Measure

Welcome everyone to the second stop of your DMAIC journey, the Measure Phase. This is where we need to figure out what the current process is, collect supporting data internally or externally and ensure our focus from the Project Charter is still accurate. In this Phase we will be answering the following critical question: How does the process currently perform? Or in other words, what is the magnitude of the problem? Let's get to it, shall we?

Let's develop the Current State of the process

In order for us to truly understand what we are looking at it is crucial we document exactly what is happening as the process works today. By doing this we create a Current State of the process. In order to get to this point we need to do the following:

1. What sort of tool makes sense for us to use to document the process; Process Workflow Diagram (Swimlane), SIPOC or something else:
   --> All of these tools are supplied in the toolbox and the CI Team can help figure out which you need to use:
   SIPOC Introductory Presentation
   SIPOC Template
   Current State Process Workflow Example
    
2. Schedule and facilitate a Current State exercise with all supporting resources:
   --> The CI Team will provide a resource to aid in the exercise, but the Project Owner is to ensure all the resources are there to participate.
   --> It is HIGHLY recommended that all resources be in the same room (physically) as performing these exercises benefit more from this type of aproach.
   --> These exercises can take anywhere from half a day to two days to complete. The CI Team can help you determine how much time will be needed!

What is the measurement being used which shows a change is needed?

How do you know a change is needed? Have you collected data suggesting the current process is ineffective or inefficient? Are there points of the process where there is a bottleneck? As much as we all want to jump into making a solution we need to figure out what exactly are using to measure the process and how we can use that measure to drive our analysis? We know this may seem complicated but just follow along below:

1. How do you know a change is needed?
2. Is there current data collected or can be collected to support the need for change?
3. Do we need to investigate how to collect this data or measure? If yes, make a plan to get it capture!
4. How do we compare with other organization's a similar industry? The best way to see how the process matches up with standards across the industry is by performing Best Practice Research. Check out the CI Toolbox to see an example of how this could look.
5. What are the needs of the customer? Who is the end user of the process and what do they require from it? Well, the best way to figure that out is by performin a Voice of the Customer (VoC) activity with them. Check out the CI Toolbox to see an example of how this could look.

Let the data and measures discovered help drive the project

Now that the project has the supporting data let's take a look at our scope. Using the Project Charter; review it and compare it to what the data is saying. You may now know more about the problem and can be more specific! You also may know what will stay out of scope and what will stay in scope. That is the beauty of the process - things are welcome to change as you progress in the journey:

1. Update the Project Charter and Gantt to suit this new information,
2. Communicate that out and have it validated by all project team members, and
3. Approve that the project can now leave the Measure Phase.

Once you have completed the above three things you are ready for the next Phase in the DMAIC model, the Analyze Phase!

The Continuous Improvement Team