Engaging People in
Problem Solving
MARIT PETERS
IIAT
a continuous
improvement
culture
traditional
CEO
Management
Support Staff
Production Staff
(Sales & Service)
Customers
servant leadership
Customers
1.
How the objectives are meant to be met
2.
How our products & services could be made and
delivered
3.
How processes get better
Staff (Sales & Service)
Management/Support:
1. Provide support
2. Coach / Mentor
3. Influence
4. Solve Problems & Remove Obstacles
Support Staff
Management
1.
What are we about? What are our products? What is
our purpose? What are our strategic objectives?
2.
Why is any of the above important? Why bother?
3.
Who is responsible for the “whats” and “whys”?
CEO
problem solving
what is a problem?
• A GAP between the current state and
the desired state.
• All problems are opportunities for
continuous improvement
problem solving?
• Solving problems by finding real root causes
• Taking action that permanently removes the
problem
• Involves two main strategies
• Data Collection/Analysis
• Correction/Prevention
when?
• When our customers require it
• When we wish to solve recurring problems in a
manner that is permanent
• As a continuous improvement tool
• To satisfy a documentation requirement
why this approach?
• A structured approach
that helps build a
common problem
solving language
Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control
Celebrate!
C
DMAIC
Define
Measure
• Define the problem/metric
• Measure the process to determine current
performance – look for trends
Analyze
• Analyze data to determine the root cause(s) of the
performance
Improve
• Improve the process by eliminating defects and
sources of variation
Control
Celebrate!
• Control future process performance
• Celebrate your successes
team approach
• Set meetings/procedures/ground rules
• Team Membership
•
•
•
•
•
•
Team leader/champion/facilitator
Scribe/recorder
Subject matter experts (SMEs) – can be ‘supporting’ members
Who are the other members?
What is my role in this team?
WIIFM
• Communications
describe the problem
• The goal is to:
• Specify the internal/external customer problem by
identifying in quantifiable terms (who, what, when,
where, why, how, how many) for the problem.
• Use an “Operational Definition” that has a common meaning to
everyone who reads it
• Use verifiable criteria
• Symptoms are often mistakenly used to describe a problem
5W2H
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who?
Who are the customers that are complaining?
What?
What is the complaint or opportunity?
When?
When did the problem start or occur?
Where?
Where is the problem observed?
Why?
Why is this problem occurring (known data)?
How?
How does the process work?
How Many? How many defects?
IS/IS NOT
problem statement vs
problem description
• A Problem Statement Includes:
• Problem (Object)
• Problem concern
• A Problem Description Includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Problem (Object)
Problem concern
Specific requirements not met
The deviation from the
requirements
Define the current
measurements
Date of 1st occurrence
Number of rejects/failures/
occurrences
Point of Cause
point of cause
• Where is the problem first seen
can see
15
START
can see
14
can see
13
can see
can not see
can not see
10
Grasp
the
Situation
12
11
Process 12 is the point of cause!
problem descriptions
• Poor: Our customers aren’t happy with us lately.
• Better: The customer retention rate has declined
from 92% to 89% in the last 12 months and is not
meeting our goal is 91% or better.
• Poor: We need a new phone system.
• Better: Our current phone system has capacity for
only 50 extensions and we currently have 65
employees who require a phone.
process flowchart
• A flow chart/value stream map (VSM) is a tool that
helps to identify the actual flow of sequence of
events in a process that a product or service
follows.
process flowcharting
Star t
Define process
boundaries
Consensus?
Yes
Identify major
steps between the
start and finish
No
Yes
Draw appropr iate
symbols
No
Is char t
too large
for one
page?
Yes
No
Connect steps with
arrows sho wing
flow direction
Yes
All steps
correctly
identified?
Yes
No
Steps
sequenced?
Sequence
the steps
Enough
detail?
No
Test for
completeness
Flowchart
complete?
Yes
Finalize
No
Use
continuation
symbol
19
performance metrics
Prospecting
Sell
Bind
New
Revenue
$$$
“YES”
Close Ratio
Service
Renew
Rounding
Deliver
Accurate Policy
Days to
Deliver:
E&O:
Happy
Customer
Net Promoter
Score
(NPS)
“YES”
Retention
Target
containment
• The goal is to:
• Define and implement containment actions to isolate
the effect of problem from any internal/external
customer until corrective action is implemented
• Verify the effectiveness of the containment action
containment
• Minimize the effect of the problem on the customer by
implementing immediate containment actions
• 100% sorting/inspection
• Quarantine
• Temporary SOP’s
• Do/Perform/Make in-house vs outsource
• Temporary company policies
• Additional approvals (signoff)
• Single source
• Certified people
• Additional resources
common problems
• Considered as permanent solution
• Easily forgotten
• Costly
• Typically only address an effect and not
root cause
• Same problem/effect will surface again
define root causes
• If you don’t address the root cause… the
problem will come back.
root cause analysis?
• Process to arrive at the preliminary causes of a
problem
• Finding the reason a problem exists and eliminate
it with corrective actions
• Front-end work
• Defining the problem in quantifiable terms
• Testing potential root causes
• Verifying the root cause
common barriers?
• Problem described incorrectly
• Problem solving effort expedited
• Poor team participation
• No logical process
• Permanent corrective action not implemented
• Over-reliance on experience
define root causes
• The goal is to:
• Identify all potential causes that could explain why the
problem occurred
• Isolate and verify the root cause by testing each
potential cause against the problem description
identify potential
causes
• Identify all potential causes
that could explain why the
problem occurred
• Develop a complete picture of
all of the possible causes of the
problem
identify potential
causes
• Continue to ask the repeated “Why” statements
• List potential root causes
•
•
•
•
Group discussion
Formal brainstorming session
Cause & Effect diagram (fishbone)
FMEA
• If the problem is new, develop a time line
brainstorming
techniques
There are no
bad ideas!
Brainstorm
Guidelines for
Brainstorming
• Don’t critique ideas.
• Use your imagination!
• Build on others’ ideas.
• Piggybacking
• Aim for QUANTITY.
• Record each idea.
Brainstorming
Process
• Select a facilitator.
• Give everyone 1-2 minutes to silently think about
the problem.
• Invite everyone to contribute ideas.
• Write down all ideas.
• Continue until you run out of ideas.
• Discuss and narrow down ideas using Nominal
Group Technique or Multi-Voting.
cause & effect
diagram
• A Cause & Effect Diagram is a tool that helps to
identify, explore, and display in increasing detail all of
the possible causes related to a problem or condition
in order to discover its root cause(s).
cause & effect
diagram
Causes (variables)
“Bones”
(major cause categories)
Effect
(response)
Problem
Statement
Constructing a
Cause & Effect Diagram
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identify problem effect or desired response.
Define major cause categories or process steps.
Draw C&E diagram.
Identify detailed causes through formal
brainstorming sessions. (For best results,
brainstorm only ONE cause category at a time)
5. Assign CNX rating.
typical cause
categories
•
•
•
•
•
Process/Prod
System/Equipment
Environment/Market
Vendors/Supply Chain
People
Our retention is at 91% and we want 95%.
Why?
Lack of knowledge, or misunderstanding coverages, mistakes
1
Lack of services for customers
Competition
2
No-one returning phone calls promptly
Lack of cross-selling, lack of touch-points with clients
Economy
Low morale, poor attitude on phone
No relationship with client
Retention
Rate increases
Malfunctioning equipment
No retention metrics
No real-time quoting
Time to quote
Certs not self-serve
3
develop permanent
corrective actions
• Define the best permanent corrective
actions
• Choose on-going controls and measures
to ensure the root cause is eliminated
identify solutions
• Investigate several methods to fix the
problem
• Brainstorm solutions
• Identify similar problems previously solved and
corrective actions
• Review FMEAs
• Consider new technology for the possible solution
nominal group
technique
v
Probability
of
Correct
Decision
Stress or
Pressure
Forces to
the Left
Voting
Consensus
Leader
Rules Minority
Majority
Rules
Rules
Nominal Group Technique is useful
when individual ideas and
judgments need to be tapped and
a group consensus is the desired
outcome.
Consensus is reached when all
members who contribute to a
decision feel their contributions
are given a fair hearing, and are
satisfied with the decision.
getting to consensus
• Consensus means that all members of the team agree
upon a single alternative which is:
• reached fairly and openly, and
• is the best alternative at the time it is made.
• Ask, “Is there anyone here who cannot live with this
decision?”
guidelines
• Review and clarify the list of ideas.
- Eliminate overlap.
- Include all ideas.
• Rate ideas using three prioritized votes per person.
• Most important = 3
• Second most important = 2
• Third most important = 1
• Total the scores for each idea.
• Rank the ideas and attempt to reach consensus
from among the 2 or 3 highest ranked ideas.
improve
• Put the action plan into place
• Verify corrective actions before the actions are
permanently implemented
•
•
•
•
•
Process capability run
Quality data analysis
Field test
Prototype
Rework report
• Document verification results
• Update quality documents
• Verify the solution with customer
the action matrix
Big Effect on Root Cause
Big Payoff / Easy to Do
Do These Now!!
Big Payoff / Hard to Do
Prioritize / Plan to
Implement These
Easy
Hard
Do These Last
Skip These
Small Benefit / Easy to Do
Small Benefit / Hard to Do
No Effect on Root Cause
1
Root Cause: Lack of knowledge &
understanding which creates mistakes.
Solutions:
Processes
 Better define customer service standards
 Written procedures & guidelines
 Fix/Define Accord app reconciliation process
 Performance management
Learning
 Weekly ‘lunch & learn’ topics
 Active goals for individuals getting designations
 Lessons-learned training (look at trends and
why it happened)
prevent recurrence
• Identify and agree to long term validation methods
• Update quality documents
•
•
•
•
Processes
Procedures
Training
Workflow
• Identify similar products, product lines, serviced,
equipment, and processes that could benefit from
these findings and solutions
• Leverage the results of your problem solving efforts for
maximum ROI
Celebrate!
Congratulate Your
Team
• Remember the WIIFM
• Recognize and reward
• Celebrate success/accomplishments
performance metrics
Prospecting
Sell
Bind
New
Revenue
$$$
“YES”
Close Ratio
Service
Renew
Rounding
Deliver
Accurate Policy
Days to
Deliver:
E&O:
Happy
Customer
Net Promoter
Score
(NPS)
“YES”
Retention
Target
problem solving
C
DMAIC
Define
Measure
• Define the problem/metric
• Measure the process to determine current
performance – look for trends
Analyze
• Analyze data to determine the root cause(s) of the
performance
Improve
• Improve the process by eliminating defects and
sources of variation
Control
Celebrate!
• Control future process performance
• Celebrate your successes
motivation
Compassion
Passion
Conviction
Attitude
Values
capability
Vision
Persuasion
Evaluation
Analyses
Knowledge
action
Mission
Purpose
Commitment
Attempt
Intention
commitment levels
Motivation
Capability
Action
Compassion
Vision
Mission
Passion
Conviction
Attitude
Value
Persuasion
Evaluation
Analyses
Knowledge
Purpose
Commitment
Attempt
Intention
leadership…we are
Inspiring
Convincing
Engaged
Involved
Interested
as a team…we have
Wisdom
Perseverance
Courage
Ambition
Respect
a continuous
improvement
culture