Return On Process (ROP) Getting Real Performance Results from Process Improvement

Real Performance Improvement
What Do You Think? What Do You Believe?
What Is Real Performance?
     Case Study: Fast, Simple Technology Improvement
     Case Study in Not Thinking Systemically
Learn What to Improve and Why
     Determine What to Improve
     Determine Why to Improve Something…and How Much to Improve
          Case Study in Understanding What to Improve and Why
The Place for "Best Practices" in Performance Improvement
Establishing Performance Objectives
     Framing the Challenge
     Defining the Performance Objective Language
     Getting to the Real Performance Objective
     Using Criteria to Evaluate Performance Objective Statements
Establishing Performance Measures
     The Measure of Success
     What Gets Measured and Unintended Consequences
     Context-Based Performance Measures
     The Effect of Watching or Measuring
          Case Study
     Defining the Performance Measurement Language
     Types of Measures
     Defining Your Performance Measures
Focusing the Improvement: People, Process, and/or Technology
Planning and Managing the Performance and Process Improvement Project
     The Most Important and Most Overlooked Measure: The Performance Baseline
     Process Improvement Life Cycle
     "Projectize" the Work
     Initiate the Project (Inception)
     Plan the Project
     Develop the Solution
     Transition the Solution
Putting It into Practice
     Putting It into Practice: Defining Performance Objectives
Do’s and Don’ts
     Do
     Don’t
Reflect and Plan: What Did You Learn?
What Will You Do?
     What?
     Who?
     When and How Much?
Endnotes

Real Process Improvement
What Do You Think? What Do You Believe?
Establishing Process Performance Objectives
     A Story of an Unbalanced Scorecard
     From the Strategy to the Performance Objective to the Process Performance Objective
          Strategic Process Alignment
          Performance Objective Process Alignment
Understanding Defined Process versus Performed Process
Improving the Performed Process
     Accelerating Process Performance
          Reducing Process Performance Tasks
          Reducing Process Performance Lag or Wait States
          Parallel Process Performance
          Process Representation
          Sentiment Can Ruin Efficiency
     Improving Process Performance Efficacy
     Improving Process Performance Output and Results Quality
          Preventive Quality Process Improvement
          Corrective Quality Process Improvement
Improving the Defined Process
     The Process Is a Product
     Build the Process for Its Users
     Design the Process for the Way Users Work
     Establish Process Design Standards
     Provide Meaningful Process Tailoring
          Tailoring Is a Process Performance Activity
          Tailoring Is Based on Criteria and Rationale
          Tailoring Criteria and Guidelines
          Tailoring Guidelines
     Design to the "-ilities"
     Don’t Define Inconsequential Processes
Synchronizing the Defined and Performed Processes
     Stage 1: Equalize the Defined Process with the Performed Process Example Modeling
     Stage 2: Define the "To Be" Process
     Stage 3: Perform the Defined Process
     Stage 4: Institute Synchronization and Continuous Improvement
          Using Defined–Performed Process Variance for Improving the Defined Process
          Using Defined–Performed Process Variance for Improving the Performed Process
          Continuous Improvement, Synchronization, and ROP
The CMMI and Process Improvement
     Ways to Think about Best Practices
     Where Improvement Begins in the CMMI
Putting It into Practice
     Putting It into Practice: Defining Process Performance Objectives
     Putting It into Practice: Improving the Defined Process
     Putting It into Practice: Improving the Performed Process
     Putting It into Practice: Synchronizing the Defined and Performed Process
     Putting It into Practice: Measuring the Process Improvement
     Putting It into Practice: Progress toward Higher CMMI Maturity Levels
Do’s and Don’ts
     Do
     Don’t
Reflect and Plan: What Did You Learn? What Will You Do? 
     What?
     Who?
     When and How Much?
Endnotes

Getting the Return on Process (ROP)
What Do You Think? What Do You Believe?
Measuring the Effects of Process Improvement on Performance
Changing Process and Measuring the Effects
     Measuring the Performed Process Changes
          Measuring Process Performance Speed
          Measuring Process Performance Efficacy
          Measuring Process Performance Output Quality
          Measuring the Defined Process Changes
Making Claims of Performance Results from Process Improvement
     Return on CMMI Use
Putting It into Practice
     Putting It into Practice: Deriving the Return on Process
          Putting It into Practice: ROP Efficiency Gains
          Putting It into Practice: ROP Efficacy Gains
          Putting It into Practice: ROP Output Quality Gains
     Putting It into Practice: Progress toward Higher CMMI Maturity Levels
Do’s and Don’ts
     Do
     Don’t
Reflect and Plan: What Did You Learn?
What Will You Do?
     What?
     Who? 
     When and How Much?
Endnote

Small Changes, Big Performance Improvement
The Greatest ROP
Use 20 to Do 80
     The Wrong Tool for the Work
     Learning to Save
Make Meetings Work
     More Meeting Efficiency and Efficacy Tips
Involve the Right People for the Right Work at the Right Time
     When Expertise Isn’t Useful
     More Ideas Don’t Produce Better Ideas
     Aligning People with the Work
Learn One, Learn All
     Lessons Learned Definitions
     Lessons Learned on Lessons Learned
          How People Learn and the Relative Cost of Learning
          Lessons Learned Challenges
         Tips for Establishing a Successful Lessons Learned Program
     Recommended Approach
          Conduct a Lessons Learned on Lessons Learned
          Define and Promote the Lessons Learned Business Case
          Develop a Model and Attributes for a Lesson Learned
          Adapt Current Technology to Enable Lessons Learned
          Establish Incentives for Participation
          Monitor, Measure, and Publicize Progress and Success
Do Only What Needs to Be Done (and No More)
     The Useful–Interesting Paradigm for Managing E-mail
          Parsing E-mail Using the Interesting–Useful Dimensions
          Parsing E-mail Using the Useful–Not Useful Dimension
          Parsing E-mail Using the Interesting–Not Interesting Dimension
          Using the Covey Quadrants to Manage E-mail
          Additional Approaches for Managing E-mail
          Broader Applicability of the Useful–Interesting Paradigm
     The Right Amount of Analysis
          Too Little Analysis
          Too Much Analysis
          Perpetual Analysis
          The Right Amount of Analysis
Make Decisions Once and Make Good Decisions
          A Brief History of Decision Making
          The Importance of Structured Decisions
          The Decision-Driven Organization
          A Simple Decision Process
          Increasing Decision Capability and ROP
          Decision Making in the CMMI
Do Less to Do More
     Activity Is Not Work
     Assume It Already Exists and Don’t Reinvent It
     Define Things Once
The Multitasking Myth
Endnotes

Improving Process Improvement
What Do You Think? What Do You Believe?
Where It All Goes Right (or Wrong)
Start with the Right Team
     Process Improvement Project Stakeholders
          Process Users
          Executive Leadership and Senior Management
     Business Development
     Finance and Accounting (Cost Accounting)
     Human Resources
     Defining Stakeholders
Consultants
     What Does Your Organization Need and Why?
      Selecting a Consultant
Process Design and Development
     What Is Process?
          A Useful Model for Process
     Process Representation
     The Dynamic Process
     The Smart Process
     The Almost Perfect Process
Process Improvement Project Management 
     Scope
          Learn to Say "No"
          Learn to Say "Yes, and…"
     Resources
          Insufficient Resources
          The Wrong Resources
     Priorities
     Schedule
     Managing Stakeholders and Their Expectations
Reflect and Plan: What Did You Learn? What Will You Do?
     What Are You Doing or about to Do? Why?
     Who Is Involved?
     Balance

Process and Performance Myths
Myth: Achieving Model or Standards Compliance Indicates Performance
Myth: If We Develop Good Procedures, We’ll Improve
Myth: If We Hire the Right People, We Don’t Need Processes
Myth: If We Just Implement the Right Tools, We Can Automate Things and Accelerate Our Business
Myth: We Need to Hire a Lead Appraiser to Improve Our Processes

Index

Biography

Michael West is a lifelong practitioner and student of process improvement. He is the co-founder of Natural Systems Process Improvement (Natural SPI), a consultancy specializing in designing, developing, and deploying process systems that enable performance improvement gains. Mr. West’s process insights and innovations have helped many organizations in various sectors of the economy achieve real process and performance improvement. His process consulting clients include ATK, Autodesk, AVL, BAE, BB&T, Crane Aerospace, DCS, Deloitte, Sandia National Labs, and the US Navy. Mr. West frequently presents and speaks at industry conferences and is the author of Real Process Improvement Using the CMMI (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 2004).

Gone are the days of process improvement for efficiency sake. Process is a critical component of innovation and business growth. This book tells you not just how to improve, but more importantly where to improve. This is the key to maximizing your return on your process. Every process professional must read this book.
—Stephen Shapiro, Author, Best Practices Are Stupid

Trust Michael West not only to take on the subject most process improvement professionals seem afraid to raise, but to do so in such an enjoyable, practical, and easily digestible way. I thoroughly recommend reading the book from cover to cover, but once you have, you'll want to keep it close by because you will find yourself referring to it again and again. Nobody contemplating a process improvement program should proceed without first reading this book; but if you're already well on the way, I can only say 'watch out!', you might not like finding out what you've already missed!
—Rob Wyatt, IT Director, Product and Supply Chain, Dell

Michael West's insights completely rebuild and restore the long abandoned and decrepit bridge between investment in process improvement and the return on that investment . A must read for any business leader who wants his or her business to still exist in the near future!
—Marc Vandenplas, Executive Strategy Consultant