The Top 5 Operational Excellence Secret Weapons

Tracy Owens is a business transformation leader who has led his employers and client organizations in developing a culture of continuous improvement to achieve near-term objectives and better long-term results. Tracy has a deep toolbox for process improvement and a wide range of experience, interests, success stories, and connections. We asked Tracy what his top 5 secret weapons are when it comes to OpEx tools…

Tool 1: The Response Router

Operational Excellence is about only doing the amount of work that is needed. “All the time, I keep answering the same question over and over!”  We have heard this too many times.  To prevent the phone from ringing with unnecessary questions, we present the Response Router tool.  Simply build a table with three columns.

Left Column: The repeated questions you receive, for which the answer is always “Yes”, are placed in the left column.  People then know that they don’t have to ask for these items, which saves you the pain of answering the same thing yet again.

Right Column: The repeated questions you receive, for which the answer is always “No”, are placed in the right-hand column. When notified in advance that the answer is negative, the impulse to call can be diminished. We find that it’s best to add to the chart, though, because “No” doesn’t always seem helpful enough on its own. Add the reason why the answer is “No” to help explain it further to a customer. And, when possible, add an alternative to the option being requested.

Center Column: The center column is labelled “Negotiate” for repeated questions that cannot always be answered “Yes” or “No”.  Any new questions you have not seen before are also added here until such time as they can be moved to the left or to the right.

Learn more about the response router

Tool 2: Table 1 / Table 2

Operational Excellence is about level loading work. When the work is disproportionally distributed, this not only impacts the team members who are over- or underworked, it impacts the customer, too. Large batches of work make the first item at the bottom of that stack take a long time to return to the requestor.  To complete inbound jobs efficiently and not get bottlenecked by complex assignments amid other simple tasks, we present Table 1 / Table 2.  There are two ways to approach this, and they both require all incoming work to be sorted. 

Approach 1: Inbound work is sorted into Simple and Complex.  Picture a batch of invoices requiring payment.  Some will have the purchase order number, department, summary of work, and matching dollar amounts.  Some will be nearly blank and hard to decipher.  Hand the stack of simple items to one person or team to handle quickly and keep the complex items to start investigating.  This way the flow of easier work is not interrupted by a difficult case.  Once the simple items have been cleared, those team members can assist the team or person digging into complex matters.

Approach 2: The reverse is also possible, and this is useful with a newer team member.  Write instructions on what to look for and then ask the new member to sort and keep the simple items for fast clearance.  Hand the complex matters to the other members of the team for detailed analysis and resolution.

Learn more about Table 1 / Table 2

Tool 3: I-You-Who

Operational Excellence is about role clarity and accountability. When an operator – call center agent, computer technician, legal assistant, or anyone else who has a job description – is given a list of tasks to complete, it is important for that person to have the tools, access, and knowledge needed to execute those assignments.  With that in mind, no operator should pass to another person a task that they are responsible for completing.  Further, when the operator is not yet qualified for certain tasks, they should be informed exactly who is able to handle that matter and to whom they should transfer it. 

To place responsibility and accountability with exactly the right person, we present the I-You-Who tool.  Three columns are used to list all recurring tasks that the operator can expect to see. 

Those items in the “I” column are that operator’s responsibility and they must be trained, equipped, coached, and ready to handle them all.  Note that, over time, more items should be added to the “I” list as the operator becomes more capable, competent, and confident.

Those items in the “You” column must be passed to exactly the right person or team when they are encountered.  This list saves time for the operator and for the customer, who may be waiting for action or for an answer.

The “Who” column is for items the operator is asked to resolve and are not listed on the page already.  The operator may ask a supervisor or open a help ticket for these.  Note that it is desirable for any “Who” items to be added to the “I” or “You” lists for future action.

Learn more about I-You-Who

Tool 4: Milestone Mapping

Operational Excellence is about documenting the work being done. Process maps come in many shapes and sizes with varying levels of detail included.  In all cases, the process map should be a useful tool, not just a placemat. And not all configurations of process map combine the right amount of detail, many are too granular, and some are too high level.  Milestone Mapping is a technique that is expedient and helpful when building a summary of current or future workflows.  The milestone map does not explore the keystroke level of detail.  Instead, the major steps or deliverables in the work are captured, and a 5W2H study for each of those milestones is conducted.  For each milestone, write:

1. Who is responsible for executing it?
2. What exactly is the deliverable?
3. When is the time frame that this deliverable is needed?
4. Where will the work be done or sent?
5. How does this deliverable need to be built, filed, executed, etc?
6. Who needs to be informed when this deliverable is complete?

Learn more about Milestone Mapping

Tool 5: SIPOC

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IS ABOUT TRACKING THE RIGHT PERFORMANCE METRICS
Operational Excellence is about tracking the right performance metrics. The process map that unites workflow with metrics is the SIPOC. Please don’t turn away because you learned about SIPOC many years ago and it was presented as a quick tool of limited value.  The SIPOC is the first step toward data analysis, metrics tracking, root cause validation, and process control because it is built to provide a comprehensive list of input and output variables.  The benefits of building a SIPOC are many:

• List and match inputs that cause failure in the output so you can control and prevent those unfortunate outcomes
• List and match inputs that generate success in the output so you can replicate that success
• Isolate the most useful performance metrics, both results (outputs) and factors (inputs) so you can predict future outcomes
• Introduce a new team member or manager to your work by showing them what you do and how you track it
• Include the Customers (C in SIPOC) of your work and the Sources (S in SIPOC) or your inputs so you can track and improve performance for all stakeholders

These tools, and more, can be found in Tracy Owens' 2020 book, F-Notes: Facilitation for Quality. F-Notes: Facilitation for Quality offers several updates to traditional quality tools to better suit non-manufacturing environments. If you work in a service, office, non-profit, or professional setting, you will find these tools helpful (and you will use them to achieve real results). This book also offers five new tools invented or refined by the authors for those who practice or promote quality, innovation, and effective workshop management to add to their toolbox.

What OpEx tools do you find most useful?

Tracy Owens will be leading a breakout session at the Leading Through Excellence Summit, titled "Innovation Games: Deliver New Ideas In The Shortest Amount of Time," and will share how you can save time, set up a framework for idea generation, and use a simple process for selecting and prioritizing next steps.

For more information on Tracy's session, the full agenda, pricing, and to register, please check out COE's official summit page below. I hope you'll join us!

For more information and to register

Note: Tracy Owens will be presenting "Innovation Games: Deliver New Ideas In The Shortest Amount of Time" on April 7th during breakout session B1.