A temporary effort with a defined beginning and end.
What is a project?
Before changing a process, leaders should first understand this.
What is the current state?
Technique that repeatedly asks why.
What are 5 Whys?
The A3 takes its name from this.
What is the paper size used for the document?
Improvement survives when this is assigned.
What is ownership?
This role removes barriers and champions the work.
What is a sponsor?
When a performance metric is below target and the cause is unknown, this approach should be used.
What is Performance Improvement?
We should solve this instead of symptoms.
What is the root cause?
This measure tells us if we achieved the overall result we wanted.
What is an Outcome Measure?
The way improvement becomes routine work.
What is standard work?
Before beginning work, this document defines the problem, scope, and how success will be measured.
What is a project charter?
This type of goal is Specific and Measurable.
What is a SMART goal?
A clinic has long patient wait times. Hiring more staff immediately would be jumping to this before understanding the cause.
List three common wastes.
What is
Waiting
Searching
Defects/Mistakes/Rework
Variation
Motion
Inventory
Unclear Roles and Responsibilities
Over Processing
Sustaining improvement requires ongoing review of these.
What are performance metrics or measures?
The process of planning, coordinating and executing work.
What is project management?
Performance Improvement focuses on improving this rather than blaming individuals.
What is the system or process?
This should be defined before asking why.
What is the problem statement?
This measure helps identify unintended consequences of improvement work.
What is Balancing Measure?
Who owns the process going forward?
What is the process owner?
A sponsor, project leader, and team members each play different roles. Which one is ultimately responsible for removing high-level barriers?
What is a Sponsor?
The three questions, measures, root cause analysis, and PDSA all support this overall philosophy.
What is continuous performance improvement?
Long wait times, patient complaints, and staff frustration are examples of these, not the root cause itself.
What are symptoms?
In the A3, PDSA testing begins only after completing this box.
What is the Future State/Ideal State (Box 4)?
"Who owns the process?", "What metrics will be reviewed?", and "How will this become standard work?" are questions asked during creation of this.
What is a Sustainability Plan?