Tools to Achieve Performance Excellence

“Scope your Project or Process Improvement right the first time”

Dave Brucks - Executive Director of Functional Excellence at Seagate Technology

Jim Nelson - Quality Assurance Manager at Loram

Agenda• Introduction & Agenda (5 min)• Project Charters (5 min)• SIPOC

– Introduction (5 min)– Demonstration (10 min)

• SWOT– Introduction (5 min)– Demonstration (10 min)

• Questions & Answers (10 min)

Project ChartersWhy use?• Clarifies and aligns stakeholders:

– Objective– Metrics– Scope– Roles & Responsibilities– Business Case– Dates & Milestones– Support

SIPOC

Suppliers Inputs Process Outputs CustomersWhy use?• Gain insight on stakeholders and breadth of needs

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5

Beginning End……

SIPOC

Supplier Input Process Output Customer Supplier 1 Supplier 2 Supplier 3

1. Input 12. Input 23. Input 34. Input 45. Input 5

Process Step 1

Process Step 2

Process Step 3

Process Step 4

Process Step 5

  

101. Output 1102. Output 2103. Output 3104. Output 4105. Output 5

Customer 1 Customer 2 Customer 3

Customers first!How?

SIPOC ExerciseThanksgiving Day Family Dinner

Supplier Input Process Output Customer Supplier 1 Supplier 2 Supplier 3

1. Input 12. Input 23. Input 34. Input 4

Plan & Invite guests

Clean & Organize house

Prepare the meal

Welcome guests

Serve the meal

 

51. Output 152. Output 253. Output 354. Output 455. Output 5

Customer 1 Customer 2 Customer 3

Key Points• SIPOC is a simple but useful tool for scoping your process and the involved elements.

• SIPOC can be used in conjunction with the project charter to "kick off" project or process context and gain alignment on scope.

• You can use it to define:

– Who supplies or receives

– What is supplied or received (information and/or material)

– Importance of Who and What

• The leader should facilitate appropriate dialogue and compromise to agree on.

•Be realistic and rigorous with SIPOC analysis. Apply it at an agreed upon level, and supplement it with other scoping tools where appropriate. It can be wildly thorough or tame and easy

SWOT Why • SWOT is a context exercise to help identify the key

internal and external factors seen as important to achieving an objective.

• A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a project, product, place, industry or person.

How• Brainstorm ideas on the strengths and weaknesses

internal to the project, product, place, industry or person.

• Brainstorm ideas on the opportunities and threats presented by the environment external to the project, product, place, industry or person.

• Define a strategy that uses strengths to take advantage of opportunities, mitigates weaknesses or turns them into strengths and minimizes the threats in order to achieve the objective.

Helpful(to achieving the objective)

Harmful(to achieving the objective)

Internal Origin

(attributes of the

organization)

Strengths - characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over othersWhat advantages does your organization have?What do you do better than anyone else?What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't?What do people in your market see as your strengths?What factors mean that you "get the sale"?What is your organization's Unique Selling Proposition ?Consider your strengths from both an internal perspective, and from the point of view of your customers and people in your market.Also, if you're having any difficulty identifying strengths, try writing down a list of your organization's characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths!

When looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors. For example, if all of your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in your organization's market, it's a necessity.

Weaknesses - characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to othersWhat could you improve?What should you avoid?What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?What factors lose you sales?Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Are your competitors doing any better than you?

It's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

External Origin

(attributes of the

environment)

Opportunities - elements that the project could exploit to its advantageWhat good opportunities can you spot?What interesting trends are you aware of?Useful opportunities can come from such things as: Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale.Changes in government policy related to your field.Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on.Local events.

Threats - elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or projectWhat obstacles do you face?What are your competitors doing?Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing?Is changing technology threatening your position?Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?

Questions found at Mindtools.com

Key Points• SWOT Analysis is a simple but useful framework for analyzing your organization's strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats that you face. It helps you focus on your strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available to you.

• SWOT Analysis can be used to "kick off" strategy formulation, or in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool.

• You can use it to get an understanding of your competitors, which can give you the insights you need to craft a coherent and successful competitive position.

• The decision makers should consider whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable a different objective must be selected and the process repeated.

• When carrying out your SWOT Analysis, be realistic and rigorous. Apply it at the right level, and supplement it with other option-generation tools where appropriate.

Helpful(to achieving the objective)

Harmful(to achieving the objective)

Internal Origin(attributes of the

organization)

Strengths Weaknesses

External Origin(attributes of the

environment)

Opportunities Threats

Q & A