A Start. Somewhere. Walk Through

I ramble and rant about simple systems to get any business started on their improvement journey. I took a lot of time to build out my structure for this. I researched different methods and did my best to find something very approachable. Something you can use without anything but the simplest batch of instructions. And though I love helping people and want to help everyone I meet, I can't do anything for anyone who isn't willing. Also, none of you (or very few) know who I am enough to care about what I say. So I decided to put the templates here on a post and you can have them. I'll go through a simple application exercise here. After that, there is a link for the complete template download. Go crazy. 

Start Somewhere. Step by Step

Five steps, some details on each one, and that's it. The key is to do it again and again. When you need a better, or more complex tool, you will have the understanding to make use of it and you will know where to look.

I'll go over how the structure fits into my services related to what I assist you with and what you need to do for yourself. My projects are at least 30 days, and I'll be there to assist you with the systems I go over below. All my packages include a site assessment and a complete opportunities report to assist/augment your internal efforts.

1. Why: this is the first structured event in a Start. Somewhere. Operations project. Setup meetings define the component of your operation we are going to work on, the why meeting is where we kick off and get started.
2. 1. Every business has a central "why". Best Buy exists to solve their customers technology problems. Wendy's exists to solve their customers need for a meal. The intent of this why is up to you. 
   2. 1. If you do not have a well understood mission, vision, or quality policy, use my structure to find it now. 
      2. If you have this understood, this exercise should focus on one area of operations at a time for maximum effect.
   3. I recommend you involve as many of your personnel as are relevant to the area in question in this exercise. Their insight, particularly in specifics, will be invaluable.
3. Where: Between the "why" meeting and the follow up, your teams will need to do the where and how sections of the worksheets.
4. 1. Flow chart. Flow chart your business top to bottom. For exercises where you're nailing down the exactness of why you are doing what you do, a high level chart is appropriate.
   2. If you are focusing on one area, flow chart only those components of the single function. 
   3. In both cases, identify areas of each chart where you know there are problems, waste, or opportunity for improvement. If parts sit and wait after one process because a station is busy, make a note. If your people have difficulty producing quality output from a particular station, make a note. This step is about building understanding of what you do and where it can be improved.
5. How: no one with any type of successful business is lacking in tools on hand. You have expertise, insight, process knowledge, and people who are useful in improvement. How is to determine where to use them to take advantage of your opportunities.
6. 1. Based on your notes from the flow charts, now we're going to use our brains a lot. For each area you noted there is an issue, think of three mechanisms you can employ to fix the problem. We are going to use the flow chart and the notes to ID all these potentials. How includes tools you have, personnel, equipment, expertise, etc. Bonus for tools you already own.
   2. Make a list of the potential "how's" and consider the difficulty of each action. Rank these from easiest to hardest. Easy should be "we make sure the right tools live at this station all the time" whereas hard could be "this machine is old and expensive to replace/repair, but will should be done soon". Now rank them on the potential impact. The standardizing of work stations is easy AND can have huge impact in the facility because it is easy to carry to other areas without much effort. The old machine is on the hard list, the removal of a bottleneck process in your flow can make the difficulty or expense outweigh other considerations. 
   3. Finally, rank each one of these and compare them based on difficulty vs. impact. I considered some fancy table and numbers....but recall I want this to be simple. There are other tools you can look into later once you get used to this.
7. When: timing is very important, by now you have multiple team members invested in this project. leverage the team to identify the best timing for each activity.
8. 1. Now we're gonna look at planning. If you have determined where and how you will fix an issue, now let's consider when you will do it. The hard items on your list may require lead times (for machines or repair people). The easy items make require less prep time and can be completed sooner. Build in some cushion, especially if this is your first attempt. It is better to make little progress and keep going than to abandon your momentum.
9. Start: you have technically built a plan at this point, start is where you have a kickoff and commit. 
10. 1. Starting can sometimes be the hardest. Technically though, you already started if you are here. You know why, where, how, and when you are going to improve your systems. You know the potential impact to the bottom line. You can do this!

Case Study

I will write this case study up more thoroughly at a later time, the principles above work very well to illustrate their function.

Background: online school collects mountains of data on business and academic performance. Data review is not fruitful. The organization struggles to use the collected data to inform action.

Why: the organization has a well understood mission and vision, based on these the "why" related to KPI data is determined as (summarized) "to ensure quality of academics and effective understanding of business performance". Further, a "why" behind each metric was determined. On the whole, it was possible to refine multiple data lines into fewer containers relating to their business area. From here it was possible to refine further into four categories. When these four categories were considered for why, it was possible to identify output needs for each category and look into the where phase.

Where: the collection structure of the various data components was flow charted. Not everything in this case fit into a nice looking chart, it was possible to build a simple input-output chart to look at what the various data pieces did. I mentioned four specific buckets for all the information. These were the basis of getting to the how phase.

How: for each bucket of data, we had an understanding of why it existed and what it was for. The analysis of each one and the inputs was the really the key factor. If enrollment is down, and feedback surveys are down, I need an aggregation of those to indicate I have an issue in the related metric category. My approach to this structure was inspired by the book American Icon (B. Hoffman, 2013) and his description of Mr. Mulally's high-level business status meetings. By building metric displays with color coding (red, yellow, green) which are fed by underlying data analysis, a dashboard display can be generated to streamline monthly reviews of business performance. The planned improvement for the business metrics was two components. Refine the collection methods and develop a display mechanism where problems could be identified immediately. Rather than having to interpret charting or tables, the monthly review would highlight leading metrics, good or bad, on a cover display. The entire data set was captured and presented with actionable shown first.

When: data refinement was across multiple areas of the business. This was started immediately. (these were identified in the "how" activity) All metrics in each category structure was assessed for simplification and utility. The dashboard function for the monthly reporting was determined to be long term, as the input components were completed, the overall system would be compiled. The organization did contract with a technical consultant to work out the details of the implementation.

Start: this organization chose to start essentially right away. in the interest of ensuring their data served their business needs, "do it now" was appropriate.

Template

As promised, feel free to download the base template here. If you are interested in learning more about my services, schedule a free consultation below. If you would just like additional information, check out the services page. If you have other questions the start button up top will let you send me a message.