A broken business process can cost an enterprise time and money, making process improvement extremely critical. As Gina Temple says, process improvement is a business practice that largely involves identifying, analysing and improving existing business processes. The goal of process improvement can be to meet best practice standards, optimize performance, or just improve quality and the user experience for customers and end-users. Helps in lowering waste, minimizing errors, streamlining efficiency, and improving productivity.
Gina Temple lists important process improvement methodologies
Utilizing process improvement methodologies aids in pinpointing issues within discerning business processes and resolving them. Employing an appropriate framework enables people to accelerate workflow, reduce expenses, and elevate the quality of work. There are multiple types of process improvement methodologies used in the business landscape, here are a few of them:
- Kaizen: Kaizen helps in promoting continuous improvement with a high degree of emphasis on agile and lean practices. It focuses on improving efficiency, productivity and quality through minor shifts in everyday work or corporate culture. Kaizen methodology helps foster an environment that does not punish mistakes or errors, but rather works to prevent such issues from taking place again.
- 5S: A part of the Kaizen and Lean methodologies, 5S stands for five major steps: sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain. This model helps in bringing more consistency to process improvement and can standardize this practice.
- PDCA: PDCA stands for plan, do, check and act; and is a part of the Kaizen methodology. It helps enterprises to be more efficient in regards to identifying processes that require improvement. The PDCA Cycle is an iterative, four-stage approach for continuously improving processes and products, and is considered to be a fundamental model for problem-solving and quality improvement.
- Lean manufacturing: Lean manufacturing focuses on cost reduction through waste elimination. While its name implies to a focus on manufacturing, its core principles are applicable across distinctive industries. To effectively apply this methodology, the process improvement team must map the value stream to grasp buyer perception. This understanding enables teams to eliminate waste and redundancy from business processes successfully.
- Six Sigma: Six Sigma is quite a popular process improvement methodology that involves pulling workers up through ranks that are classified with the use of karate belts. One would start as a green belt, and subsequently learn the way up to a black belt. As per this methodology, two ways are used to break down process improvement through specific steps.
- Cause and effect analysis: A method derived from Six Sigma is the cause and effect analysis, which utilizes diagramming methods to address issues efficiently. By identifying problems, uncovering obstacles, and pinpointing the reasons behind process failures, this approach aims to fix issues correctly the first time they are addressed.
- Total Quality Management (TQM): This methodology is focused on fostering lasting success via customer satisfaction, and promotes continuous process improvement across organizations. TQM methodology encourages the entire company to embrace a culture where employees feel empowered to contribute, unafraid of making mistakes, and united in pursuing common business objectives.
Gina Temple points out that process improvement and business process management are interconnected concepts in organizational development and efficiency. Even though their goal is to boost the performance and effectiveness of business processes, they tend to put emphasis on varying aspects and employ distinct approaches.
