The Process Improvement Handbook by Boutros, Purdie

The Process Improvement Handbook by Boutros, Purdie is the book titled The Process Improvement Handbook: A Blueprint for Managing Change and Increasing Organizational Performance, authored by Tristan Boutros and Tim Purdie and published by McGraw-Hill Education in 2014.

• A3 Report. Developed as a decision-making tool in the 1980s by Toyota Motor Corporation, it is a European paper size that is used to encompass various pieces of information on a single page to aid in understanding important information. The A3 document provides a structure and consistent format for communications and problem-solving methods. Many companies use the A3 report when planning improvements to processes.
• 5S. A structured technique used to methodically achieve organization, standardization, and cleanliness in the workplace. The 5S pillars or practices are based on five Japanese words: Sort (Seiri), Set in Order (Seiton), Shine (Seiso), Standardize (Seiketsu), and Sustain (Shitsuke) and encourage workers to improve their working conditions and then reduce waste, eliminate unplanned downtime, and improve processes.
• 5 Whys. A question-asking technique used to explore the root cause of a particular defect or problem.
• Affinity Diagram. Also called an Affinity Chart, is a graphical tool used to help organize ideas generated in brainstorming or problem-solving meetings.
• Agility. The ability of a business to adapt and change course both rapidly and cost efficiently in response to changes in the organizational environment.
• Analytical Thinking. A process that emphasizes breaking down complex problems into single and manageable components.
• Assess-Define-Develop-Deploy-Sustain-Adapt (ADDDSA). The five steps taken during a Rummler–Brache project where a new process is being created or an existing process is being improved.
• Balanced Scorecard (BSC). A Balanced Scorecard is a structured dashboard that can be used by managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their control and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions.
• Benchmarking. The process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics with those that demonstrate superior performance in their industry or from other industries.
• Bowling Chart. A dashboard used to track performance (plan versus actual) on Strategic Planning objectives.
• Brainstorming. A technique used to generate a large number of creative ideas within a group or team of people.
• Building Partnerships. The ability to build mutually beneficial business relationships that foster improved business outcomes.
• Business Knowledge. Having the business acumen needed to drive strategy, evaluate, and improve performance.
• Business Rules. Statements that define or control aspects of a business and its processes.
• Catchball. A technique used to manage group dialogue and develop ideas, tasks, metrics, and strategies to support the accomplishment of an organization's strategic goals.
• Change Management. The process of transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state mentality or way of operating to a desired future state.
• Charter. A mandate to clarify the various responsibilities associated with the centralized and coordinated management of Process Improvement efforts and projects across an enterprise.
• Check Sheet. An organized way of collecting and structuring data so that decisions can be made based on facts, rather than anecdotal evidence.
• Coaching. The process of enabling stakeholders to grow and succeed by providing feedback, instruction, and encouragement in order to assist them in discovering solutions on their own.
• Collaboration. Embracing the ability to work harmoniously with others in the business environment toward a common purpose.
• Communication. The process of conveying information through the exchange of speech, thoughts, messages, text, visuals, signals, or behaviors.
• Competencies. Also referred to as Key Competencies, are those behaviors and capabilities an individual has that make him or her stand out as superior performers.
• Compliance Management. Often referred to as Policy Management, is an organization's approach to mitigating risk and maintaining adherence to applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
• Continuous Assessment. The act of continually monitoring and assessing processes and operations using performance metrics and acting on those results to improve performance.
• Controls. Management or department controls can be defined as a systematic effort by business management to institute predetermined standards, plans, or objectives in order to determine whether performance is in line with these standards and presumably in order to take any remedial action required to see that human and other corporate resources are being used in the most effective and efficient way possible.
• Credibility. Having the ability to establish the trust needed to help organizations move through transformation stages more smoothly.
• Corporate Culture. The beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.
• Decision Making. The process of choosing what to do by considering the possible consequences of different choices.
• Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify (DMADV). The five steps taken during a Lean Six Sigma project where a new process needs to be created.
• Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC). The five steps taken during a Lean Six Sigma project where an existing process needs to be improved.
• Design Governance. An organization's process for monitoring the activities associated with modeling current and desired processes and architecting and proposing process changes.
• Enterprise Architecture (EA). Also known as Business Architecture, the act of transforming an organization's vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, improving, and communicating the requirements, principles, and models that describe an organization's current operations and enable its evolution.
• Enterprise Modeling. A technique used to diagrammatically architect the structure, processes, activities, information, people, goals, and other resources of an organization.
• Environmental Factors. Also known as Organizational Influences, the internal and external factors that surround or influence an organization, a department, or a project.
• Facilitation. The process of taking a group through learning or change in a way that encourages all members of the group to participate.
• Fishbone Diagram. Also known as a Cause and Effect diagram or Ishikawa Diagram, is a tool used to visually display the potential causes of a specific problem or event.
• Flexibility. The ability to adapt to change, shift focus and resources, and manage through the change.
• Force Field Analysis. A technique used to identify forces that may help or hinder achieving a change or improvement within an organization.
• Framework. The foundation upon which an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. It is a structured guide intended to steer an organization toward building particular practices or philosophies into its culture and operations.
• Functional Management. An organizational management structure where departments are grouped by areas of specialty (e.g., sales, marketing, manufacturing).
• Governance. The activity of directing and controlling an organization and its activities with the purpose of defining expectations, granting power, or verifying performance.
• Human Performance System (HPS). A model that outlines several variables that can influence the behavior of a person in an organizational work system.
• Implementation Governance. The practice of managing process changes and additions through the process improvement lifecycle to ensure modifications are appropriate and sustainable.
• Initiative. The ability to take immediate action regarding a challenge, obstacle, or opportunity while thinking ahead to address future challenges or opportunities.
• Job Aides. Devices or tools such as instruction cards, memory joggers, or wall charts) that allow an individual to quickly access the information he or she needs to perform a task.
• Just Do It. The most basic concept of Process Improvement, it describes the immediate implementation of a specified process change. It is used primarily when a problem with a process has been identified, the solution is known and understood, and very little effort is required to implement the change.
• Kaizen. A Japanese term for the gradual approach to increasing quality and reducing waste through small but recurrent improvements that involve all workers in an organization.
• Kaizen Event. Highly concentrated team-oriented efforts used to quickly improve the performance of a process. Typical timelines are less than five days.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Measures of progress toward achieving a stated Key Performance Measure.
• Key Performance Measures (KPM). A set of indicator metrics represented at key points along a process or group of processes that radiate performance about a process.
• Leadership. The act of motivating and inspiring a department or group of employees to act toward achieving a common goal.
• Lean Six Sigma (LSS). A systematic method for improving the operational performance of an organization by eliminating variability and waste within its processes.
• Loose Coupling. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that focuses on reducing dependencies between processes, procedures, and their related components.
• Management Processes. Business processes that govern the operations of an enterprise or organization.
• Manifesto. An article that sets forth the principles, core values, and/or goals of an organization or work product.
• Metrics. The defined measures of an organization that assist with facilitating the quantification of a particular characteristic.
• Monitoring. The act of continually measuring processes to watch for irregularities in performance.
• Negotiation. A process that encompasses a discussion between two or more individuals who seek to find a solution to a problem that meets both of their needs and interests acceptably.
• Operational Governance. An organization's structure for ensuring processes are behaving correctly.
• Operational Processes. Also known as primary or core processes, are business processes that form the primary objective of the enterprise and subsequently create the primary value stream.
• Organizational Charts. An organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs.
• Organizational Profile. A high-level overview of an organization that addresses the organization's operating environment, its key relationships, its competitive environment and strategic context, and its approach to performance improvement.
• Pareto Diagram. Also known as Pareto Chart, is a bar chart that is typically used to prioritize competing or conflicting problems or issues so that resources are allocated to the problems that offer the greatest potential for improvement. This is done by showing their relative frequency or size in a bar graph. A representation of data in the form of a ranked bar chart that shows the frequency of occurrence of items in descending order.
• Performance Assessment. A service provided by Process Improvement organizations to evaluate performance, delivery of services, and quality of products provided to consumers, as well as the performance of any human resources involved in process execution.
• Performance Management. The process by which companies ensure alignment between their employees and both company and department goals and priorities.
• Performance Management Cycle. A method used to evaluate desired behavior against actual performance.
• Personas. Detailed descriptions or depictions of the customers and users of a process. Personas are based on real people and real data that humanize and capture key attributes about archetypal process customers.
• Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). A four-step problem model used in Process Improvement activities. Also known as the Deming Wheel, Deming Cycle, or Plan-Do-Study-Act Process.
• Poka-Yoke. A Japanese term that means mistake-proofing a process, procedure or activity. It can be considered as any mechanism in a process that helps an operator avoid mistakes or eliminates product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur.
• Policies. Basic principles and/or guidelines formulated in order to direct and limit the actions of an organization.
• Procedure. An outline of the specific instructions that describe how to perform the steps or activities in a Process.
• Process Architect. The individual responsible for architecting and designing an organization's processes.
• Process Autonomy. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that emphasizes the creation of processes that carry out their capabilities consistently and reliably in real-world situations.
• Process Backbone. An organization's core process at its highest level. This includes all process touch points required in order to successfully deliver products or services to end customers.
• Process Choreography. The act of sequencing several processes to run in connection with one another.
• Process Composability. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that emphasizes the design of process elements such as subprocesses in a manner that they can be reused in other organizational processes.
• Process Dashboard. A user interface comprised of graphical information (charts, gauges, and other visual indicators) that displays current or historical trends of an organization's various Process Performance Measures.
• Process Discoverability. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that emphasizes making processes discoverable by adding interpretable Meta Data to increase process reuse and decrease the chance of developing processes that overlap in function.
• Process Documentation. The document artifacts that describe the process, inputs, controls, outputs, and mechanisms associated with a process.
• Process Ecosystem. A modeling concept that describes how all processes are interconnected and driving toward business success in the context of their internal and external environment.
• Process Federation. The act of consolidating and aggregating process-related information across multiple sources into a single view.
• Process Granularity. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that places emphasis on a design consideration to provide the right level of detail to process users when documenting processes, procedures, and any related process elements.
• Process Improvement. Often called Continuous Improvement, is the ongoing effort of an organization to improve its processes, services, or products.
• Process Improvement Aptitudes Dictionary. A document that strives to outline the underlying characteristics that define the patterns of behavior required for Process Improvement professionals to deliver superior performance in their roles. There are 10 skills and 10 competencies that are considered essential for ensuring the success of individuals involved in Process Improvement efforts. When combined with various Process Improvement methods and techniques, can collectively deliver process excellence.
• Process Improvement Coordinator. The individual who is generally responsible for maintaining any procedural and administrative aspects of the Process Improvement Organization and serves as the designated point of contact for all Process Improvement issues and questions.
• Process Improvement Handbook. A collection of instructions that are intended to provide ready reference in a formal text and that describe the tools, techniques, methods, processes, and practices needed for successful Process Improvement delivery.
• Process Improvement Manager. The individual responsible for developing the capability of an organization by teaching Process Improvement skills and managing any Process Improvement projects or related endeavors.
• Process Improvement Organization (PIO). A group assigned with various responsibilities associated with the centralized and coordinated management of Process Improvement efforts and projects across an enterprise.
• Process Management. The ensemble of activities related to planning, engineering, improving, and monitoring an organization's processes in order to sustain organizational performance.
• Process Map. A step-by-step pictorial sequence of a process that illustrates its activities, inputs, outputs, departments, subprocesses, and various other business attributes.
• Process Mapping. The act of visually describing the flow of activities in a process and outlining the sequence and interactions that make up an individual process, from beginning to end.
• Process Maturity Assessment. A diagnostic tool used to appraise and characterize an organization's processes.
• Process Maturity Model. A set of structured levels that describe how well the behaviors, practices, and processes of an organization are reliably and sustainably producing required outcomes.
• Process Monitoring. The act of monitoring and analyzing a processes performance, including its relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency.
• Process Monitoring Plan. A document that outlines how process performance will be continuously monitored, who will be notified if there is a problem, how that will happen, and what response will be required.
• Process Orchestration. The coordination and arrangement of multiple processes or subprocesses exposed as a single aggregateprocess.
• Process-Oriented Architecture (POA). The philosophical approach to process architecture, development, and management.
• Process Owner. The individuals within an organization who are accountable and responsible for the management and improvement of the organization's defined processes and related process components.
• Process Reusability. A Process-Oriented Architecture principle that emphasizes creating processes, procedures, and related process elements that have the potential to be reused across an organization.
• Process Simulation. The imitation of how a real-world process or series of processes will perform over a specified period time.
• Process Training. The act of providing and/or receiving education in the formal discipline of process improvement (e.g., The Process Improvement Handbook, Lean Six Sigma, RummlerBrache).
• Processes. A series of activities or subprocesses taken to achieve a specific outcome.
• Project. An individual or collaborative initiative designed to determine the cause of a business or operational issue, define and analyze current performance of activities related to the issue, and implement improvements that rectify the issue and ensure that appropriate operational transition and monitoring occur.
• Project Intake. The process used to ensure all Process Improvement service requests are properly assessed for prioritization, resourcing, and execution.
• Project Portfolio Management. The centralized management of current or proposed projects and processes.
• Project Proposal. The articulation, typically in documented business case format, of a new project or process change request aligned with an organization's strategic plan. A proposal may come about as a result of new information derived from organizational performance, market opportunities and/or changes in the business environment.
• Resilience. The ability to remain resilient and persistent in pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks.
• Resources. The components required to carry out the activities of a given process or series of processes.
• Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed (RACI). The participation of various roles in executing a business process or Process Improvement project. A tool used to clarify roles and responsibilities.
• Retrospective. A meeting that Process Improvement project teams hold upon release of a process change into the organization or at the conclusion of a Process Improvement project to reflect on what activities went well and what activities went poorly and to discuss actions for improvement going forward.
• Risk. Any factor that may potentially interfere with or impact the successful execution of an organization's processes, projects, or operations.
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA). A method of problem solving that tries to identify the root causes of process fluctuations or problems that cause operating events that affect performance.
• Rummler–Brache. A systematic approach to business process change. A step-by-step set of instructions on how to make changes to the way work gets done across an organization.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). An act passed by US Congress in 2002 to protect investors from the possibility of fraudulent accounting activities by corporations.
• Scatter Diagram. Also called a Scatter plot or X–Y Graph, is a tool for analyzing relationships between two variables. One variable is plotted on the horizontal (X) axis and the other is plotted on the vertical (Y) axis.
• SIPOC Diagram. A tool used by a Process Improvement team to identify all relevant elements of a process before Process Improvement work begins.
• Situational Awareness. The ability to make sensible decisions based on an accurate understanding of one's current environment.
• Sound Judgment. The ability and willingness to be unbiased and objective when making business decisions based upon consideration of various alternatives.
• Specific-Measurable-Attainable-Relevant-Timely (SMART). A mnemonic used to guide organizational leaders toward setting specific objectives over and against more general goals.
• Sponsor. Also known as Project Sponsor, the person who has a central role in Process Improvement initiatives and is responsible for the funding and overall direction of a Process Improvement project.
• Spot Awards. An award that recognize individuals on an impromptu basis for their special effort to their department or an improvement initiative.
• Steering Committee. A cross-functional executive group that sets agendas, strategic objectives, schedules of business, and overall parameters. Typically comprised of various department managers and process owners, these are the individuals who evaluate organizational performance as well as track progress of projects set forth to improve performance across an organization.
• Stop-List. A list of processes, terms, or business activities that should be ignored, bypassed, or retired by a particular organization.
• Strategic Goals. Planned objectives that an organization strives to achieve.
• Strategic Implementation. The ability to link strategic concepts to daily work.
• Strategic Planning. The act of defining an organization's strategies or business direction and making decisions regarding the allocation of resources to pursue those strategies, including capital and people resources.
• Strategic Road Map. A strategic road map is a visual plan that offers goals and strategies for the future of a business, organization or group. Just like a physical map helps a driver navigate the route to his or her destination, a strategic road map aids an organization in following a path to its goals.
• Subject Matter Expert (SME). A person with in-depth knowledge to share about a topic being presented or discussed or someone who is a specialist in a specific knowledge area.
• Subprocess. A series of activities that accomplish a significant portion or stage of a higher order or parent process.
• Super System Map. A picture of an organization's relationships with its business environment, customers, suppliers, and competition that helps it understand, analyze, improve, and manage those relationships.
• Supporting Processes. Business processes that support the core operational processes of an organization.
• Systems Management. The management of the information technology systems within the various processes in an enterprise.
• Team Achievement Awards. Awards that recognize teams within or across departments that complete an important process improvement or milestone.
• Template. A template is a master copy of a publication used as a starting point for various business efforts including project management, process improvement, and various other activities. It may be as simple as a blank document in the desired size and orientation or as elaborate as a nearly complete design with placeholder text, fonts, and graphics that need only a small amount of customization.
• Time Management. The process of planning and exercising control over the amount of time spent on specific activities in order to increase effectiveness, efficiency, or productivity.
• Training. A process aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings.
• Tree Diagram. Also known as a Systematic Diagram, a technique used to break down broad categories of content into finer levels of detail.
• User Stories. Brief descriptions of process change requests or enhancements told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, usually a process operator or customer.
• Voice of Customer (VOC). The needs or requirements, both stated and unstated, of an organization's customers.
• Warranty Period. A predetermined length of time during which performance after project implementation is measured against the expected target.
• White Space. As described by Rummler–Brache, the area between the boxes in an organization chart or the area between the different functions or departments within an organization. Rules are often vague, authority fuzzy, and strategy unclear, resulting in misunderstandings and delays.
• Work Instructions. A subset of procedures that are typically written to describe how to do something for a single role or activity within a process.
• Workforce Engagement. An organization's system for developing and assessing the engagement of its workforce, with the aim of enabling and encouraging all members to contribute effectively and to the best of their ability.
• Workforce Management. An organization's system for developing and assessing the engagement of its workforce, with the aim of enabling and encouraging all members to contribute effectively and to the best of their ability.