Whether you’re wondering about the actual steps involved in a certain process at work or hoping to show just how inefficiently one of them operates, a work flow analysis (WFA) diagram will trace sequential steps to tell you who’s involved, what materials they’re using, and what direction the work is moving in. Though often used […]
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Most everyone is familiar with the Venn diagram. Created by John Venn in the 1970s, this type of diagram is formed by circles that converge to represent all interactions (and lack thereof) within a possible set of events. It can illustrate relationships of sets, indicate the consequences of combining disparate groups, and help to verify […]
In preparing to move forward with any action as an organization, you’ve got to know what you’re working with. What tools does your organization have that will give it an advantage in the marketplace? How about the faults that will hold it back? Also, you have to consider what the organization is facing in the […]
To make any daunting problem immediately more manageable, it’s best to break it down into parts. In doing so, you’ll often find that just one of those parts amounts to a much bigger chunk of the problem than several of the others combined. In one of its many forms, this process is called stratification, and […]
Keeping track of data is important even in the stages before you quite know how to interpret it. Simply using numbers to watch a process as it varies over time can help catch trends (and potential problems) early on. For example, when keeping track of a team’s meeting attendance, you can catch a steady (but […]
It can be tricky to keep track of where the buck stops, so to speak, when it comes to project completion within a large organization. Tasks can get lost along the way, with one party insisting it was another party’s job to finish them. In order to set forth a common understanding of who’s accountable […]
Visualizing a process helps provide a heads up for any potential mistakes. The process mapping tool makes such analysis possible by letting users compare the current state of a process to its ideal one. Ultimately, process mapping should facilitate timesaving developments and guide a dedicated process improvement team by looking at metrics, estimated times, activities, […]
A familiar concept from any high school statistics class, the standard deviation helps put data into use in the workplace, as well. From indicating the extent of variability within a set of data to assessing a process’s capability and comparing multiple data distributions, the building block is an essential one for making changes within an […]
Any process implemented by an organization is only as good as its results. And those results are only as good as the customer deems them to be. This makes calculating process capability ratios so important. By taking into account customer needs and expectations, these calculations help determine product quality. Not only do they verify a […]
When it comes to assessing the root behind problems within an organization, it’s almost always true that just a few, significant causes generate the majority of the known issues. In the later 1800s, Vilfredo Pareto assigned numbers to this idea, postulating the 80/20 role. He suggested that 80% of an overall issue is due to […]
It can be difficult to put one’s thoughts down on paper in a linear manner, especially when it comes to creative processes. When trying to unearth new ideas and solve old problems in a fresh, evolved way, mapping our thoughts can go a long way towards clarifying connections between ideas and moving forward on an […]
A graph that illustrates central tendencies in an extremely straightforward manner, the histogram uses columns to denote variability and frequency within a data set. It provides a visual layout, in the style of a bar graph, for a set of number that may otherwise look a bit meaningless at first glance. A histogram will point […]
Opposing forces are present in the achievement of any goal. Taking them into account when it comes to analyzing problems within an organization simply means confronting reality. Furthermore, all change comes with some resistance. So as to clearly process information before implementing change in an organization, isolating and prioritizing crucial elements will help indicate where […]
Preparing for the worst isn’t just pessimism. It can be a practical attitude to adopt before implementing any new process within a larger organization, where the consequences of a design flaw could have major repercussions. Considering possible causes and effects of a given failure lets you account for customer impact and any mistakes that may […]
Though most people tend to perform such analyses on a day-to-day basis, whether they’re choosing what to buy at the grocery store or whether or not to finally undergo that pesky dental procedure, a cost-benefit analysis amounts to a must when comparing procedural options within an organization. In order to propose any sort of change […]
When operating a business, it’s not only how much money you’re spending that matters. Though that obviously amounts to an important factor, what arguably matters more is how effectively that money is going to improve and cement quality-driven operations. Costs associated with keeping your business at its best shouldn’t remain a mystery to those involved […]
The correlation analysis tests hypotheses. Like an ANOVA test [http://itsigmapro.com/whitepapers/analysis-of-variance/], it measures the similarities between different data sets. Here, you’re looking specifically at correlation (as the name suggests), meaning the calculation aims to find strengths in the data sets’ relationship. A correlation analysis also uses a scatter diagram to help show links in the two […]
Used typically in manufacturing, control charts will help determine whether a process is performing within its control-limit requirements. Monitoring a process over time is important to measuring its success, and what a graph can reveal may go deeper than a cursory glance at statistics or even a conceptual understanding of a certain process’s progress. The […]
Often used to help facilitate project management, the block diagram allows team members to take a step back from a process regularly implemented in their department. Giving them a deeper and more systematic understanding of the practice, this diagram places the process’s various parts in a sequence that is easy to comprehend and helps illustrate […]
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) marks a key statistic for comparing multiple data sets. Used mainly in research and engineering to test hypotheses, it is designed to point out differences in methods, performance, quality, and productivity when applied to the average workplace. Specific ANOVA applications include learning about populations as a whole by comparing random sample […]
When we brainstorm to generate new ideas, a jumble of thoughts float around in our heads, all of which have the potential to become useful but little opportunity to actually do so in this blurry fashion. In order to, in a sense, capture this process on paper, Jiro Kawakita developed the affinity diagram in the […]
In any given work day, everyone has their productive moments and the time they use for chatting with co-workers, refilling coffee cups, and scrolling through useless emails. Though part of being human is acknowledging that we cannot be productive 100% of the time, part of being an employee means we should try our best to […]
In order for a business to function effectively and efficiently, a reliable and consistent method for addressing problems and challenges needs to be implemented. More importantly, the method used should be concerned primarily with uncovering and resolving the root cause of a problem and not simply resolving the apparent surface issue. One of the most […]
When it comes to collecting data for an IT project, you cannot simply dive in and hope for the best. Planning a strategy for data collection is a must for obtaining the results most helpful to making your project run efficiently. Before data collection begins, it’s essential to clearly identify where to direct your focus. […]
The world of Information Technology is one that often requires a certain amount of decision making, both on the parts of management, and on the end of the computer program. When managers have to deal with a tough decision, it can be very useful to come up with a way to make the best possible […]
Despite record profits in many industries, uncertainty in the economy is creating an environment where service reductions, streamlined operations and cost cutting have become more important for success than innovation.Lean has, and continues to have a strong foothold in manufacturing and production environments where waste impacts COGS. Six Sigma still is strong in fields where […]
In today’s highly complex business environment, it is imperative that competitive businesses need to focus on improving customer service. Most processes are overly complex for no other reason than processes tend to be evolutionary. Meaning they start off simple enough but as new requirements are added, the process grows until a point that the processes […]
When it comes to maximizing a team’s creative potential, brainstorming is key to the process. However, there is a difference between time-wasting brainstorming and efficient, productive thinking in groups. Rather than sitting in a circle and randomly expressing new ideas to your team as they come to you, it’s best to hone everyone’s creative thoughts […]