We will spend this section on the left side of the A3 or the planning process.
Description of the Components of the A3
Team: The team selection is very important in developing A3s. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of collaboration and building a team. You should go to great lengths to find people who are interested in working in a “network” type environment in solving problems, building, and supporting each other.
Typical you must start building a team from a functional perspective. You have to have the technical expertise on hand when problem solving. Do you have someone from IT or HR that may be needed?
Time is another important aspect that needs to be considered. You do not want to create a team if only half the participants can be there. Geographic, psychographic, and all these types of parameters need to be considered, the same as you would do for any other type of project.
Collaboration is critical to the process of generating ideas and problems in any organization. When you review the principles of Kaizen and Agile, your ability to succeed really comes down to how good a team you put together.
Taking a broader stroke may not be in the definition of the project; when you develop a current state, check back to see if you have all the team members you need to solve the problem. The A3 process does not demand that once your team is set it does not change. It may have to. However, the A3 is the glue. It is what keeps the team focused and allows others to pick up where they left off or pick up in the middle of the project.
Heading:
- Date: Date your project and create an estimated time. From the start date and estimated finish date, people looking at the A3 can get an immediate sense of scope or urgency. Saying “Nov 2010 to Jun 2011” is quite different from saying “Nov 1st to Nov 15th, 2010″. It denotes a different sense of urgency surrounding the amount of work in the planning and tasks involve.
- Control #: It is great to create a filing system for your A3 reports even in your computer. You can file them by date or activity such as advertising, PR, and product launch or by individual products. However, I recommend coding them so that they can be sorted by your criteria and then using shortcuts in the different files. If they are not done electronically, scan them or take a picture of them and put them in a file. It will be help locate them later and will capture the knowledge for sharing, one of the reasons for creating them in the first place.
- Title/Theme: State whether it was created for status, proposal or problem solving. Let someone pick it up and understand immediately the purpose and what you are trying to create. Many Scrum teams have adopted the user story template developed by Mike Cohn, which identifies who the end user is, what the end user wants, and why, in a single sentence. This model of the user story is most often written like this: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale]. In Scrum, work is expressed in the backlog as user stories. A team may write its user stories in a number of ways as long as they are written from the perspective of the end user. Put another way, team members are encouraged to think of their work from the perspective of who will use it, hence “user” story.
- What Changes or Improvements are you talking about: After someone knows it is a problem-solving tool or a proposal A3, the next thing that they will be looking for is why are we here? What changes need to be made? This is not saying the problem will be defined entirely, it is just stating what we came to the table to discuss. Think about this as being the MVF, the minimum viable feature that is used in software. This will be modified and adjusted, but defining too clearly here may limit what you really need to address. What are we after? Quantify, if possible.
- Is the topic relevant to all team members: After you have seen what brought you to the table, take time to look around it. Do you really need everyone? Is it relevant to everyone? Are people missing that need to be there and is everyone willing to participate?
Background/Definition:
- Why is this important: You must demonstrate why change is needed. It is important to address the business reason that we are doing this. Many people look at “improvement for the sake of improvement” as beneficial. Improvement must be driven by your voice of market. The more you can demonstrate and reflect this change to the market place, the stronger your position is.
- Has Target Audience been identified: Similar to a problem-solving A3, many times a status or proposal A3 will be directed to a target audience. Establishing this will make understanding your A3 simpler and provide clarity, especially to others. Also try to identify the influencers of your target audience. They may be called upon to review portions of the A3 or to provide their opinion.
- Identify historical factors related to this topic: Putting things in context is very important and makes it much easier to understand why certain decisions were reached when reviewing this document. If there are no historical references such as latest PR craze or reactions to a competitors challenge, putting in the context of why we are doing this now or what brought this issue to a head provides critical information in review.
- Is it worth working on from the Market’s perspective: Does your market care? Lean is about value from the eyes of the customer. If the customer sees no value in this exercise, why should you? I think it should be tied to your customer value proposition and to the appropriate CTQ issue. What happens if you can’t tie this to a particular CTQ? It may be a wasted project or as a minimum, a very low priority project. We all have plenty of things to do but many quality initiatives show relatively small gains when not tied to the marketplace. I always think it is funny when people blame managers and leadership for not continuing with quality initiatives. I challenge you to show me the money! Show me how this is going to make a difference in market share or revenue.
- How does this align with the CTQs of your Market: In your product market segments you should have a list of the Critical to Quality issues that drive each particular segment. Is this problem related to one of these? This is very important because if the problem is not related to a CTQ, you may never see improvement in the market place for the work that you do. Aligning with a particular CTQ will also bring clarity to your subject and add more reason to do it.
- Will it increase revenue or market share, why: If you can substantiate why this problem will increase revenue or market share, I think you will find numerous people jumping on board. Don’t try to solve the problem but rather define the problem. What is it preventing? Include financial aspects of the proposal and alternatives. The more you can quantify and put actual dollar signs to the problem, the better off you are. This is the ultimate metric in my opinion. Gaining market share in a marketing channel that makes you little if any money is one thing. Gaining market share in your most profitable line is another. Demonstrate your financial gains.
Current Conditions
- What do things look like today: Don’t just accept tribal knowledge. “Show me the numbers” should be your resounding theme in this section. If you can’t measure it should you really be doing it? How will you be able to measure success? Use of process flow diagrams and other statistical control charts is ideal for distributing knowledge.
- What are the specific problems/needs and the gap in performance: You have identified the problem; what is the gap? Can you fill in the blanks our weekly webinar attendance has decreased from 30 per week to 15? Stay away from that we have noticed a drop in webinar attendance. This becomes vague and not much use when addressing later problems.
- If applicable, go and observe source: Going to Gemba (going to where the work is done) in the knowledge field is sometimes difficult to do. However, even in service industries it is important to experience what your customer experiences. If you have identified the problem based on what your customer values, it should be relatively easy to observe the problem. If you have not, this problem may not be defined well enough. If you can’t go to Gemba, role-play. Create an enactment of the problem in front of the group. Bring fresh players in. Call your own office and see how you get routed. Than call a competitor’s office and see how you get routed. Do you have a performance gap?
- Are the facts clear or are they just opinions: There is hardly a field that contains more tribal knowledge than sales and marketing. “Show me the data” should be a resounding theme throughout this process. If you cannot substantiate it through data, you need to seriously consider not doing it.
- Is it measurable and how: How are you going to quantify and identify success on this project? If you cannot do it now before solving the problem, how are you going to know that your improvement was successful and that your efforts succeeded? This is where Lean and Six Sigma people can start benefitting marketers. They understand metrics, not only in the interpretation of data but in designing the methods of capturing the right data to make a difference.
- Break down problem using 4 Ws (What-Where-When-Who): Don’t use “Why”!! Breaking down the problem is not solving it. Remember that to find a good solution you must not only address the root cause with “why” but you must find out what you are shooting at. Few problems are completely isolated; going through this simple process of the 4 Ws allows you to look at the big picture and the smaller ones at the same time. Typically a tree diagram is used.
- Determine point of concern (POC): Before determining root cause you must find the point of concern. This is typically done after you have broken down the problem utilizing the 4 Ws. It is recommended that you go to Gemba to evaluate the process and determine the POC.
- Identify strongest path, list alternatives to consider thru evaluation: I mention this imperative in addressing POC. As you do this you may find meaningful information that should be noted at the end of the A3 that may prove useful and could then be addressed. You may find that once you get to the root cause, it is cost prohibitive to proceed. There could be other alternatives that could produce similar or identical results if the targets were not as high.
- Who else needs to know this status: There may be others within and outside the organization that need to know the status of the process. They may notice something that they could assist with and even approve when they see a certain allocation go through. I warn you not to send to everyone but to create a “pull” type of arrangement where others can easily seek and efficiently find the information when they want to.
- What was the most recent problem or need addressed: You may find that what you are working on is an extension, hopefully of another A3 that should be referenced. If you are recording and documenting correctly, having this information may assist you a great deal. You may find that what you are working on has been addressed in a different manner or a portion of the information is still relevant and can be used. What you are trying to create is an efficient way to create knowledge flow within your organization: a learning culture.
- Is there a continued gap in performance: Has there been history of a gap in this area? This knowledge is important to gather; you may find knowledgeable individuals who could add their experience and this information could provide you added insight. Be wary of “we tried all this before”, but that culture should be minimized as you become a Lean organization. If you do get told that, ask them to identify what was tried and by what method: “How did you measure that…?” The old saying, “First seek to understand” can readily be applied here.
- What has been the most recent work performed: Was something done yesterday? Looking at the data without updating it can be very much like looking at your checking account without balancing it. Looking only at the current balance at the bank could get you in trouble.
- Is the work standardized or are processes still changing: The bank analogy still works here. Is the work still changing? We must determine if this system has stabilized and if the results we see are the results we get day and day out. This is where variation can play a big role because it is imperative for us to recognize things for what they are, not what they seem to be.
Target:
- What are the outcomes expected and why: What is expected through these efforts? This differs from defining the problem, as you have now identified the problem and found the point of concern. You are ready to address the issue but you must define the future state by answering how much, by when.
- What will be the changes in metrics? (From what to what by when): One thing that I found in this area that you need to be very careful about is metric wandering. When you are looking at the problem, you have a tendency to change the metrics at the same time because you are smarter now and can measure better. One of the problems in this is that you may start measuring things that you did not measure before. Does your number become skewed because the new data are not relevant to the old data? Case in point, measuring cash receipts at a store. I saw a store that changed their categories every year to designate different things. Though this kept them current, it also made trending information very hard to obtain. I would not recommend changing to stay current but instead building some type of feature up front that may broaden the way you look at categories or sub-categories so you can still interpret the data easily and then make a decision to drill down or not. The reason many measurements systems fail is this type of inconsistency and failure to step back and look down the road a little bit.
Determine Cause/Analysis:
- Brainstorm possible causes why the POC exist: This is an important step and is the root cause of many unsuccessful projects. Taking the time to properly determined and define the problem is 50% of your efforts. Seldom is that much time taken as we are in a rush to solve the problem. As I mentioned before, problems are not isolated. Determining which problem will have the greatest impact is imperative.
- Based on facts determine most likely cause(s): You must base your decisions on facts and not emotion. This is one of the reasons that following a proven methodology is so helpful. A well-thought out and repeatable approach to gathering customer & market data is essential if your efforts are to be viable.
- Establish linkage between Cause-and-Effect relationships: From Wikipedia:“This refers to the philosophical concept of causality, in which an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event. Correlation does not imply causation is a phrase used in science and statistics to emphasize that correlation between two variables does not automatically imply that one causes the other (though correlation is necessary for linear causation, and can indicate possible causes or areas for further investigation… in other words, correlation can be a hint). The opposite belief, correlation proves causation, is a logical fallacy by which two events that occur together are claimed to have a cause-and-effect relationship.”
- Do the “why” and “therefore” tests: “Five whys” is a simple and logical process that everyone seems to get, but is it too simple? How do you check it? The “therefore” test is a reliable method to check the logic of the “five whys”. The “five whys” is easy to explain but it is not idiot-proof. We often bring in related information or predisposed thinking that gets us off the critical path. The “therefore” test assists us in determining if we stayed on a logical path. After finishing your “five whys” just do the steps in reverse and instead of using “why”, use “therefore”. This is a simple validity test that works remarkably well.
- Gain team consensus on cause-and-effect reasoning: It’s very important to gain consensus here; without it there is probably little reason to proceed. When decisions are made by one person, study after study shows that the effectiveness and the carrying-out of this decision are greatly minimized. If you want your efforts to be a success, gaining buy-in at critical junctures of the process is imperative. One juncture is when the problem is defined and the other is at the point when the root cause is determined. Eighty percent of your work should be involved in reaching this point.
- Rationalize: Who, What, Where, Why, and How: Determine the fundamental reason behind these concepts. Thinking through your problem is like taking a deep breath before moving on. Are these rational answers? Is there anything that jumps off the paper at you? Have you gone too far with root cause and have little, if any, control over the needed outcome? Have your thoughts been substantiated with data or do you need to sample?
- Measure: Even if you only use tribal knowledge, you will be better off going through the exercise. To get quantified results you do have to measure and use statistical data, but to improve your processes, you can simply use tribal knowledge, to an extent. However, I will warn you, tribal knowledge is not always correct. Observation of the numbers, without proper analysis, seldom works. You would be amazed at some of the scenarios I have seen where the obvious data do not work out to the obvious answer. But, on with the show and how you analyze something.
Typically, great discussion takes place on what should be measured. Make sure whatever you do has impact on the customer. You have a process map at your disposal, a set of measurements, so pick the one you understand best that has an obvious problem. This will make it simple rather than just trying to improve on the process.
You have two basic analyses to do, process and data. You can probably analyze either one first or even have separate parties do each. Remember the purpose of the analysis is to find the root cause of the problem. You will use these three steps: exploring, generating hypothesis, and verifying cause. Support your decision utilizing one of the tools listed in the chart. There are more advanced steps, but this will give you a good foundation to start.
Some people make a few assumptions and go directly to the implement stage. If you did that, one of my suggestions would be to at least experiment with your decision and analyze what change takes place. Testing is a big part of marketing and is seldom used enough.
Data Analysis Tips:
- Choose something that has different customers, segments, technologies, economics, etc., that are isolated. This way monitoring the results will be easier.
- Choose something that represents a significant or growing proportion of cost.
- Prioritize your objectives into price, speed, quality, service, etc.
Process Analysis Tips:
- Processing time: the time actually worked on the job
- Queue time: the time a job is waiting for the next operation
- Wait time: the time a job is waiting on other parts of the process
- Transport time: the time a job is in transit
Only processing time adds value; the other time elements should be reduced or removed.
The tools that are becoming available as we move further into the electronic age, data will get easier to manage. Sophisticated analysis is becoming available to the masses. Right now, we have more data than we know what to do with, but how we are analyzing website traffic or open rates, etc., must be improved. The understanding and implementation of this data is what will be imperative to have. Now you get to go to the Improve step.
A3 Problem Solving Example – Left Side
Control #: 10-2300 Team: Workshop Marketing TeamDate: 4/15/10 Title/Theme: A3PS –
Declining Workshop AttendanceBackground/Definition: In the past, we have averaged 80% capacity in workshop attendance. The past several years we have noticed a significant decline in attendance to only 50% capacity. We have tried increased PR, advertising and new social media ventures. Without an increase in attendance, we will have to either reduce the program size or cut one of the cities from the program.
Breakdown the Problem:
Breaking down the problem, we separated the different conferences by location (when is by city/event) and looked at the greatest decreases using the 4Ws. We found that our greatest area of concern was the Austin show – the A3 workshop – attended by service people that we acquire primarily through our existing database. Since Gemba was the process flow of the database, we reviewed that value stream and actually found no significant difference in the way the Austin workshop was handled versus the other workshops. However, there was a significant lack of inquiries from the mailings.
Target: Service Database for the Austin workshop needs to be increased by 50%
Determine Cause/Analysis:
Since Austin was the original workshop and had been well attended for many years the database lacked the segmentation that the others had and also a much lower percentage (50%) of healthcare professionals incorporated in it. That made are original target assumption misleading. It was not an increase needed in the database but better control and creating a better mix of the database. Root Cause was determined and we are ready for the other side (page) of the A3. In practice this is a great time for a break. Strategically placing you breaks in the development of your A3 is important. If this is close to the end of the day, tell everyone to go home or try playing a few ping pong matches. Whatever you do, create a break and disengage from the conversation completely. Another time for a short break was after you set the target and before root cause analysis.
Go to the next page A3/Ascertain
Bonus Material:
Mike Osterling is the president and principal consultant at Osterling Consulting. Osterling Consulting was founded for the purpose of supporting organizations on their continuous improvement journey. Building upon 18 years of internal experience in operations leadership roles, Mike has worked full time for the last 13 years applying the lean concepts in manufacturing and office environments. Mike is also the co-author of The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments.
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