Today’s organizations have an enormous wealth of tools, techniques and methodologies for improving performance and quality. When choosing among all the possible quality improvement tools available, organizations need to avoid common decision-making pitfalls and choose wisely.
The False Dichotomy
When faced with so many performance improvement methods including Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, Business Process Management, Quick Response Manufacturing and Total Productive Maintenance, there can be a tendency to feel overwhelmed and make one of two bad decisions:
- Assume that all of the methods are generally the same, interchangeable even, so it doesn’t really matter which one your organization decides to use.
- Make an all-or-nothing choice where only one method is used even though principles from other approaches may be helpful.
Viewing your performance improvement method options through the filter of these two misconceptions is a false dichotomy. The reality is that each method differs in its own unique way and it doesn’t have to be an either-or choice, many methods are highly compatible.
The fallacy becomes clear when comparing two of the most popular processes side by side.
Comparing Six Sigma and Business Process Management
While these processes have a similar objective – improving business quality and performance – they are executed very differently.
Six Sigma – This set of tools seeks to improve business processes by decreasing variability and defects. Six Sigma is implemented by an accredited project team that follows a prescribed series of steps:
Define – The team chooses its members, determines the scope of the project, identifies the customer’s requirements and maps the current process.
Measure – The team collects data and calculates and displays variance in the process.
Analyze – This step requires identifying possible causes, narrowing to root causes and determining the financial opportunity for improvement.
Improve – The project team seeks solutions. In this phase the team engages in testing, refining, piloting and justifying possible solutions.
Control – This step requires preparing a process control plan, implementing a solution and closing the project.
Business Process Management (BPM) – This methodology improves operations by managing the business as a whole. BPM seeks to implement business process automation that is driven by human processes and interaction. It uses a five step design model:
Design – Identify the existing process and create a blueprint for improvement.
Modeling – While the new process is still on the drawing board, the team can experiment with design changes and combinations of variables.
Execution – Once the model has been set, the team creates or buys a software application that executes the process.
Monitoring – This stage tracks processes and statistically measures their performance.
Optimization – Once performance has been recorded, the team identifies opportunities for cost improvements and savings.
As mentioned earlier, these processes don’t need to be mutually exclusive. Six Sigma and Business Process Management principles can be used together until teams find the optimal mix of methods that produce the desired results.
Hunkering down in the silo of one process improvement methodology and excluding all others can drastically limit your improvement options. An alternate approach is to become familiar with as many process improvement techniques as possible and pick and choose principles from each one as the needs of the project require.
