Page 351 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Design and Improvement of Service Processes—Process Management 311

involve all stakeholders and balance their viewpoints in order to find out
what is best.
Decision-making skills require many attributes such as good listening skills,
clear communication and expression, logical thinking, as well as relevant
knowledge and creativity. Many techniques such as brainstorming, the
nominal group technique, and decision analysis are very useful for involving
several individuals or teams in decision making to improve the orga-
nization’s processes.

The last, but certainly not the least important, ingredient for process
excellence is organization-wide communication. Communication is necessary
to obtain the necessary buy-in and an adequate level of understanding from
all the stakeholders of the processes. Stakeholders include the organization’s
customers, those who will implement the process, those who are impacted
upon by the process, the organization as a whole, and the management team
of the organization.

Through communication, the goals of the processes must be understood by
all stakeholders. These goals should also be clear in the context of the orga-
nization’s mission statement. In addition, communication is necessary for
disseminating processes organization-wide, for access to process guidelines
and procedures, for decision making, and for tracking processes to
determine when corrective or preventive maintenance may be needed. Other
issues that need to be communicated include
1. Pressing problems that need urgent action to be solved
2. Alternatives to be considered in finding a solution
3. The problem and decision-making context
4. Factors influencing decision making
5. The selected alternative and the explanation of why it was chosen
6. The final specification of the process

New technologies such as the World Wide Web, videoconferencing, tele-
conferencing, and computer-aided group decision-making systems show
great potential in providing mechanisms for enhanced, more convenient,
and more frequent communication between individuals and teams, even
when they are separated by time and great distances.

10.3 Process Types and Process Performance Metrics

In any business enterprise, processes exist everywhere, and they are really
among the most important elements. There are many kinds of processes,