{"id":4239,"date":"2020-03-27T17:51:09","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T17:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=4239"},"modified":"2022-08-24T16:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T16:11:26","slug":"leading-a-kaizen-blitz-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2020\/03\/leading-a-kaizen-blitz-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading a Kaizen Blitz Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Process improvement methodologies come in many different flavors, from formal Six Sigma tools and strategies using a formal DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) approach, to lean process improvement tools, Pareto charts, process flow charts, fishbone diagrams, Value Stream Mapping, SWOT Analysis, and PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)<\/a>.\u00a0 While a Kaizen Blitz Event may use less analytical data than a formal Six Sigma project, the benefit of a focused, rapid improvement effort that pulls together key players to complete a structured and creative problem-solving exercise can\u2019t be ignored.\u00a0 Instead of a BPI (business process improvement) project that can take weeks or months, with Kaizen Blitz, you can often get actionable solutions within a few days.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Company Experience<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A recent PeercastTM<\/sup> in our Shared Services Leadership research area<\/a> featured a global company with over $5B in annual revenue with their EMEA Process Improvement Manager discussing how they used Kaizen Blitz at their regional Shared Services center located in Eastern Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The company leverages a Central Capabilities team as a service to the wider Shared Services organization.\u00a0 The discussion included details about roles and responsibilities (including facilitators, team members, project owners, and key stakeholders), with a comprehensive walk-through of each step, from planning to executing the sessions to assigning action items and completing post-session follow-up.\u00a0 Lessons learned and the biggest challenges were also discussed in detail, using actual results from multiple projects.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Additional details regarding the company\u2019s experiences in this area are available on the Peeriosity member website, including the original presentation material, detailed poll results, and PeercastTM<\/sup> recording.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

iPollingTM<\/sup> Results Review<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Peeriosity\u2019s iPollingTM<\/sup> was used to better understand the extent to which Peeriosity member companies were using Kaizen Blitz Events to resolve significant issues within their processes.\u00a0 The results indicate that 53% have implemented and used this approach, with 26% reporting that they use this approach regularly.\u00a0 The remaining 47% indicated that they haven\u2019t considered using this approach within their Shared Services operations.\u00a0 Here are the details:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"status<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The second polling question asked the members who are using Kaizen Blitz Events to compare this method with other process improvement approaches they are using.\u00a0 For 46% of respondents, Kaizen is considered to be more effective in solving problems with better results overall.\u00a0 An additional 36% consider Kaizen to have results that are similar to other formal approaches that are used, and the remaining 18% consider Kaizen results to be similar to results obtained using other process improvement<\/a> approaches that are also less formal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"comparison<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A few of the comments from members include:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n