How Six Sigma Can Better Assess Performance Evaluation
Posted by: meikah | 22 May 2007 | 10:54 pm
Without a clear measurement to evaluate performance, management could only focus on conformance and nonconformance minus the common cause. And according to Forrest Breyfogle III, this method of evaluating performance can drive the wrong behaviors among employees.
Breyfogle wrote an article for BPM Mag, and discussed there how Six Sigma can drive better management reports by having good metrics to evaluate performance. He suggests an approach, which he calls Smarter Six Sigma Solutions (S4) or “Integrated Enterprise Excellence (IEE).” It can open managers’ eyes to ways in which the metrics they’ve chosen are driving the wrong employee behaviors, and can help them focus improvement efforts on actions that can truly impact performance. He gives interesting real-life examples, from which we can really learn from.
This part here in the article pretty sums up Breyfogle’s ideas:
Generally speaking, though, organizations can achieve more gains by continuously working to mitigate common-cause problems by improving their basic processes. Effective, long-lasting improvements to processes are not made by firefighting. They require the examination of process data over a period of stability to determine what should be done differently in the long term.
Presenting performance data in traditional management reports, with simple year-to-year comparisons of metrics, may identify results that are out of line with targets, but it does little to help executives determine how to respond to those results. How can a company fix poor performance when it doesn’t know what caused that performance?
Process improvement projects in Six Sigma utilize a define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) road map to investigate the causes behind nonconforming processes using both statistical and nonstatistical techniques. Such an analysis can lead to long-lasting, sustainable improvement, and taking an S4/IEE approach to reporting on the analysis expands the positive impact that companies see in their top-level performance metrics.
Source:
BPM Mag, “Common Cause: How Six Sigma Can Drive Better Management Reports”
*Photo from MorgueFile
Filed under: Tools/Toolkits, Processes, Data Analysis, DMAIC, BPM, Forrest W. Breyfogle III
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A Quality Quiz from PQ Systems, Inc.
Posted by: meikah | 15 May 2007 | 6:41 pm
I subscribe to PQ Systems, Quality e-Line, and so I get interesting insights on quality every time. Today, I got this interesting Quality Quiz, which I was able to answer correctly. 
I’m posting here the quiz now. Take the quiz and tell me how you fared.
Polly Yurathane considers herself the SPC queen, after successfully explaining the beta coefficient of regression analysis (standardized regression coefficient), to her new boss, Hy O. Pinyon. Now she is preparing a presentation for division manager Emily Dickinson, a poetic manager who leads with an iron will nonetheless. Emily has requested information about the relationship of the cost of coal mined by Blackern Dirt Mine Company to the amount of coal mined and the cost to mine that coal.
Polly, knowing that Emily is a poet, assumes that she knows little about statistics, so she feels quite relaxed about her presentation, seeing it as an opportunity to once again mount her throne as SPC queen.
Opening the Power Point presentation she has prepared, she explains the concept of simple regression, using this data:
DATE
TONS
(in 1000s)
TOTAL COST ($1,000s)
JAN
2
2
FEB
5
8
MAR
7
10
APRIL
1
4
MAY
7
7
JUN
8
9
JUL
2
5
AUG
3
5
SEPT
5
7
OCT
6
7
She then shares a printout, generated by software that does simple regression, and explains patiently to Emily that this is a regression model that shows the relationship between the cost (Y) and the amount of coal mined (X).
(Click on the printout for a larger version.)
Where
dependent variable
independent variable
“You can use the model to predict your cost if you know the amount of coal mined,” she says slowly to the division manager, who has remained quiet through the first part of Polly’s presentation, reinforcing Polly’s inaccurate conclusion that Emily is not absorbing the message. Now, however, Emily asks a question:
“What assumptions are you making to assure that this model works?”
Not expecting such a sophisticated question, Polly stumbles for a minute, then asserts firmly, “It is very important that the dependent variable is a parameter and the independent variable is a random variable.”
Is Polly’s response to Emily’s question appropriate and accurate?
a) Yes; now she has really assured her permanent position as SPC queen.
b) No: Polly Yurathane can consider herself only a princess at best.
You can also click here for a more complete video explanation.
Filed under: Data, Statistics, Data Analysis, Regression Analysis
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Reducing Pressure Ulcers Through Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 25 April 2007 | 11:57 pm
At Thibodaux Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Louisiana, an increase in pressure ulcers rate in the last quarter of 2003 and the second quarter of 2004. Having started with the Six Sigma initiatives since 2001, the center knew that they could reduce the rate using Six Sigma.
Thus in 2004, a Six Sigma project team was formed to address this problem. The project team included a Black Belt, enterostomal therapy registered nurse (ETRN), medical surgical RN, ICU RN, rehab RN and RN educator. Their vision was to be the “Skin Savers” by resolving issues leading to the development of nosocomial pressure ulcers. Read more…
What TRMC did to improve its pressure ulcers rate showed the importance of verifying underlying causes using valid data. According to Sheri Eschete, Black Belt and leader of the pressure ulcer project at TRMC:
“Six Sigma provided us with the tools to get to the real problem so that we could make the right improvements. There had been a perception that not turning the patients often enough was the issue, but the data revealed that it was really the frequency of the Braden Scale. Leveraging the data helped us to convince others and implement appropriate changes.”
Source:
iSixSigma, “Using Six Sigma to Reduce Pressure Ulcers at a Hospital”
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Team Dynamics, Deployment, Healthcare, Processes, Data Analysis
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Improving Call Centers Operations Through Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 18 April 2007 | 11:23 pm
Call center operations hurdle such issues as expected response time and resolution from different clients every day. When crunch time comes when clients are ready to pull out because they are not happy with the service, most companies do two things: layoff the unproductive ones and hire new people, or hire more people to manage the calls.
More often than not, these solutions, albeit commonly practiced, do not really dig into the root cause of the problem. They just work around the variable that clients are unhappy because of response and resoluton time, thus they are quick to conclude that they need to increase their workforce.
There is however a more effective way to improve call-center operations. An iSixSigma article discusses how Lean Six Sigma can do the trick.
Analysis
In the course of doing a basic process analysis, the Lean Six Sigma expert discovered:
- The majority of calls that could not be resolved on the first call required some research by the service representatives.
- The service representatives were primarily judged on whether they were available to answer. This limited the time they could devote to research open issues. As a result, many calls that could not be resolved right away were often never resolved.
- Customers whose inquiries were not answered within a few days would call back. This increased the call volume, inflated the numbers of calls that could not be resolved on the first call, and led to multiple entries in the computer system for the same problem.
… Baseline data showed that the company was falling far short of its goal, achieving only a 50 percent first-call resolution rate and 62 percent five-day resolution rate.
Related Story: iSixSigma Blogosphere, “Contact Center Process Owner v. HQ Process Owner”
*Photo from Stock.Xchng
