Product and Quality Leadership Exam 3 Flashcards
implementation plan
what needs to be done to make the solutions happen
an implementation plan needs to know
who, when, how
an implementation plan requires
communication, training, change (or create) the system, how and when they will evaluate improvements
continuous improvement
A process that ensures things get done
A process for continuous improvement is not the same thing as
making an improvement
for a continuous improvement process you need to
Keep it simple and Visual
The process could be
daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semesterly, annually
continuous improvement amazon example
Every week the managers look at the bottom 5 performers and ask them what their barriers are so they can fix them
Three things to be included in a continuous improvement process:
- What needs to be improved
- Actions to improvement
- Follow up to make sure it happens
Cautions for continuous improvement
- Not an employee complaint system: Think business/process improvement system
- More than fixing one problem or making an improvement
“If we’re so good at continuous improvement, why isn’t profit increasing?”
- Someone isn’t connecting the dots between the thing we are doing and increasing profits: Managers need to set expectations
- Must first figure out what it is you want to improve (make sure it has an impact)
Relating process improvements to
organizational performance
Real improvement:
it shows up on the bottom line or impacts profit
REAL improvement Starbucks example
- Wanted to reduce waste to create more time for customer engagement to increase the “Starbucks experience”, community feel
- Speed up a process: Put a spout on the caramel bottle
- Change layout to face the customer: Engaged the customer more
what makes the Starbucks example REAL improvement
- If you have demand its immediate revenue, increasing revenue today
- Revenue tomorrow, because you are increasing value for the customer
- Cuts cost (less labor) or can do more things during a shift with the same amount of people
People think they are making improvements because they fix things when they are broken but it that’s
not right because it has to work continuously
Every organization is either green and growing or
ripe and rotting
Before you can LEAD a Continuous Improvement Culture YOU must HAVE a
Personal PROCESS that can be sustained
Toyota principle #9: grow leaders who
understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others
Understand the work:
- PQL content
- Process approach to improvement
- Meta-skills
- Pareto affect