Lean-Six Sigma for the Public Sector

Brandon Cole

Description

Organizations are continuously trying to improve by reducing cost, increasing customer satisfaction, and creating an environment of empowered employees who continuously strive for excellence in each process and product. In much the same way, governments are continuously required to do “more with less,” enhance budget and organizational performance, and identify innovative ways to increase their impact.
There are challenges to applying the Lean-Six Sigma (LSS) tools in the public sector. Examples of these challenges include hierarchical environments, a lack of common goals, and the complexity of working in the public sector. The information included as part of this book provides over 30 spotlights highlighting project examples, lessons learned, and tips and tricks for using LSS in the public sector. These spotlights are based on interviews facilitated with a robust sampling of senior operations strategy practitioners.
The LSS methodology focuses on eliminating waste (lean) and then reducing variation (Six Sigma) in a process or product that contains no waste. The information covered in this book will allow someone to have an immediate impact in any public sector organization. It describes some of the most powerful continuous process improvement tools that can be used, with limited training required. This is further enhanced by showing direct correlations to the LSS tools and the challenges that will be faced.
Because the public sector spans such a diverse range of organizational charters (such as transportation, education, and defense), this book does not focus solely on either manufacturing or services. Rather, it provides a balanced approach to utilizing LSS in all environments.

Sujets

• Business
• Qualité, hygiène, sécurité, environnement
• Organizational Behavior
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• risk management
• FDA
• Economics
• Food and Drug Administration

Informations

• Publié par: ASQ Quality Press
• Date de parution: 19 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780873899970
• Langue: English

Extrait

Lean-Six Sigma for the Public Sector
Leveraging Continuous Process Improvement to Build Better Governments
Brandon Cole
ASQ Quality Press Milwaukee, Wisconsin
American Society for Quality, Quality Press, Milwaukee, WI 53203 © 2011 by ASQ All rights reserved. Published 2011.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cole, Brandon, 1982- Lean-six sigma for the public sector: leveraging continuous process improvement to build better governments/Brandon Cole. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-87389-806-5 (alk. paper) 1. Total quality management in government—United States. 2. Process control. I. Title. JK468.T67C65 2011 352.3’4—dc22 2011003214
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 Editor: Matt T. Meinholz Project Editor: Paul O’Mara Production Administrator: Randall Benson
ASQ Mission: The American Society for Quality advances individual, organizational, and community excellence worldwide through learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange.
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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my loving wife Hillary, my supportive family, and our dog Milly. I would also like to thank everyone who provided insights, thoughts, and “war stories” for this book. Keep in mind that the work we do is a journey.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction – The Forcing Function
Section 1
Overview of the Lean-Six Sigma Methodology
Process Improvement
Lean
Six Sigma
Integration of Lean and Six Sigma
DMAIC
Design for Six Sigma
Value of Phase Tollgates
Section 2
Challenges of Using Lean-Six Sigma in the Public Sector
Hierarchical Environment
Limited Sense of Urgency
Leadership Support for Enterprise Programs is Difficult to Obtain
Not Profit Focused
Lack of Common Goals
Lack of Customer Focus
High Employee Turnover
Complexity of the Public Sector
Mix of Employee Types
Section 3
Laying the Groundwork for Success
Expectation Setting
Key Project Stakeholders and Team Members
Executive Steering Committee
Integrated Stakeholder and Communication Plan
Risk Management Plan
Strategic Planning
SMART Goals and Objectives
Visible Balanced Scorecards and Metrics
Create a Funding Re-allocation Plan
Tailored Approach
Where Do I Get My Projects?
Why Lean-Six Sigma Programs Fail
Spotlight – Building Effective Teams
Section 4
Focus on Waste, Then Variation
Value of a Project Kickoff Meeting
Project Charter – One-Stop Shop for Why the Project is Being Pursued
SIPOC
Vo“X”
Baseline Enterprise-wide Process Maps
Standard Operating Procedures
Spaghetti Diagrams
Kaizen
5S
Future State Process Mapping
Leverage Fast, Visible, Highly Impactful Successes
Spotlight – Facilitating Effective Meetings and Events
Section 5
Basic Quality Tools
Measurement Plan
Benchmarking
Run Charts
Fishbone Diagrams
Check Sheets
Control Charts
Histograms
Pareto Charts
Scatter Diagrams
Implementation Plans
Sustainment Plans
Spotlight – Pros and Cons in Utilizing Existing Data
Section 6
Create a “Buzz”
Stakeholder Involvement
Visibility
Continued Communication is Critical
No Such Thing as a Problem, Just Opportunities
Awards and Recognition in the Public Sector
Spotlight – Importance of Soft Skills in Lean-Six Sigma
Section 7
Sustainment
Dealing with Turnover
Project and Data Transparency
Civilian Component
Importance of Good Governance
Capturing Lessons Learned
Repository of Best Practices
Repository of Future Opportunities
Agility
Using Lean-Six Sigma for Organizational Design
Spotlight – Performance Measurement
Section 8
Conclusion
How Have We Overcome All the Public Sector Challenges?
There Will be Iterations Across the Phases
Other Process Improvement Methods
Even Change Leaders Need to Continuously Adapt
Importance of Leadership Buy-In
Continuous Improvement
Spotlight – Greening Your Organization Using Lean-Six Sigma
Appendix A
Interview Questions
Preface
The information, examples, and insights provided as part of this book do not represent the opinion of my current or past employers. The intent is to describe pitfalls I have encountered in the public sector and provide examples of how other Lean-Six Sigma (LSS) experts and I have overcome these obstacles (although they are masked to protect the identity of specific organizations and team members). I also want to provide specific tools for overcoming challenging situations. This book is not meant to demonstrate that the public sector is not willing and driving change, but rather to show that public sector leadership are willing to persevere, to overcome obstacles, and to implement true process improvement. Most of the leaders I have worked with in the public sector are driven to provide the support necessary, as part of their organizational charter, to deliver the highest quality output for their respective customers. Some organizations in the public sector are more mature than others when it comes to LSS. There are even pockets of excellence, but one item remains constant: a willingness to change, to drive improvements and efficiencies, and to become highly effective. I want to thank each and every organization I have interacted with for being open to the LSS methods and helping to drive an organization of true continuous process improvement.
Introduction – The Forcing Function
Six months = millions of dollars. This was the impact of a recent public sector LSS initiative. Results such as these are not out of the ordinary using the LSS toolkit, even in the public sector. Leaders everywhere are required to “do more with less,” enhance budget and organizational performance, and identify innovative ways to increase their impact. One process improvement methodology that has demonstrated time and time again that it can assist in all of these areas is LSS. Senior leaders across all industries—from pharmaceutical, automobile, and semiconductor manufacturers to financial services, construction, and information technology organizations—have seen significant returns from implementing LSS. This can also be achieved in the public sector.
Similar to people starting a new hobby, most organizations want to dive into LSS and attempt to apply all the tools in the toolkit without first developing a solid understanding of the pitfalls associated with implementing LSS in the public sector environment. One result of this can be “paralysis by analysis.” It’s possible to collect so much data that the information becomes overwhelming. The purpose of this book is to discuss the challenges of implementing LSS in the public sector and offer a tailored approach to overcome these obstacles.
Keep in mind that LSS is continuous process improvement, a pursuit of perfection within your organization. There is time to slowly move into the more advanced toolkit (for example, design of experiments, multi-vari charts, and regression analysis), but we will focus initially on institutionalizing the enterprise-wide approach, obtaining the voice of your customer, and creating an environment with appropriate performance indicators to measure success. Although the advanced concepts can provide significant value, using even the most basic tools, paired with a systematic approach, can result in immediate impacts to your organization.
The LSS methodology is not meant to be radical, “big-bang” change. LSS focuses on eliminating waste (lean) and then reducing variation (Six Sigma) in a process or product that contains no waste. There is no benefit to eliminating variation in a broken process or product. That would just make the defects or defective outputs more robust.
The information covered in this book will allow someone to have an immediate impact in any public sector organization. Organizations continuously try to make themselves better by reducing cost, increasing customer satisfaction, and creating an environment of empowered employees who continuously strive for excellence in each process and product. This book describes some of the most powerful continuous process improvement tools and also provides insights in the form of spotlights, key takeaways, and potential pitfalls. These lessons learned can be invaluable in assuring that your use of the LSS toolkit is successful.
Beyond the quality tools included in the toolkit, some areas are often overlooked as projects are being completed. One of the most critical aspects is a dedicated focus on change management and communication. People are typically averse to change, especially when they do not understand why the change is occurring, when they did not know that it was coming, and when they were not involved in the solution. To address that reluctance, change management tools and techniques are integrated throughout this book. Even if you have identified a solution that could save the organization millions of dollars, you must also communicate the who, what, when, where, how, and, most important, the why. If you skip this step, the potentially most valuable change is not likely to be successfully implemented or sustained.
The intent of this book is to not discuss every LSS tool that exists or describe the most advanced tools in excruciating detail (entire books are written about some of the tools covered here). Rather, I will focus on the tools I