Hello everyone. Since last time, we have entered the final stage of “to-be (future state design)”, and also entered “Control”, the last phase of DMAIC in Lean Six Sigma. “Control” was the phase of managing progress while actually implementing problem solving, right? So, last time, I wrote about “RACI” and “KPI” that should be decided in order to proceed with progress management.
This time, I would like to write about how to proceed with actual progress management. The point is to have progress meetings. It’s obvious, but I think there are a lot of people who can’t do this properly (or don’t want to do it). I believe that by doing this properly, you will be able to “put your soul” into the execution of problem-solving.
1. Monthly management – 30/60/90 days review
This is called “30/60/90 days review” because review meetings are held 30 days, 60 days and 90 days after action plans were created in workshops. This is so to speak Monthly management.
The reason why we only have up to 90 days is because we are focusing on the actions that became “Implement Now” in the previously posted “PICK chart”, that is, high-priority actions. The action around that quadrant should be done within about 3 months. If it includes longer time axis actions, naturally extend the period of the meetings.
a) Objectives
There are roughly 2 objectives. One is the detailed progress management of the action plan, and the other is reporting to management members (steering committee members, “Informed” in RACI). I think it depends on the project which one is the main one, but I personally think that the time frame of 1 month is a bit too long for detailed progress management. By the way, in case of reporting to management members, I think it is often called as “steering committee“.
b) Participants
Project members (“Responsible”, “Accountable” in RACI, etc.) are required to participate. Whether or not to include the big boss (laughs) depends on the main objective above.
c) Agenda
Basically, will check the progress of the action plan in order. However, if the main objective is reporting, progress summary (overall progress: progress rate, risk/problem management, etc) should be prepared instead of checking the details in order. I would like to write about risk/problem management later in this blog.
2. Daily management – Daily Standup
If the main objective of above “30/60/90 days review” is management team reporting, we need a place for detailed progress management. As I mentioned earlier, the time axis of 1 month is a bit too long for detailed progress management, so the interval would be weekly or daily (or bi-weekly:) ).
I think it’s common to say, “Let’s do it weekly”, and I also think that’s fine, but I personally recommend daily management. Instead of doing it daily, it will be held in “15 minutes” without doing it lazily. This is what we call “Daily Standup” in “Agile” project management (which I would like to write about later in this blog). In order to finish it in “15 minutes”, everyone “stands” during the meeting, so it’s called as such.
If it’s held online, you don’t have to stand (if you want to stand, you can stand:) ), but let’s be conscious of “15 minutes”.
a) Objective
Detailed progress management of the action plan, this is the only 1 option.
b) Participants
Project members (“Responsible”, “Accountable” in RACI) are required to participate.
c) Agenda
(1) Share the status of each participant (What did you do yesterday? / What are you going to do today? / Any issues?) -> 1min / person
(2) Other information / topics to share (if any)
If you say we’ll do it every day, I’m sure they’ll say, “Oh, are you serious?” (laughs). But let’s convince them by saying “it’s only 15 minutes, so let’s try!” and start.
If you do it first thing in the morning, everyone will have to say a word at least, so it would be a good warm-up. It’s also a good point that you get into the habit of organizing and thinking about what you are doing as you need to share them in a short sentence. Also, knowing each other’s situation increases the engagement of the team, and doing it every day leads to early detection of problems. It’s all good (laughs).
I think that there would be a lot of voices saying that it is surprisingly good once you start. By the way, it is also recommended that this “daily stand-up” be held not only in project teams such as problem-solving projects, but also in your own department or team in BAU (Business As Usual). The agenda is exactly the same, the only difference is that what you talk about would be related to BAU.
3. Execution of Problem Solving Solutions – Progress and Performance Management
So far, I have written about how to manage the progress of problem solving, but there is one more important thing. I believe that problem solving can be said to have been solved only when it achieved results.
Therefore, performance management is important. As for the method of performance management, will follow the KPIs for each problem solving solution that I wrote last time. As a place to follow up, you can utilize the above “Daily Standup” and “30/60/90 days review”.
In case of utilizing “Daily Standup”, if the KPI does not reach the target, assign a person in charge to investigate the cause and consider the solution, and the investigation itself should be done offline. If you do it in the meeting, it would become impossible to end the meeting in 15 minutes.
In case of utilizing “30/60/90 days review”, prepare to report the target achievement rate for each KPI and improvement measures if not achieved. But you may think that since this is said as “30/60/90 days”, so “is this review only for 3 months”? But I think the extention to which KPIs should be monitored is case-by-case. Let’s continue for an appropriate period of time. In that case, it might be better to change the name of the meeting (laughs).
All right, “to-be (future state design)” has been mostly completed so far.
From the next time, I would like to write about soft skills that support problem solving.
That’s all for this time, and I would like to continue from the next time onwards. Thank you for reading until the end.