Anticlue

Using Six Sigma for Business Process Management

In an IT department, customer alignment is critical. We provide a service and it is a complicated one. One has to be aware of how everything comes together as a whole. Six Sigma is a useful tool for recognizing key processes, pinpointing a problem, and establishing measurements for quality.

System and process alignment refer to a strategy which aligns the variables of an existing system in a way that forms the structure for achieving defined and targeted improvement. Remember way back when to the infamous formula:

y = f(x)

This basic formula is where the inputs, KPIV, of a given work process yield the output of the process, KPOV. The goal is to determine all of the x’s critical to obtaining the desired y’s. Once the root causes have been clearly diagnosed and defined, a resolution can be formulated.

Therefore the Six Sigma methodology can be applied to continually improving the business process. The key point here is that decisions would be made upon quantitative analysis and the outcomes of mapping core business functions with the end goal in mind of identifying and removing the differences between where service production is and where customer demand desires it to be. The steps in this process are:

1. Examine and understand the customer requirements – In order to examine and understand the customer requirements, one needs to obtain them. Take a look around, are there any tools to measure value from the customer perspective? Are there problem in customer relations? Are customers looking to outsource the IT departments work?
2. Implement process baselines – Map and diagram each process use a SIPOC diagram if applicable.
3. Align the business processes - Review your organizations core process and adjust them so that they can meet customer demands.
4. Establish a corporate direction, strategy, and goals – The organizations executive leaders will determine how to collectively bring the organization to a place where it can reach its objectives.

A good time to employ the Six Sigma methodology process and system alignment is during process improvements, process design/redesign, and process re-engineering - the reactive, creative, and/or reconceived applications of system and process alignment.

• Process Improvement – Process improvement is the most cost effective and simplistic way to apply a system and process alignment. The purpose of process improvement is to analyze a problem’s root causes and determine how to prevent it from ever happening again while leaving the essential components in place and functioning.
• Process Design / Redesign – Process Design/Redesign use a form of the DMAIC system, the DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify). Process Design / Redesign is the technique used when all or part of the process is being replaced or added. For example deploying this technique would be very useful in implementing an upgrade with new feature/functions that would improve workflow. Process design/redesign can be useful in adjusting a product or service to match customer requirements.
• Process Re-engineering – Process re-engineering is about the rethinking and redesign of a process or a product. For example, the organizations senior leaderships realization that transcription will not be needed with the movement to an Ambulatory Electronic Health Record or the move from a paper based order entry system to an electronic order entry system. Both of these are profound changes in how the organization operates and have a wealth of opportunity for improvement.