Maintaining Process Improvements is a challenge. There is a natural tendency to revert to old habits, especially when things get tough. Just ask anyone who’s quit smoking! Change is hard, but staying changed can be even harder.
Here are some ways to maintain the change once the CPI Project is over:
- Don’t forget the validation phase.
While it may or may not be part of your organization’s official Process Improvement Methodology, a validation phase is essential to auditing the results of your CPI Program. After all, you can “only expect what you inspect”, and if there is no inspection coming down the road then there is little incentive to avoid the temptation to revert to older (worse) habits.
- Make it public.
Do a regular “report out” in front of the whole organization. Have Project Teams present the status of their active projects, and have the Process Owners present the results of the project validation (both 6 months and 1 year after project completion, more if warranted).
- Lead a CPI Committee.
There should be a CPI Committee (or more than one if you lead multiple sites) that helps you maintain a bias for action in your Process Improvement efforts. Ensure the CPI Committee is empowered to freely address deviations in new processes and provide a framework for keeping improvement efforts on track.
- Track it.
Control Charts are an amazing tool for tracking a process. Use them, and share them. These don’t belong hidden in a file somewhere in your program folder! Instead, post Control Charts where (at a minimum) the management team will see them. This isn’t intended to shame Process Owners when they encounter challenges, but to provide them with opportunities to share challenges with others and obtain input on how to stay on track. Better yet, it provides an opportunity to show off how great their processes are running!
- Reward it.
There are lots of ways to reward performance, and I won’t attempt to get into them here. The important thing here is to make it relevant and to be consistent. Make it clear that while adherence to a Continuous Improvement mindset is expected, it will also be rewarded.
What are some ways you’ve encouraged sustainment of results and continued adherence to redesigned processes? Share your stories below!