Can You Build and Measure an Improvement Culture?

Author(s)

Faculty Member, BPMInstitute.org and President, i4 Process
Ms. Shelley Sweet is a Faculty Member of BPMInstitute.org and President of I-4 Process (Ideas, Involvement, Implementation, Impact) in Palo Alto, California. www.i4process.com Shelley works with companies that need to transform the way they do work and use information. She provides a unique method of modeling processes and analyzing data that accelerates operational improvements, and builds leaders and employees who sustain process excellence. She is the author of a new book, The BPI Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Guide to Make Your Business Process Improvement Projects Simple, Structured and Successful, which is available on Amazon.

This is such a simple but such a critical question.  And it has several critical elements:

Build – meaning this is going to take some time and it will start at one level and grow to another level.

Improvement – in other words we want to have an organization that wants to keep improving itself, which is necessary for any organization to succeed.  If it doesn’t grow, it dies.  But here the word is improvement – keep getting better, probably in several arenas.

Culture – the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization–a corporate culture could be  focused on the bottom line

Let’s define success first.  How would you know that you had an improvement culture?  What would you measure and what would your score be?

Here are four determinants you could use:

ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH: The organization has seen upward trends for X years (5 or more) on important key performance indicators, which would be different for different industries – revenue, patient recovery rates, new product successes, quality, delivery time, etc.

IMPROVEMENT PROJECT SUCCESS: For this article, I am concentrating on process improvement, so I will assume this means a process improvement culture. Success would be doing so many process improvement projects per year, seeing business results from X%, and having processes with successful operational execution for Y% of the organization’s strategic initiatives.

CUSTOMER AND INTERNAL DATA:  Customer data about processes is trending up and customers see their needs fulfilled; internal operational and financial data show improved performance of processes and lead to identification of root causes.

LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWERSHIP:  The number of leaders and employees who are monitoring processes, following data indicators, and making decisions about processes on a regular basis; the number of new projects, Kaizens, that are started and completed, and the # of leaders and employees engaged in them.  This number should be growing over all, so more leaders and employees are doing this, and many are doing second, third, fourth and fifth projects. 

But it is also important to know where the organization is starting.  The CMMI Process Maturity framework gives a good visual graphic with limited explanations.

When you read further about framework there are specifics for each level, with explanations for different elements (governance, projects, metrics, training, etc.) by level.  It’s important to know where the organization is when it starts, so anyone can evaluate if it is moving up the maturity scale.  That would certainly be an indication that the organization is becoming more process focused. 

Building a culture means paying attention to it on a regular basis, have a daily discipline, involving a large number of employees and leaders, monitoring results with data, and being enthusiastic about the process. One way to think about it is like building a great professional football team.  The owner needs an experienced coach who is a motivational leader. That’s a start; then it takes time to get the team working together, with plays and game plans. The measure is in each real game- does the team win, can it pull a game out in difficult times?  The coach has to build the team every year, getting new players, and trading players as necessary.  Money and other resources support this effort.  It is an ongoing effort—all to work every day to build a great team.

Koenigsaecker in his book Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation quantifies what is needed for Lean Transformation.  He mentions that measuring the number of kaizen events is one way to gauge the transformation.  Kaizen events provide three kinds of returns:  improved business results, basic learning in principles and practices, and cultural change.  Personal kaizen experience is the most significant building block for successful Lean transformation.  The author recommends that general managers participate in12 kaizen events in their first year and continue with two every year after that.  For team members he says that it takes two kaizen events to begin to have them believe in the lean stuff, three to seven events for a personal commitment to Lean, and eight or more events to get that belief to a high level.   He always recommends the number of Kaizen events per month at n (total employee count)/ 10.  That ‘s a lot of kaizens!  It shows how frequent and extensive the commitment must be to generate a continuous improvement culture.

The point is – building an improvement culture takes a plan, committed leadership, many regular and ongoing improvement projects, and keeping at it.   

Similar Resources

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Enhancing Your Team's BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise In today’s dynamic business environment, managing and improving business processes is critical for any organization aiming to maintain a competitive edge. Many companies consider handling Business...

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+ Introduction In the evolving landscape of Business Process Management (BPM), the introduction of Shared Data Model Notation (SDMN) marks a significant advancement. As businesses increasingly seek to...

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+ Introduction In the realm of business process management (BPM), low-code and no-code platforms have emerged as transformative tools, reshaping how organizations develop applications and manage...

Featured Certificate: BPM Specialist

Everyone starts here.

You're looking for a way to improve your process improvement skills, but you're not sure where to start.

Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will give you the competitive advantage you need in today's world. Our courses help you deliver faster and makes projects easier.

Your skills will include building hierarchical process models, using tools to analyze and assess process performance, defining critical process metrics, using best practice principles to redesign processes, developing process improvement project plans, building a center of excellence, and establishing process governance.

The BPMS Certificate is the perfect way to show employers that you are serious about business process management. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you'll be able to take your business career to the next level.

Learn more about the BPM Specialist Certificate

Courses

  •  

 

Certificates

  • Business Process Management Specialist
  • Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will provide you with a distinct competitive advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you’ll be able to take your business career to the next level.
  • BPM Professional Certificate
    Business Process Management Professional
  • Earning your Business Process Management Professional (BPMP) Certificate will elevate your expertise and professional standing in the field of business process management. Our BPMP Certificate is a tangible symbol of your achievement, demonstrating your in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management.

Certification

BPM Certification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Process Management Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Operational Excellence Specialist
  • Earning your Operational Excellence Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.
 

 

OpEx Professional Certificate

  • Operational Excellence Professional
  • Earn your Operational Excellence Professional Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.

Courses

Certificate
  •  

  • Agile BPM Specialist
  • Earn your Agile BPM Specialist Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving business process management (BPM) with agile methodologies. You’ll gain a strong understanding of how to apply agile principles and concepts to business process management initiatives.  
 

Business Architecture

 

Certificates

  • Business Architecture Specialist
  • The Business Architecture Specialist (BAIS) Certificate is proof that you’ve begun your business architecture journey by committing to the industry’s most meaningful and credible business architecture training program.

  • Business Architecture Professional
  • When you earn your Business Architecture Professional (BAIP) Certificate, you will be able to design and implement a governance structure for your organization, develop and optimize business processes, and manage business information effectively.

BA CertificationCertification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Architecture Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Digital Transformation Specialist
  • Earning your Digital Transformation Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. 
 

 

  • Digital Transformation Professional
  • The Digital Transformation Professional Certificate is the first program in the industry to cover all the key pillars of Digital Transformation holistically with practical recommendations and exercises.

Courses

Certificate

  • Agile Business Analysis Specialist
  • Earning your Agile Business Analysis Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in the world of agile software development.

Courses

Certificate
  • DAS Certificate
  • Decision Automation Specialist
  • Earning your Decision Automation Certificate will empower you to excel in the dynamic field of automated decision-making, where data-driven insights are pivotal to driving business innovation and efficiency.