Change Management - Adoption of a Continuous Improvement Program

An Organizational Development (OD) practitioner can be a challenge especially with regard to the change when a company chooses to implement a quality program initiative. These programs commonly referred to as Continuous Improvement (CI) or process improvement programs are very popular and used by most Fortune 500 companies. These include, but are not limited to ISO, CMMI, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma and TQM. To understand the role of OD professionals in managing change, it is important to first understand CI programs in general.

All CI programs are designed to increase the quality and revenue. Each program includes a series of problem solving and statistical analysis tools to guide employees through a model of outstanding quality. ISO 9000 - The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standards body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. CMMI - Capability Maturity Model Integration - is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes. Both these methods require a certification by an outside organization. ISO is closely aligned with the electrical and CMMI was created by the SEI (Software Engineering Institute) and Carnegie Mellon University, with a core focus on software development.

Both CMMI and ISO have expanded their methodology to include management programs and are often used as a marketing advantage. For example, if a company sells a product that is certified ISO or CMMI, can be considered a plus by a company that is interested in buying the product or service. This is especially if the company is certified with the same methodology. What is important for the OD practitioner to note is that the decision to adopt a specific methodology can be made of a simple marketing tool and the ability for workers to adapt can be considered secondary.

For most people the thought of improving processes, which always involves a kind of gap analysis can be frightening. Process improvement may mean the elimination of jobs or departments. CI programs is key to the ability to acquire and act on current knowledge. The resistance of employees, for all the obvious reasons, can hinder the success of the program. If the purpose of the CI program is not adequately communicated all lose.

Change management considerations with formal programs such as CMMI and ISO are simple with minimal flexibility. If the organization does not follow a set of prescribed steps the organization will not be certified or recertified.

With other CI programs such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing or Lean Six Sigma need to change the culture is less structured. This presents its own set of problems for OD Professional whose change agent skills were enrolled. Establish a clear understanding of the CI program, vocabulary, objectives, and waiting period is necessary before any communication is issued to the employee population. Although Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing and Lean Six Sigma have all the guidelines of the review process is not standardized.

Six Sigma is a methodology developed by Motorola designed to eliminate defects. The former include Bank of America, Caterpillar, Honeywell International (formerly known as Allied Signal), Raytheon and General Electric (introduced by Jack Welch). Most organizations rely heavily on the Six Sigma DMAIC model, which is an acronym for define, measure, analyze, improve and control. Six Sigma organizations are also based on names of martial arts to explain the various levels of expertise: white belt, yellow belt, green belt, black belt and master black belt.

The names of martial arts is also true for companies that incorporate Lean Six Sigma Lean Manufacturing or Lean Thinking - a methodology focused on waste reduction - in the Six Sigma program. In a sense, the designation of martial arts are useful for the professional OD organization because they help identify who might be able to offer specific skills. However, the names of martial arts are also always been seen as an agent of positive change. Some organizations, such as Raytheon, have chosen not to use the terms to all employees and call their own experts.

The very idea of ​​helping employees become better thinkers imply that they are not performing to the best of their ability. To be successful, quality initiative programs must be repackaged as part of continuous improvement. When employees are approached with the 'getting better' message is easier to digest.

CI movement has been around for a long period. Many site TQM or Total Quality Management as the program that made it popular programs of CI. TQM is a management strategy designed to increase awareness of quality. The strategy involved the original TQM quality circles in which all employees involved with the process that was intended for the improvement had the opportunity to provide input. Unfortunately, modern day CI programs in this step is missed. The members of the project team involved in the implementation of change have the task of identifying the owner of, but I'm not so concerned with the 'all persons involved in the process of' foundation. This often leads to communication problems that hinder the ability of the OD practitioner to be a successful change agent.

The good news is that OD professionals are rarely encumbered by determining which features to measure and metrics to be used to identify the success of a CI program. Since metrics, benchmarking, statistics and tools exist within each CI program is more a question of scale information. With most of the programs CI scorecard are used as well. The Balanced Scorecard is a popular model used by many companies regardless of the program adopted CI. This scorecard developed by Robert S. Kaplan and David Norton in 1992, has evolved and changed for a variety of industries and departments. The OD practitioner can be a most effective agent for change through the study of the areas the organization has rated as the most important and understanding of how the CI program is intended to influence every area.

For the OD practitioner is not familiar with TQM programs CI basis review is a good starting point. TQM has most of the analytical problem solving tools and logic that is the cornerstone of all programs of CI. Since all of CI programs to promote ways of doing things better, faster and more cost-effective opportunities to use the skills of change management is abundant .......