Process Excellence Coaching & Consulting

There are two obvious but critical events in every project: the start and the end.   In this article, I review common problems encountered in this phase.  Problem #1: Poor quality of the deliverables or improvements identified within the project  There is an anecdote about Napoleon Bonaparte, who was disappointed that the town he was approaching did not salute him with cannons. When he asked for the reasons, the mayor…

At the Lean Six Sigma Conference by Akademia Białego Kruka in Wroclaw a few weeks ago, I had a chance to speak about implementing or improving continuous improvement processes (or systems) in large organizations. In this short article, let me share just a few main points from this speech. First, the Continuous Improvement system must…

Is it possible to eat a soup with a fork? Yes, it is. However, it would be very inefficient, and I am sure you are not doing this at home. But what would you do at the canteen at work when you realize everyone around you is using a fork to eat the soup? Your…

This article is about a Project Charter – a fundamental tool in many process improvement activities. However, not about the template nor the content of the Project Charter, but more about the process of creating one. Crafting, discussing, approving, and communicating in different, practical business cases that I’ve experienced in the process excellence area. Before…

In the world of continuous improvement, sometimes the problem is not an inefficient process but rather a lack of the process. How to approach such a case? What are the key components needed to design and implement effective and sustainable business processes? Let me point to five of them that, from my experience, are the…

Following our discussion about process stability in Part 1 of this article, let’s get into process capability. Again, staying on the general but practical ground and focusing on the purpose, not “mathematical mechanics.” But before going into the details, it would be worth reviewing some background concepts first. Fundamental idea behind Process Capability Study This…