Find an Opportunity

What causes you the most trouble most often?

What does the customer complain about most often?

What would help make the job easier, the service faster, the process more efficient, the productivity greater, and the operation less costly?

Can you measure success?

Organize the Team

Who should be on the team to solve the problem?

Do we have the right people involved?

Are the necessary departments, or necessary shifts, represented?

Will we need to bring in content experts to assist?

Is the customer represented?

Clarify

What is not happening?

What is not known?

How is the customer affected?

Who should be included in this analysis?

What are the known problems and the symptoms?

Have you analyzed all the significant symptoms?

Has the team formulated theories for the causes?

How will you test the theories to confirm their causal relationship?

Do

Pilot the Change

Is there a plan for implementing the corrective action(s)?

How will you check the progress of the plan?

Who are the most important people to ensure successful implementation?

What factors will determine whether people will do what is needed?

Check

Study the Results

Can the results be verified?

Who should collect the data and to whom should they be reported to maintain their effectiveness?

Are there any other measurements that need to be in place?

What will ensure that this new process is maintained and does not deteriorate over time?

Who should collect the information to audit the process, and to whom should it be reported to maintain its effectiveness?

Act

Implement and Evaluate

Was the pilot study successful? If yes, how will you implement the solution throughout the organization?

If the pilot was unsuccessful, where was the breakdown? In the implementation phase? In the diagnosis of root causes?