AAOM Handbook

Identifying and Making Interventions

The Business Process Framework requires that measures be established for ; • the purpose of the process, • the technical theory , and • the social theory . The purpose of measures is to indicate that an intervention in a process may be required. There is an implication to this statement that is too important to leave unsaid – ie measures also indicate when to leave the process alone (you may remember that the subject of counterproductive intervention was mentioned earlier). Measures must also provide an objective, repeatable understanding of what is happening, that is based on a validated theory. The Business Process Framework requires that measures be presented as Control Charts and Capability Histograms, and that the principles of statistical process control be applied to the measurement interpretation, issue analysis and the development of an intervention - where one is required. Over-reaction is to be avoided and special and common cause issues treated appropriately. The performance of a Process will not remain stable and capable, nor will it be sustainably improved, if the information delivered by measures is not applied to the appropriate levers for the Process performance. The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) process is one that is widely applied in a broad cross section of industries. It has a proven track record, when applied correctly, of helping with understanding what is affecting the performance of a process and systematically and efficiently working to the implementation of controls to deliver stable, capable and improved performance. The principle levers for moving the performance of a Process; • Design of the Processes for the environment in which it operates. • Strategies (Production and Service) applied to the Process. • Execution of the strategies. • The cost effectiveness of the resources employed. If there are no cost effective options for achieving the required performance using the above 4 levers, then the remaining options are to either; • accept different expectations, or • make fundamental change to the purpose or theory. To deliver and sustain performance expectations, the results of analysis and improvement work must be tied into one of the above areas. Measures must provide a truthful and revealing picture of what is happening. They must not mask variation that is significant to the performance of the process.

Within the Business Process Framework these activities are incorporated in the Analyse and Improve element.