledge • Identified three areas of customer concern: • Identified biggest issues is with the time it takes
Gained • Purchase follow-up is difficult because a customer to get a quote from the time they
a confirmation number is not supplied – call until the quote is received – taking two or
primarily impacts Internet customers. more days.
• Two customers want to form a service alliance • Handyman and painting/staining customers were
to reduce supply and equipment fees. most frustrated about this.
• One customer is no longer in business.

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Things • What impacts most customers? • Who currently provides quotes and why?
Considered • How can information be gained on customer • Can a standard price list be made for handyman
status (in business or not, growing or not, etc.)? and painting/staining services?
• Is a project needed to help the two customers form • What needs to happen (training, pricing research,
a supply and equipment alliance? etc.) to improve quotation response time?
• Would improving response time for handyman
and painting/staining services negatively impact
quotations for remodeling or new additions?

Action Taken • Measured how often customer contact is made • Measured quotation time for all activities for
for follow-up questions after purchase order is two weeks; established measures for phone to
placed. on-site time, on-site time, and on-site to quotation
• Measured how much time is spent determining the provided. Found time to be in excess of two
specific purchase order in question, etc. working days for simple quotations.
• Determined most issues were related to Internet • Established S.M.A.R.T. goal to provide phone
purchase orders. and on-site quotations for handyman and/or
• Established S.M.A.R.T. goal related to providing painting/staining services.
Internet purchase orders with a confirmation
number within three weeks.

Knowledge • All customer types (Internet, phone, face-to-face) • Determined that improving quotation skills and
Gained are frustrated that no confirmation number is response time could help capture 10 percent
provided to indicate that the order was received. more business (from customers who did not wait
• Impact is primarily with Internet purchase orders for quote).
and customers. • Improving handyman and painting/staining
quotation time will also help improve quotation
time for remodeling and new additions because
resources are more readily available to do those
quotes.

Figure 6: Focus on the customer data.

15
Chapter 3 – The Plan

A key to successful change is the use of a powerful

change leader! Be wary of appointing anyone as a change leader
or always using a top-down approach—it is better to establish the
environment and empower than to have someone lead an effort
because they are a leader. Look at your organization—who are the informal leaders?
These people get things done and others follow; they may not be a leader, supervisor,
manager, etc. Are any passionate about the desire to improve and reach the goal? The
change leader assessment form in chapter 9 can be used as guidance in finding and
empowering the right change leader. Remember, if possible, find and use a change
leader who is passionate, respected, and followed by others—not just those who have
leadership or managerial duties.

Identify and Empower Change Leader

• Who gets things done?
p
• Who motivates and inspires others?
• Who is passionate about change or the
Identify and
Understand specific goal?
Your
Customers

Identify and
Prioritize
Celebrate
Improvement
Goals

Things To Consider
• Break the mold
Act
(Adjust As
Identify and
Empower
Change
• Don’t just use formal leaders
• Find and work with informal leaders
Appropriate) Leader

• Who has strong interpersonal skills?

• Why not?
Study
(Know What
Plan • Can you coach them on the technical
(To Meet
Is Happening
/ Happened)
Goal)
• Planning
Do
(Implement • Formal communication
the
h Pl
Plan))
• Measurement

Figure 7: Selecting the change leader.

OK, a change leader has been identified, now it is time to plan. No! Not
plan, this is supposed to be simple and quick! The good news is that “The Plan” can
be simple or elaborate—it is up to you and, to some extent, the size of the effort and
desired results.

16
 Identify and Plan
Understand
Your
Customers • How formal or informal can the plan
Celebrate
Identify and
P i iti
Prioritize
be to meet the g
goal?
• What are the critical tasks?
Improvement
Goals

• What are the critical resources?

Act Identify and

Empower
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate) Leader

Things To Consider
• Barriers to success
• Who
Wh
Study
Plan • Functional areas
(Know What
Is Happening
/ Happened)
(To Meet
Goal) • Domain protectors
Do • Rockets to success
(Implement
th Pl
the Plan)) • Passionate people
• Involved customers
• Sellers
• Communications
• Empowerment
• Caring about others inputs
• How will barriers be worked?
• How will things be communicated?
• What critical tasks are related /
dependent?
• How will you deal with resource
conflicts and constraints?

Figure 8: Laying out a plan can help implementation go faster and smoother!
If there is need for a big change, “The Plan” should be more detailed. Some impor-
tant aspects to make “The Plan” work to achieve the desired positive results include:
• Clearly understanding the goal (i.e., the desired results).
• Being realistic about the effort needed.
• Finding and using a powerful and committed change leader.
• Documenting “The Plan” (this can be simple or elaborate).
• Communicating “The Plan.”
• Piloting “The Plan” and changes, if possible, on a smaller scale to ensure the
results are achieved before full implementation.
“The Plan” helps identify the tasks, resources,
and interactions necessary to be successful when trying to
understand what customers want and why they want it. “How
do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time”1 really does apply
here! Planning can be a quick in the head plan or an elaborate
project file with tasking, resources, timing, dependencies, etc.,
with the focus on “The Plan.”

1. Bill Hogan, Llumina Press, ISBN: 1-59526-204-0.

17
 Documenting “The Plan” will help keep focus. “The Plan” should include,
as necessary:
• The goal (keep focus and prevent adding to the goal)
• The boundaries (authority, budget, etc.)
• Critical tasks (what must happen)
• The resources (who is involved)
• The timeline (when must critical tasks and the overall effort be completed)
• Who is responsible (accountability)
• Other items deemed necessary by the change leader, for example, meetings and
frequency
Project Name: Project Sponsor:

Order Confirmation Number Sales Director

ChANge LeADeR: Jane Jones, Sales Representative Start Date: end Date:

January 15, 2010 February 21, 2010

Top-Level goal Statement:

Add an order confirmation number to the online ordering process/tool so customers can track their orders and know that it was received.

Overall Budget: $2,000.00 Projected hours: 40 Projects Materials:

• Internet order program source code

• Software programmer
• Code test environment

general Boundaries: Online order system only

Projected Resources People: Material: equipment:

• CHANGE • None • Computers

LEADER • Software
• Software • Internet Connection
programmer
• 2 testers

Critical Task Responsible Dependency Plan Date Outlook Date Actual Date

1) Develop/purchase Programmer None 1/20

sequential number generator
with linkage to order number.

2) Test code/program to ensure Programmer Item 1 1/28

it works as needed.

3) Review look and feel prior to Sales team/ Items 1 and 2 2/8
deployment. Select Customers

4) Develop/implement CHANGE LEADER None 1/16

communication plan.

Figure 9: Services for You used the easy planning tool.

Now it is time to implement “The Plan.” Some minor boundaries and
communications expectations may be necessary to ensure proper execution. These
boundaries may be related to expenditures, communications (status), how to get oth-
ers involved (i.e., making sure resource conflicts are discussed and worked), etc. The
purpose is to ensure empowerment, not strangle, stifle, or punish.

18
 The change leader must be the focal point for the effort. If you, as the
empowering leader, have questions or concerns, you should discuss these with the
change leader one-on-one in private. Don’t undermine the effort in public; be cau-
tious to drive a positive environment. Be encouraging, provide support and guidance,
and help drive the effort to success. If we fail here, we not only fail this effort, we
negatively impact future efforts too.
Communicate “The Plan” to ensure those involved or potentially impacted
by the goal and change are aware of what is occurring and why. The communication
plan could be a quick stand-up meeting to discuss what is going to be done and why
or a detailed written plan like the example. It all depends on the goal and anticipated
effort and impact. Usually the change leader communicates, with support from the
empowering leadership. Make this as simple as possible, make it effective, and make
it flexible.
Castle Remodeling’s plan is a simple bullet list:
• Goal: To provide on-site real-time quotes for painting/staining jobs within three
weeks of project start.
• Change leader: Jane Doe
• The improvement team includes: John (painter), Agop (ordering/supply lead), and
Sonya (Internet guru).
• All options are on the table, so budget needs will be determined as options are
evaluated.
• We will communicate through face-to-face discussions, once a week, for 15 min-
utes each meeting until the goal is achieved.
Some critical items to achieve our goal include:
• Train estimators.
• Provide paint/stain pricing sheet for (1) type of paint/stain, (2) need for stripping/
preparation/primer requirements, and (3) square footage.
• Consider a tiered pricing scheme for repeat customers.
• Provide electronic printing capabilities to give customers a real-time cost break-
down.

19
 Finding and empowering a passionate change leader and developing a plan
that supports successful goal accomplishment are important steps in the improvement
process. The change leader is the face of the effort and is responsible to facilitate the
activity and drive success. “The Plan” is the improvement effort’s foundation tying to
the goal and the goal’s measurement of success. It can be revised when implementing
during “The Do” phase. “The Plan” should be simple, quick, and appropriate for the
goal; it is used to communicate what is being done and why.
Services for You and Castle Remodeling went through these processes in
this chapter and identified change leaders and plans. Below is a quick summary of
their activities.

Focus Area Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

Change Leader Things Considered • Who is passionate about change in general? • Who are the technical/cost experts?
• Who has raised concerns in this area before • Could they facilitate change or will
and can lead others? they be barriers?
• Who are the people who get things done • Who would understand why we want
while involving others? to make this change?
• Who can “rally the troops” to gain acceptance • Who can make things happen
and participation? quickly?

Action Taken • Talked openly about the opportunity with all • Talked with a limited list of potential
personnel. change leaders due to sensitivity of
• Performed a change leader assessment on cost/profit data.
those who expressed interest in changing. • Selected a change leader who
• Identified two candidates to be the change understands handyman and
leader. painting/staining work since
remodeling and new addition
information can be improved by
completing the other quote areas.

Knowledge Gained • Ensure the change leaders selected is not a • Those likely to benefit from the
“lone wolf”—a person who gets things done, change are not always supportive.
but on their own. • Some detailed information is sensitive
• It is important to solicit input from all who and not all team members need
could be impacted by the change of who access to it.
leads the effort.
• Sometimes personality outweighs ability—
the right personality can be better while
mentoring in specifics (like conducting an
effective meeting) than someone who is
technically capable.

Plan Things Considered • What is the goal? • How can we print quotes in the field?
• Who owns the online purchase system? • What can be done over the phone?
• Is the goal realistic and attainable? • What tools and equipment (i.e.,
• How will this help us? types of computers, programs, etc.)
are needed to provide the quotes
in the field?
• What level of expertise is needed to
provide a quote?
• What interpersonal skills/“face of the
company” do we want?
• How much detail should be provided
in the quote?
• Do we need to train personnel
providing quotes?

20
 Focus Area (cont.) Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

Action Taken • Had a project kick-off meeting to discuss goal • Discussed project with key
and identify (brainstorm) critical tasks. administrative and trades personnel.
• Documented meeting results and leveraged to • Developed and documented plan.
become “The Plan”—one page total length.

Knowledge Gained • Employees not associated with the purchase • Realized that only few people had
order system or Internet provided ideas on the knowledge to provide quotes with
what to include in this change. the current process. This could be a
• Ideas were generated and captured on bottleneck or a problem if they leave
improvements for the whole purchase order the company or are unavailable.
system/process. • Determined other processes had
• “The Plan” was flexible and helped us track similar issues/concerns; captured for
progress. future improvements.
• Many services provided as
“handyman” could be quoted at a
base rate of dollars per hour or by
job type (weeding, tree pruning, trash
removal, etc.).

Communications Things Considered • Who needs to receive the communication? • Who needs to receive the
• What needs to be communicated? communication?
• What type of communication (face-to-face, • What needs to be communicated?
e-mail, etc.) should be used? • What type of communication (face-to-
• How often should there be communication? face, e-mail, etc.) should be used?
• How often should there be
communication?

Action Taken • Held a kick-off meeting with representatives • Talked with key players
from across the organization. • Sent memo to all personnel and
• Held a review meeting to assess “The Plan” requested input from them.
before it was “finalized.”

Knowledge Gained • Personnel wanted regular status on the • Stand-up meetings were preferred to
project. keep time down.
• Key customers wanted input on the project • All personnel should have been
status. included on a general communication
• Multiple types of communication (verbal, about the project.
written) were desired.
• Communication should have key points and
then details, so people could get an overview
and details as desired/needed.

Figure 10: Company activity summaries.

21
Chapter 4 – The Do

Using the knowledge gained from understand-

ing the customer, a problem was identified and an im-
provement goal established. A passionate change leader
was identified who facilitated the development and
documentation of “The Plan.” Implementation of “The Plan” is “The Do.” This phase
is nothing more than ensuring the tasks necessary to execute “The Plan” to meet the
goal and improve for our customers. The foundation of understanding, goal setting,
and planning supports and identifies the path of current and future performance and
how to get there.

Identify and
Understand
Your
Things To Consider
Customers

Identify and
• Can we try the change on a small
Celebrate
Prioritize
Improvement
Goals
scale first?
• How are gaps handled?
• Are we communicating as we
execute?
• Can we “study” as we go?
Act Identify and
Empower
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate)
• Do we need to make adjustments and
Leader

“act” as we execute?
• Are we capturing the right information
Study
(Know What
Plan
(To Meet
to “study” and assess progress?
• Are we impacting the business?
Is Happening)
Goal)
/ Happened
Do
(Implement
the Plan) • Is this change
g hurting g other parts
p of the
business while it is being implemented?
• How are we impacting resources?
• What is driving the impact?
• Barriers
Do • People
• Have we communicated before starting? • Tools
• Are we ready to go? • Systems
• Equipment
• Does everyone understand the plan?
• Are p
potential opportunities
pp being
g
captured?

Figure 11: The Do: Where implementation happens!

“The Plan” can be adjusted, if necessary, during “The Do.” Using “The
Plan,” our change leader is off facilitating the tasks necessary—from simple to
elaborate; whatever is needed to meet the goal. Sounds simple and, for the most part,
it is. Normally “The Do” takes hours to a few weeks—when sticking with the several
small incremental improvements are better than one large change. Anything longer
than a few weeks might be too big to tackle without more experience or tools. How-
ever, larger and longer goals can usually be broken down in smaller goals.
22
 While executing “The Do,”
it is necessary to keep focused on the goal and
performance. Be careful not to add new
requirements (i.e., scope creep) unless they are
absolutely necessary to reach the goal (i.e.,
tasks necessary that might have been over-
looked during “The Plan” preparation). It is
easy to overdo and the role of the change leader
ensures the established course is followed.
Keep this implementation as simple and quick
as possible.
Also, during “The Do,” communicate
with those involved, sponsors (usually leader-
ship), and others who may be affected. Communications can be through any media
(face-to-face, e-mail, etc.) as deemed appropriate for the goal and organization. Usu-
ally this communication involves identification and discussion of progress, successes,
barriers, and help needed. Here the change leader keeps people informed and gets
help when necessary.
As “The Do” is performed (i.e., executing “The Plan”), look for items that
can be improved in the future. Capture these items, but only add to the existing plan
if it is something overlooked or is critical to success. Remember the elephant! Note
things as “must do” or “like to do” so decisions can be made now and in the future
about these additional opportunities.
Services for You and Castle Remodeling experienced a lot during “The Do”;
some key items are noted in the table below.

Focus Area Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

DO Things Considered • Are the right people involved? • How should we track tasks to be done?
• Ensure you check time estimates with those • How do we keep meetings on track – keep from
involved. becoming “gripe” sessions?
• Check personnel availability. • Who should be involved and when?

Action Taken • Used a dry erase board to track critical tasks. • Print out plan and “schedule” – cross off tasks as
• Held daily tag-ups (10 minutes) and weekly complete.
meetings (30-60 minutes). • Held regular discussions on progress, issues, etc.
• Identified activities in “The Plan” that could be
done in parallel, though originally thought to
be dependent on each other.

Knowledge Gained • Other critical tasks come up; when they do it • Information on what was being done and why was
is necessary to be flexible but critical to not not effectively communicated to all employees.
lose momentum or focus. • Some people held back information because they
• Problems do arise. Be prepared for the were afraid to let go.
unexpected (at least know that things will
happen).
• Solutions come from unexpected sources –
non-technical personnel, customers, peers,
and family.
• Have personnel not involved with project part
of status meetings to help ensure items are
not overlooked.

Figure 12: Company’s “Do” activities.

23
 Keep things simple, clear, and engaging! Involve the right people/func-
tions within the organization. Communicate how we are doing. Let others know
if we need help to achieve our goal.

24
Chapter 5 – The Study

“The Study” is a fancy way of saying “Are we succeed-

ing?” Apply “The Study” step during and after “The Do.” Why?
Because it is important to know how things are going as they are being implemented
to adjust if necessary. And, it is important to know how it went when the project is
done. In other words: How are things going during “The Do” and when finished were
the expected results achieved?

Identify and
Understand
Your
Customers

Identify and
Prioritize
Celebrate
Improvement
Goals

Things To Consider
• How did we say we would measure
the goal? Act Identify
f and

• How often do we “study” the

Empower
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate) Leader

information?
• Are we going to “study” as we go?
• Or just at the end
• Do we need to “act” as we execute?
Study
Plan
(Know What
(To Meet
Is Happening)
Goal)
• In other words, based on what we are / Happened

seeing as we are doing – are Do

(Implement
the Plan)
adjustments
dj t t needed?
d d?
• Are we capturing the right information
at the right time?
• Is the g
goal measure still valid?
Study
• What will be done with the results?
• When will we “study?”
• How will we communicate our results?
• Do we know what to “study?”
• Who will we communicate with?
• Are we getting accurate
• How will these results be used to
information?
impact future efforts?

Figure 13: The Study: Measuring progress to be successful!

This is where the measurement part of the S.M.A.R.T. goal is used. If the
measurement is to reduce the time it takes to provide a service, then the measure
taken prior to the improvement project is studied during the project. And, of course,
since we had a final goal to improve time by a specific percentage or number of
hours (like Castle Remodeling), then at the end of the effort it can be determined if
the goal was met.
First, how are things studied during “The Do?” Assess what actions/tasks
have been performed, should they impact the goal at this time. If yes, then measure
against the goal. Are things improving? If not, what adjustments (“The Act”) to “The
Plan” need to be made and executed in “The Do?” Basically, as “The Do” is being
performed, the change leader and team should be reviewing and discussing:
• How are things going?

25
• Is the measurement improving as desired?
• What problems are being experienced? How can they be resolved?
• Is the goal going to be met? If not, why? What can be done to ensure the goal is met?
• What other opportunities have we identified for future change?
Depending on our relationship with
our customers, their feedback might be obtained
during “The Do,” to see if they perceive im-
provement. This is not required and depending
on the effort involved might not be possible
during “The Do.”
Second, when “The Do” is complete,
study the results. Determine if the goal was met.
Remember, goals are not always met—as they
should stretch the organization—but was there
improvement or did things stay stagnant? If the
goal was not met, investigate to understand why.
Usually at this point, because the effort is done, it is possible to check with custom-
ers to get their input and feedback. Did we improve in their opinion? Are we meeting
their expectations? How and what can be better?
Ask these questions, during and after the effort, and be ready to act. By
studying progress and the end result, actions and corrective actions—if needed—can
be outlined and implemented.
Both Services for You and Castle Remodeling applied “The Study” during
and after “The Do.” Here is some of what was experienced.

Focus Area Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

STUDY Things Considered • How can this be measured during “The Do?” • What is the goal measure?
• What exactly will be measured? • Should there be other short-term measures
• Why do we want to measure during “The Do?” while performing “The Do?”
• What information is needed to ensure
progress?

Action Taken • Reviewed Internet orders and customer contact over • Determined average quote time by type
past several years. (handyman, paint/stain, remodel, addition).
• Established an average time to provide answers to • Added measures for project-specific items
customer post order questions. like training needed versus completed.
• Established process to capture time to respond to • Piloted (handyman quote activity changes
customer inquiries for orders places. implemented first) to assess impact of
• Had to adjust S.M.A.R.T. goal measure to add this changes.
information.

Knowledge Gained • Goal measures may need to be revised, changed, or • It may be appropriate to add measures
added to ensure proper information is assessed. related to the project, in addition to goal
measures.
• End of project measures were easier to
capture.

Figure 14: Company’s “Study” activities.

26
Chapter 6 – The Act

As noted in the prior chapter,

periodic checks (“The Study”) are per-
formed during “The Do.” Additionally,
the results are studied when a project is finished to determine if the goal was or was
not met. There are three phases when “The Act” is usually encountered: during “The
Do,” at project completion when the goal is met, and at the end if the goal is not met.

Identify and
Understand
Act Your
Customers

• Act during “Do”

Do Celebrate
Identify and
P i iti
Prioritize
Improvement
• Act when we are done Goals

Things To Consider Act Identify and

• How do we get additional (Adjust As

Appropriate)
Empower
Change
Leader

resources?
• During “The Do”
• What needs to be done to help our ability
to meet the goal? Study
(Know What
Plan

• Quickly make the adjustments Is Happening)

/ Happened
(To Meet
Goal)

• Are we staying in-scope with the goal? Do

• After (Implement
th Pl
the Plan))

• Did we get the desired results?

• What new goals have been identified?
• Can these other goals can be linked to
one in work?
• Can we try something else if we did not
meet our goal?
• What lessons can we learn?
• How do we communicate our lessons
learned?
• What’s next?

Figure 15: The Act: Making adjustments based on results!

When “The Study” is done during “The Do,” it is to see progress toward the
goal and to determine if any corrections are needed. Usually, when “The Act” is done
during the effort, it is to adjust progress or adapt to unexpected changes. For
example, if a task is behind plan, then “The Act” might be to add another person to
the task to get it done. “The Act” is done to better the chances of meeting the goal
while executing. Recognize that not all things are within the project scope and all
issues encountered cannot be overcome. Based on the effort and the information
gained during “The Study,” while the improvement effort is being worked, there may
be a decision to abandon the improvement effort. This could be a total abandonment
or a decision to restart based on the new information. Remember the primary reason
for “The Act” during “The Do” is to better the chance of success, not solve new
unrelated problems.
27
 The next set of actions occurs when the effort is completed. “The Act”
here is to simply celebrate and recognize the success! This is important because it
reinforces the commitment to improvement, the process, and the people involved.
Celebration does not need to be elaborate, but should be genuine and appropriate to
the efforts performed. Additionally, “The Act” here includes deciding on the next
goal—be it related to the one just completed or something entirely new. Then the
whole process—identifying a goal, identifying our customers related to that goal,
their needs/expectations, etc.—is repeated.
Being realistic, not all goals are met. As discussed earlier, setting
S.M.A.R.T. goals that are focused on small
incremental improvement betters the chance
to succeed. But sometimes the best laid plans
and goals are not successful. If the goal was
not met, then perform “The Study” after
completion and review “The Plan” and results
to determine why the goal was not met. Now
“The Act” is done to ensure:
• Learning and knowledge are gained from
the experience.
• A recommitment to the process, recogni-
tion of the efforts, and a celebration for
doing the best effort possible is done.
• The next goal is identified.
Using what was learned from this effort and others will improve chances of
success! It is important to understand why the effort was not successful and to com-
municate these lessons. This will help to avoid repeating the issues that led to being
unsuccessful. It is also appropriate to recognize these people who tried and the effort
they did to reinforce the commitment to improving.

28
 Below is a quick summary of Services for You and Castle Remodeling’s
application of “The Act.”

Focus Area Activity Services for You Castle Remodeling

ACT Things • What is being studied? • Was goal properly stated? Seems too difficult
Considered • How are we progressing to goal achievement? to achieve when looking at all quotes/
• What problems have come up during “The Do?” estimates provided.
• What actions can be taken to improve the chance to • What information/data did we have
succeed? available versus need to get?
• Should we involve the customer at this point?

Action Taken • Monitored “The Plan” and “The Do” using “The Study” • Established standard pricing for many
principles. handyman services and painting/staining
• Captured problems and potential problems during work.
stand-up meetings. • Developed a quick training (30 minutes)
• Developed and implemented quick fix actions for and guide (two pages) to allow for phone
problems, like purchased new Internet website generation estimates for handyman services and
software. improvement.
• Established interim measures related to the project. • Piloted (handyman quote activity changes
• Had technical experts review problems and provide/ implemented first) to assess impact of
implement solutions on a same-day basis. changes.
• Clarified goal to focus on handyman and
painting/staining services (~75% of quotes/
estimates provided weekly).

Knowledge • Many actions were related to improving communication. • Most quotes/estimates were for handyman
Gained • Most problems or issues that came up had simple and painting/staining services.
solutions. • Tally sheets/histograms are easy to generate
• Keeping a focus on simplicity and immediate solutions and use.
helped keep the project on schedule. • A tally sheet/histogram provides a quick
visual representation of a measure or other
data.

Figure 16: Company’s “Act” application.

29
Chapter 7 – Now What?

First, as noted, celebrate! If the effort succeeded in meeting

or exceeding the goal, then ensure that it is recognized as an ac-
complishment. If it was not successful, there is still a need for some
celebration—celebrate that something new was tried, that lessons were
learned, and that the journey will continue.

Celebrate
• How can we celebrate?
• Who should we involve?

Identify and

Things To Consider Understand

Y
Your
Customers

• Did we succeed? Identify and

Prioritize
• If not, celebrate that we tried! Celebrate
Improvement
Goals

• Who was involved?

• How
Ho m much
ch impact is
success having?
• What type of celebration Act Identify and
Empower
(Adjust As Change
Appropriate)
is appropriate?
pp p
Leader

• What type of recognition is right?

• Team only
• Team and individual? Study
Plan
• If individual, why? (Know What
Is Happening)
(To Meet
Goal)
/ Happened
• Was
W th their
i effort
ff t so ffar above
b
others? Do
(Implement
the Plan)
• Did they really stretch their
abilities?
• Should the customer be involved?
• How?

Figure 17: Celebrations reinforce the commitment to change!

Now, look at other opportunities. Assess them for priority and impact. Es-
tablish a new goal, find your change leader, and move through the process again.
What if you want to learn more? Where can you go? Are there other things
that can be done to improve the chance of success? How should a larger goal or
change be approached?
Although there are several organizations that have a focus on change and
improvement, ASQ has been a champion for quality and improvement for decades.
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) is another organization focused on
customer-focused improvement. Listed below are some resources available from
ASQ, SME, and elsewhere. These resources can be used to gain additional knowl-
edge, identify new tools (beyond the forms and information provided here) for use,
and are just good resources for all on the improvement journey!
30
 ASQ’s resources include:
• The website (www.asq.org)
• Publications (books, papers, periodicals, etc.)
• ASQ Knowledge Center (http://www.asq.org/knowledge-center/)
• Training (online, traditional, and on-site)
• Certifications – Ways to gain and acknowledge mastering of a specific body
of knowledge
• Tools – More ways to make an impact than presented here
• Conferences – Organized events focused on different business sectors
• Forums and Divisions – Members from around the world with a focus on specific
topics or industries
• Sections – Local members who get together to discuss quality and improvement
SME (www.sme.org) also has many resources available; but perhaps most
important to small businesses, nonprofit, and government organizations is its lean
resources. Lean is the identification and elimination of waste from the customer’s
perspective. Two other good websites include Free Quality (www.freequality.org),
which has tools and information provided in useful formats like pdf and Microsoft
Excel® files, and iSixSigma (www.isixsigma.com), which also has overviews of
tools, methods, and others. Both of these websites are supported by user input, so
the materials vary in skill level from beginner to advanced. Just be a little cautious to
ensure that the information does not become overpowering without some background
on how and when to use the information and tools.
There are many tools available on the websites mentioned that can be easily
reviewed and applied to improve the success and applications of the principles and
tools presented in this book. Some suggested items, to expand beyond this guide,
include the 5-Whys, Pareto charts, and the “fishbone” (or cause and effect) diagram.
These tools can expand the knowledge from the tally sheet/histogram and other tools
in this book to help the improvement activity better identify problems to address.

31
 Additionally, a few of my favorite books that can be the next step include:
• The Quality Tool Box, ASQ Quality Press, by Nancy Tague. This book provides
many common quality and improvement tools and methods, identifies when to use
them, and—more important—how to use them. An excellent resource.
• 5S for Service Organizations and Offices: A Lean Look at Improvements, ASQ Quality
Press, by Debashis Sarkar. This book provides a quick foundation of lean principles
(identify and eliminate waste) with a focus on office and service organizations.
• The Lean Pocket Guide, MCS Media, by Donald M. Tapping. This book provides
the principles and tools of lean in a clear and usable manner.
• Six Sigma Simplified, by Jay Arthur, KnowWare International. I found this book,
as well as other books and resources, by Jay Arthur, to be straightforward and
easy to use. Find more of his books and other materials on his website
(www.qimarcos.com).
There are also forums/discussion boards and blogs available related to
quality. These include, but are not limited to:
• http://www.asq.org/communities-networking/communities.html
• http://blogs.isixsigma.com/
• http://www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=151
• http://elsmar.com/
If you want to know more, ensure the sources are reputable and have a
proven record. Connect with ASQ or another organization to continue the quest and
grow your knowledge and tool base! And, continue to apply these tactics learned
here to other projects.

32
Chapter 8 – Summary

The principles are rooted in history and have decades of proven success. From
understanding the customer’s wants, needs, and desires to celebrating success; each
step is important to understand and apply. Simple, quick, focused activities can provide
improvements that satisfy the customer and align with company/organization goals.
Understand the customer. What they want and when. How they want it.
What is it like to be in their positions/shoes? How are they treated? Involve them to
outline your improvement journey and use information gained from this involvement
to prioritize goals.
Establish S.M.A.R.T. goals that align with customer and organizational
needs. Consider small incremental improvement goals to gain success and momen-
tum. Use data—simply gathered when possible—to help establish current perfor-
mance and the improvement goal (future performance).
Who gets things done and is followed by others? This is your change leader!
Find the passionate! Empower the change leader to work with others to facilitate
change. Be genuine and sincere; this is not a place to provide lip service! Don’t
appoint someone because they are a leader or supervisor; ensure they are viewed as
a leader by others and they have a passion for the goal. Support the change leader
throughout the process and communicate regularly.
Plan for success. Keep it simple and appropriate to the effort and organiza-
tion! Communicate “The Plan”—what is being done, why, how, who is involved, etc.
Identify critical tasks to succeed; remember the resources, tools, equipment, people,
and money needed to be successful in achieving the goal. Do what works—dry erase
board, handwritten document, computer file (spreadsheet, project plan, etc). Apply
the quick and simple rule whenever possible.
Execute “The Plan” in “The Do.” Work what can be done in parallel to
improve implementation time. Identify and resolve conflicts for time, equipment, and
other resources. Communicate! Be prepared for surprises; capture them and fix them
as quickly as possible. Keep focused and avoid adding tasks or activities that are not
directly supporting achievement of the goal. Have fun!
Execute “The Study” to assess progress during “The Do” and at completion
of the effort. Are things going as planned? Gather data and perform measures, if pos-
sible, during “The Do” to see if tasks being completed are not providing the desired
results. But, ensure that there should be improvement. Project-specific measures are
needed to assess progress in addition to goal measures. Implement what makes sense
and what will help the improvement project succeed. Work with data and facts in
“The Study” to ensure things are on track. At completion, study the results: Was the
goal met? If not, why? Performing “The Study” is necessary to assess progress and
establish if adjustment is necessary.

33
 Act on information, data, and measures—make adjustments during the im-
provement project if necessary. Ensure “The Act” is aligned with the goal. Remem-
ber “The Act” includes acting on the result—this may be establishing new goals or
a new improvement project. “The Act” supports the simple, quick, and incremental
improvement approach!
Celebrate! Do something to celebrate and recognize the effort regardless of
outcome. If the goal was not met, celebrate—at an appropriate level. The organiza-
tion tried! Ensure reinforcement to the journey and recommit to try again. When
successful, celebrate the success. Recognize individual efforts, but more important,
recognize the team effort!

Key factors:
• Being willing to change
• Customer understanding and involvement
• Having a passionate change leader
• Establishing S.M.A.R.T. goals
• Planning, at the right level, to be successful
• Doing “The Plan” implementation
• Studying what is happening and what has happened
• Acting on the information studied
• Celebrating the effort

Have Fun – Keep It Simple!

Small, Quick, Incremental Improvement Is Key!

34
Chapter 9 – Tools
The tools provided here are for your use. They can be copied and filled out to help
you in your journey to understand and improve.

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Tool

The S.M.A.R.T. goal form below is used to document goals and ensure that they
meet the S.M.A.R.T. criteria of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant/realistic,
S.M.A.R.T. Goal Tool
and The
timely.
S.M.A.R.T. goal form below is used to document goals and ensure that they meet the
S.M.A.R.T. criteria of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant/realistic, and time constrained.
Date:
Goal Name: _______________________________________________ ____________
The goal description should answer questions like: What are you going to do? Why is this important? How will it be done (not a full plan, just top
level)? How much do we want to improve (e.g., reduce order processing time by 10 percent from last year’s average)?

Goal Description:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Measurement:
How will this goal be measured? Examples include measures based on time (reductions in processing), waste (elimination of redundant
information, waiting, unused data, etc.), and quality (reductions in rework or scrap, improvement of first time acceptance, improvement in
customer satisfaction levels, etc.). How often will the goal be measured (event or time based) and for what duration? Remember, once we attain a
goal we still want to sustain our gains and may want to improve further.
Measurement Description: Measurement Frequency:
___________________________________ _________________________________________
___________________________________ _________________________________________
___________________________________ _________________________________________

Attainable: Relevant/Realistic:
List resources, etc., needed to achieve this goal. List things like why this is important to your organization and customer,
___________________________________ what are you doing now to make this happen, etc.
___________________________________ _________________________________________
___________________________________ _________________________________________
_________________________________________

Estimated, Needed, or Desired Completion Date:

_____________________________________
Approvals (if needed):
Name: ______________________________________________ Date: ______________
Signature: _______________________________________________________________

Name: ______________________________________________ Date: ______________

Signature: _______________________________________________________________

Name: ______________________________________________ Date: ______________

Signature: _______________________________________________________________


 





35
Prioritization Tool
This prioritization tool can be used to help determine what goals to go after first. Fill
out the goal name and assign a 1, 3, or 5 value (low to high) for impact on customer
Prioritization Tool
satisfaction, likelihood of success, ease of implementation, and return on investment.
With a This Prioritization
little tool can bethe
multiplication, usedhighest
to help determine
prioritywhat goalshave
goals to go after
the first. Fill outvalue!
highest the goalCustom-
ize thisname
form and assigning a 1, 3, or 5 value (low to high) for impact on customer satisfaction,
by adding new or changing/deleting existing ranking
likelihood of success, ease of implementation, and return on investment. With a little
categories too.
multiplication, the highest priority goals have the highest value! Customize this form by adding
new or changing/deleting existing ranking categories too.

Prioritization Tool
Instruction: List goals in goal column. Then assign a rating 1=low, 3=medium, 5=high for each ranking category (customer satisfaction, success,
etc.). Add, change, or delete categories to meet your need. Then add the scores for each goal from left to right and put that number in the Total Score
column. Finally, rank the goals from highest (1) to lowest by taking the goals with the highest total as number one (in the event of a tie, determine
which is better to implement first by using a category or two you choose).

Goal Name / Description Impact on Likelihood of Ease of Return on Total Score Final Ranking
Customer Success Implementation Investment (add columns left to right) (1 through n, highest score is first1)
Satisfaction


 





36
Change Leader Selection Tool
The change leader assessment/selection tool can help assess who is most likely
the best change leader for a specific goal. This tool uses the same approach as the
prioritization tool—by ranking the potential
Change change
Leader Selection Toolleader’s passion for the goal,
their ability to influence others, their ability to communicate, and their desire to
The change leader assessment/selection tool can help assess who is most likely the best change
effectleader
change. The highest
for a specific goal. Thispotential
tool uses theleaders with as
same approach thethehighest rankings
prioritization tool—byhave
rankingthe better
chance of leading to success.
the potential change leader’s passion for the goal, their ability to influence others, their ability to
communicate, and their desire to effect change. The highest potential leaders with the highest
rankings have the better chance of leading to success.

Change Leader Selection Tool

Instruction: List potential change leaders for a specific goal in the Name column. Then assign a rating 1=low, 3=medium, 5=high for each ranking
category (passion, understanding, etc.). Add, change, or delete categories to meet your need. Then add the scores for each goal from left to right
and put that number in the Total Score column. Finally, rank the goals from highest (1) to lowest by taking the goals with the highest total as
number one (in the event of a tie, determine which is better to implement first by using a category or two you choose).

Name Passion For Understanding Likelihood Ability to Ability to Total Final

Change of Goals Others Will Influence Communicate Score Ranking
Follow and Others (add columns (1 through n,
left to right) highest score is
Support first1)


 





37
Buy-In and Barriers Assessment Tool
The buy-in and barriers assessment tool can be used to assess areas, functions, or
people and determine where they are on the scale of barrier to buy-in. In other words,
Buy-In and Barriers Assessment Tool
are they
The likely to barriers
buy-in and put upassessment
roadblocks orbehelp
tool can usedbreak
to assessthem
areas, down?
functions,Those
or peoplewith
and higher
scoresdetermine
are more likely
where toonhelp
they are the of
the scale project succeed.
barrier to buy-in. In other words, are they likely to put
up roadblocks or help break them down? Those with higher scores are more likely to help the
project succeed.

Buy-In and Barriers Assessment Tool

This tool is used to assess if areas, people, functions, organizations, suppliers, etc., will be supportive, passive resistive, or overtly resistive to the
change. Although not with 100-percent certainty, it can help. By understanding potential support and barriers, proactive solutions can be
implemented to capitalize on the support and reduce the impact of resistance.

Instruction: List people, functions, organizations, suppliers, etc., in the Identity column. Then assign a rating 1=low, 3=medium, 5=high for each
ranking category (threatened, supportive, passively resistant, wait and see, etc.). Add, change, or delete categories to meet your need. Then add the
scores for each goal from left to right and put that number in the Total Score column. Finally, rank the scores based on highest being very
supportive to lowest being actively resistive to the change. Using this information, solicit the support of the highest ranks and closely work with
others to reduce resistance and/or mitigate efforts to undermine the success.

Identity Understands Domain Fears Low Goes Personality Total Score Final Ranking
(name, function, Change Protective Failure Trust With the Conflicts (add columns left to right) (1 through n, highest score is
organization, customer, first1)
Level Crowd
supplier, etc.)


 





38
Easy Planning Tool
This “easy” planning tool can be used to document the project’s goal, change leader,
critical tasks, resources, timeline, budget, boundaries, dependencies (i.e., does one
Easy Planning Tool
task have to be completed before another or are the same resource needed), etc. It can
be used as it isplanning
This “easy” presented here
tool can or modified.
be used to document It
thecan standgoal,
project’s alone or leader,
change be used with other
critical
formstasks,
or resources, timeline,
tools (e.g., MS budget, boundaries, dependencies (i.e., does one task have to complete
Project).
before another or are the same resource needed), etc. It can be used as it is presented here or
modified. It can stand alone or be used with other forms or tools (e.g., MS Project).

Project Name: Project Sponsor:

Change Leader: Start Date: End Date:

Top-Level Goal Statement:

Overall Budget: Projected Hours: Projects Materials:

General Boundaries:

Projected People: Material: Equipment:

Resources

Critical Task Responsible Dependency Plan Outlook Actual

Date Date Date


 





39
Communication Planning Tool
The communication planning tool/checklist can be used to help identify who to
Communication
communicate with, communication Planning
methods, Tool
and frequencies.
The communication planning tool/checklist can be used to help identify who to communicate
with, communication methods, and frequencies.

Communications Checklist
Instruction: List potential information to communicate (status, problems, task completion, changes, project plan, feedback, etc.) on each row.
Determine who needs the information and enter their name, role, or function in the recipient column. Then determine how the information will be
communicated and annotate in the method column. Finally, identify the frequency for communication for each item.

Information to Communicate Recipients Method Frequency of

(e.g., face-to-face, phone, written report, e-mail) Communication
(e.g., Near-real-time,
daily, weekly)


 





40
“The Do” Checklist
“The Do” checklist can be used by the change leader as a reminder of key plan
“The Do” Checklist
activities as a tool to lead to success.
“The Do” checklist can be used by the change leader as a reminder of key plan activities as a tool
to lead to success.

“The Do” Checklist

Instruction: List critical tasks, communication, information/measures, concerns, etc., necessary to perform prior to and during implementation.

Items to consider include: Have we communicated “The Plan,” and are necessary resources, tools, software, equipment, etc., available? Have “The
Plan,” communications, goals, etc., been defined and documented/communicated?

Critical Item Description Check Prior to or During Responsible Check Completed By

Implementation (or Both) Completed
Date


 





41
“The Study” Checklist
“The Study” checklist can be used to guide what to study, when to study, and how to
identify potential actions. “The Study” Checklist

“The Study” checklist can be used to guide what to study, when to study, and how to identify
potential actions.

“The Study” Checklist

Instruction: List critical measures, results, issues identified, and opportunities identified. This can include information you know before
implementation and information found during implementation. The purpose of this checklist is to identify things to check (during or after the
implementation) and things to learn from or capitalize on at completion.

Item Description What to Assess When to Assess Responsible Check Completed By

Completed
Date


 





42
The Success Celebration Checklist Tool
This success celebration checklist outlines things to consider when getting ready to
celebrate the success of change.
The Success Celebration Checklist Tool

This success celebration checklist outlines things to consider when getting ready to celebrate the
success of change.

Celebration Checklist
This checklist can be used to help plan for celebration! It can help determine if it should be a team celebration, individual recognition, or both.

Consider the answers to the questions below to help determine the appropriate celebration. You can add questions and celebration ideas as
appropriate; these are just a few ideas to get things rolling.
Question Yes/No Question Yes/No
Was this a strong team effort? Were barriers overcome at the team level?

Were there individuals who went way above and Did activities occur on time or ahead of plan?
beyond?

Was the goal met or exceeded?

Team Celebration Ideas Individual Recognition Ideas

Lunch Certificate of Appreciation
Dinner Lunch
Certificates of Appreciation Thank You (in person or at group event)
Time Off Dinner Certificate
Team Building Activity Gift Certificate/Card
Monetary Award


 





43
Parking Lot Tool
This parking lot tool can be used to capture items not within the scope of the activity
and categorize them for the future.Parking Lot Tool
This parking lot tool can be used to capture items not within the scope of the activity and
categorize them for the future.

Opportunity Parking Lot Tool

As you identify new opportunities, list them in the appropriate area based on a quick assessment of their
ease of implementation and impact on customer satisfaction. Items that are easy to implement and have a
high impact on customer satisfaction should be addressed first. Then, address items with a high impact on
customer satisfaction and are difficult to implement.

Difficult to Implement and High Improvement in Easy to Implement and High Improvement in
Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

Difficult to Implement and Low Improvement in Easy to Implement and Low Improvement in
Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________

• ________________________________________ • ________________________________________


 





44
ASQ and the author graciously acknowledge the time, effort, and feedback of our
reviewers during the preparation of this book. Without your assistance this book
would not exist.

Thom Freyer – American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)

Peter O’Neill – American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
Micheal Gallery – OPIS Consultants
Kathy Bell – SmithBucklin Inc.
Ralph Vasami – Kellen Company
Harriet Fader – HLF Consulting
Christine McEntee – American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Allen Haney – Riggs, Counselman, Michaels and Downes
Greg Sampe –Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering
Mike Skiados – American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
Alfons Westgeets – Kellen Europe
Linda Shinn – Consensus Management Group
Tonieh Schmitz – New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS)
Susan Burton – Society for Technical Communication (STC)
Dave Boyer – MCD Inc.
Jim Bradley – Home Savings Bank
Stephen Hacker – The Performance Center
Tim Hallock – Wisconsin Forward Award (WFA)
Jay Ford – NIATx
Danae Davis – Pearls for Teen Girls
Michelle Mason – ASQ

Although the process for making incremental and fast improvements has been provided in this book,
ASQ has created an online community* called Simple Quality (http://community.asq.org/networks/
simple_quality), which can be used as a resource to share ideas, ask questions of the author, network
with other users, download the forms from the book, and much more that will help you on your
journey. The online community is another powerful tool to gain knowledge and continue the journey!

*ASQ online communities require registration with ASQ to participate. Registration is free.
Quality Improvement Made Simple…and Fast!
Matthew J. Maio

Most of us work in small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofit organizations, and

small government organizations. It goes without saying that we each want to
deliver the best to our clients and customers. We carry with us a strong belief in
the value of what we could be offering, if we just had the money... the time... the
right people. Meanwhile, the daily job of just getting things done overwhelms
our drive to do things better.

This book is focused on you. The money, time, and people probably won’t change
significantly soon—but the power of using simple principles and practices to
improve customer care, reduce waste, and ultimately strengthen your bottom line
are timeless. This book is designed to help ordinary people make extraordinary
contributions to their organizations.

Don’t wait another day—jump in and get started!

About the Author:

Matthew J. Maio is a quality assurance manager at Raytheon Integrated

Defense Systems. He started his quality career as a technician, project engineer,
senior engineer, and then principal engineer at Honeywell. He holds bachelor’s
degrees in business administration and in computer science, both from the
College of Santa Fe. He is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Six Sigma
Green Belt, Quality Auditor, Quality Manager, and Software Quality Engineer.
He is a Senior member of ASQ, and previously served as a regional director
and member of the board of directors. Maio has also received Lean Enterprise
recognition from Lean Enterprise Training, and is a member of the International
Test and Evaluation Association.

h1396 Printed in the United States of America