In the previous class we saw the 7 basic quality tools that, according to Ishikawa, every employee should know how to use. But Ishikawa wrote about these methods many decades ago, and since then other tools have appeared that are now part of everyday quality management. In this class we will look at seven of them: brainstorming, the GUT matrix, 5W2H, SIPOC, kanban, Trello and the risk matrix.A word of caution to avoid confusion: in the quality literature, the name "7 new tools" (or "management and planning tools") usually refers to a different set, put together in Japan in the late 1970s: the affinity diagram, the relations diagram, the tree diagram, the matrix diagram, the prioritization matrix, the process decision program chart (PDPC) and the arrow diagram. The tools in this class complement them and are widely used in companies.BrainstormingBrainstorming is a group technique used by many companies to solve specific problems, develop new ideas or projects, gather information and stimulate creative thinking.The method was created in the United States by advertising executive Alex Osborn and popularized in his book Applied Imagination, from 1953. It was born in advertising, but today it is used in any field where a group needs to generate many alternatives in a short time.The technique brings a group together to put forward as many ideas as possible on a topic. No idea is discarded or judged as wrong or absurd during the session: they are all written down, and only afterwards are they evaluated, combined and refined until the final solution is reached.A brainstorming session should follow a few golden rules:defer judgment: there is no debate or criticism of ideas during the session, because criticism inhibits participants;quantity before quality: the more ideas, the greater the chance that a good one appears;bold ideas are welcome: people are completely free to suggest whatever they want;combine and improve: it is fine to take an idea already presented and modify it or join it with another;equal opportunity: everyone must have a chance to present their ideas.During a brainstorming session, a manager remarks that one of the ideas is unfeasible because it would cost too much. Which rule of the technique was broken?Answer: Defer judgment — in brainstorming, ideas are evaluated after the session; criticizing them while they are being generated inhibits the group. The cost of the idea will be considered in the evaluation stage, not now.GUT matrixThe GUT matrix is a tool that helps prioritize problems. It rates each problem you consider relevant to your company from three angles: gravity, or severity (of the problem), urgency (of solving it) and tendency (for it to get worse, quickly or slowly, if nothing is done). The name comes from the Portuguese initials: Gravidade, Urgência and Tendência.To build the matrix, we use a scale from 1 to 5 for each of the three dimensions, severity (G), urgency (U) and tendency (T), as shown in the table below:G for SeverityU for UrgencyT for Tendency5 = extremely severe5 = needs immediate action5 = will get worse quickly if nothing is done4 = very severe4 = urgent4 = will get worse in a short time if nothing is done3 = severe3 = as soon as possible3 = will get worse2 = slightly severe2 = slightly urgent2 = will get worse in the long term1 = not severe1 = can wait1 = will not changeIf a problem is extremely severe, it gets a 5 for G. If that same problem is only slightly urgent, it gets a 2 for U and, if it is not expected to change, a 1 for T. The final score is the product G x U x T: in this case, 5 x 2 x 1 = 10. The problems with the highest final scores are, at least initially, handled first. The highest possible score is 5 x 5 x 5 = 125.The table below shows an application of the GUT matrix with the problems already sorted by priority.ProblemGUTG x U x TLack of control over the company's cash554100Negative leadership from the CFO44464Inefficient ERP system33545Lack of employee motivation33327Undefined processes23318Annual budget not approved1236The GUT matrix plays a role similar to the Pareto chart, telling you where to start, but in a different way: Pareto ranks problems by measured data (how often each one happens or how much it costs), while GUT ranks them by scores given by the team. That makes GUT useful when there is no data yet, but also more subjective; once data is available, it is worth confirming the priority with a Pareto chart.One problem was scored G = 4, U = 3 and T = 5. Another was scored G = 5, U = 5 and T = 2. According to the GUT matrix, which should be tackled first?Answer: The first one, scoring 60 against 50 — the GUT score is the product, not the sum: 4 x 3 x 5 = 60 and 5 x 5 x 2 = 50. The sum is 12 in both cases, which is why the tie option is the trap.5W2HThe 5W2H matrix is a simple, easy-to-apply and very effective management tool. It helps you build an action plan structured in practical, well-defined steps.Its name comes from the seven questions shown in the table below: five start with W and two with H. Answered for each action, they remove the most common doubts about what has to be done, by whom, where, when, why, how and at what cost.EnglishPortuguesePurposeWhatO quêSpecify what will be doneWhoQuemSpecify who is responsible for carrying out or coordinating the actionWhereOndeSpecify where the action will take place or its scopeWhenQuandoSpecify the deadline for the actionWhyPor quêExplain why the action must be takenHowComoSpecify how (the method by which) the action will be carried outHow muchQuanto custaState the cost (budget) needed to carry out the actionAn example of one line of a 5W2H plan: what — calibrate the scale on the filling line; who — maintenance technician; where — line 2; when — by Friday; why — package weights are varying beyond what is acceptable; how — with the standard weights, following the calibration procedure; how much — two hours of work, no materials to buy.In an action plan, one line only says: 'Train operators in the new procedure — by Nov 30 — $2,000'. Which 5W2H question is missing and most compromises execution?Answer: Who, because nobody was named as responsible — the line already has the what (train), the when (by Nov 30) and the how much ($2,000). Without an owner, the action tends not to happen; where, why and how are also missing, but the lack of an owner is the most serious gap.SIPOCSuppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers: by identifying these five elements, you get a clear, high-level view of your process.SIPOC is among the most widely used visual tools for process mapping. ISO 9001 itself, when explaining the process approach, represents a process with the same elements: sources of inputs, inputs, activities, outputs and receivers of outputs.SIPOCIn the ice cream shop example in the image (labels in Portuguese), suppliers deliver milk, sugar, chocolate, fruit and almonds (inputs); the process, in five steps, turns these inputs into fruit ice cream and chocolate bars (outputs), which go to supermarkets and convenience stores (customers).KanbanKanban is Japanese for card or signboard. In production, the card represents an order that pulls the production of a product or service all the way to delivery to the customer.That is why kanban is how the pull system, as opposed to a push system, takes concrete form in just-in-time production. Created by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota, it is based on the premise that producing to meet demand, rather than to build up inventory, creates more value for the customer, more employee engagement and more improvement in production.The reason is that kanban limits how much work can sit waiting between stages and makes waits and bottlenecks in production visible, which creates a sense of urgency and allows quick correction.Outside the factory, the idea became the kanban board, used to manage tasks. Its simplest form has three columns: to do, doing and done. Each task is a card that moves from left to right, and limiting how many cards can be in the doing column at the same time is what brings the spirit of the pull system into the office. The board works well together with the flowchart: the flowchart shows the steps of the process, and the kanban board shows which step each task is in.A team uses a kanban board with to do, doing and done columns and notices that the doing column holds 15 cards while few reach done. Which measure best follows kanban logic?Answer: Limit the number of cards in doing and finish tasks before starting new ones — kanban is a pull system: new work is only pulled in when there is free capacity. Too many tasks in progress hide bottlenecks and increase waiting time.TrelloTrello is an online visual board application that lets a team manage projects, workflows or task tracking. You can add files, checklists and even automations, customizing the board so the team works better.Because it works online and is organized into columns and cards, it can be seen as a digital kanban board. Other tools follow the same idea; what matters is the method, not the software.Risk matrixThe risk matrix is a risk management tool that helps analyze each risk according to its likelihood of occurring and the impact it would have if it did.It is usually built as a 3×3 or 5×5 grid, with one axis for the likelihood scale and the other for the impact scale. By placing each risk on the matrix, you decide whether it can be retained (accepted) or whether it should be mitigated or avoided, according to the company's risk appetite.Risk matrixIn the matrix in the image (labels in Portuguese: Reter = retain, Mitigar = mitigate, Evitar = avoid), a risk with low likelihood and moderate impact can be retained; one with moderate likelihood and moderate impact should be mitigated; and one with high likelihood and moderate impact should be avoided.Like GUT and the Pareto chart, the risk matrix helps decide what to deal with first. The difference is that it looks at what may still happen (risks), while GUT and Pareto usually look at problems that already exist.In the 3×3 risk matrix in the image, a risk was rated high likelihood and low impact. What is the indicated response?Answer: Mitigate — in the matrix in the image, the high likelihood and low impact cell is yellow, meaning mitigation. Retain applies only to the three green cells, in the corner of low likelihood and low impact.Exercises1) Regarding the quality of the class, run a brainstorming session and identify risks we may face. Then build a 5W2H matrix for the classroom. Finally, use the GUT matrix to rank which problems should be prioritized.
ردود الفعل
0
0 تعليقات
كن أول من يعلق
لا شيء هنا بعد.