Lean Six Sigma’s philosophical methodology is a combination of Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. Lean manufacturing is a method principally focused on minimizing production time and increasing agility across operations. Six Sigma aims to eliminate variables within manufacturing and organizational processes, with Six Sigma standards aiming to produce no further than 3.4 defects per one million opportunities (DPMO). 

When combined, Lean Six Sigma is born. The unification of two highly effective improvement methodologies, Lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma’s combined effectiveness can cultivate and support a robust and reliable production model. With LSS processes aiming for near-absolute perfection – 99.99966 percent, in fact, knowing exactly what talents and skills are required and where they’ll be most effective is of major importance when employing talent to oversee and conduct LSS projects. That’s where the LSS Belt certifications come in. 

What Are The Lean Six Sigma Belts?

The Lean Six Sigma certification scheme is focused on training and educating individuals on the different levels of Six Sigma practices – giving them the specified tools and qualifications required in navigating and completing Six Sigma level projects. There are five main LSS belts – White, Yellow, Green, Black, and Master Black Belt. Following a color-coded hierarchy that covers the entirety of Six Sigma knowledge, those qualified in one or more Six Sigma Belt certifications can deliver (to differing degrees) skills that implement change and encourage process improvement. In this article, we’re going to break down the different echelons of the LSS certification scheme and help you identify and choose which one is right for you.

White Belt

Those with a White Belt qualification have an introductory understanding of Six Sigma processes – possessing essential skills that support essential tasks. White Belts are versed in the core basics of Six Sigma and can participate and assist alongside Green and Black Belts in Six Sigma projects. White Belts should be able to communicate effectively, understand processes, compose solutions, strive for improvement, and be versed in DMAIC standards. There are no criteria for pursuing White Belt status and no limitations in ascending Belt status. 

White Belts are ideal for any professional looking to enter the Six Sigma arena. The spectrum is diverse for those seeking a White Belt, with most professionals in organizations adopting LSS methods being able to achieve this feat. White Belts are perfect for those interested in knowing more about improvement and quality management. 

Yellow Belt

Pursuing Yellow Belt status is for those already possessing the essential skills needed to support and navigate Six Sigma projects and for those exceeding the limitations of White Belt capabilities. Yellow Belts look to shed their beginner knowledge and embrace higher knowledge on LSS processes. Yellow Belts are proactive contributors that can assist Green and Black Belts in process improvement projects. Yellow Belts should be able to easily execute minor tasks, initiating methodologies such as Define, Measure, and Control (DMC) and Plan, Do, Check & Act (PDCA).

Yellow Belt certifications are perfect for those with a desire to expand their knowledge on Lean Six Sigma of those seriously considering a career in quality management. Prospective Yellow Belts can expect to enter the Six Sigma periphery and act as an instrumental member that underpins and abides by the methods of quality improvement, e.g. DMAIC.

Green Belt

Those of Green Belt status adopt a more hands-on approach when undertaking Six Sigma projects, usually initiating and overseeing key elements including, enhancing processes, data analysis, project management and to support and reaffirm objectives appointed by Black Belts. The role of a Green Belt also includes navigating and orchestrating ground operations, deploying mid to large-scale improvement projects (depending on the level of experience), and observing process operations to detect and correct anomalies within a process. This Six Sigma level will expand your understanding of LSS methodology and can be used as leverage when looking for prospective work. 

Pursuing a Green Belt qualification is for those looking to gain a comprehensive understanding of Lean Six Sigma and quality management practices like DMAIC. To become a Green Belt practitioner, you’ll need at least 3 years of work experience within the field of quality management. Once you have Green Belt status under your belt (no pun intended), employers will be keen to hire you – potentially earning you up to $75,000 annually.

Black Belt

Now we’re entering the top tier of the Belt scheme. Lean Six Sigma Black Belt specialists are expertly qualified in orchestrating and conducting large-scale quality management processes and hold a confident understanding of Lean Six Sigma’s principles and methodology. Colloquially known as agents of change, Black Belt practitioners possess strong leadership skills and can manage staff, assign roles and manage multiple cross-functional workloads and objectives. Black Belts’ responsibilities also include overseeing and mentoring Green Belts.

Armed with a complete and comprehensive understanding of Six Sigma methods (DMAIC/DFSS), systems, and tools, Black Belts are tasked with validating and analyzing data to explore and improve process improvements. If improvements aren’t ideal, the new data is studied and new solutions are implemented in accordance with quality standards. Black Belts aim to drive innovation and profitability for process owners and industry alike, harnessing their expert skills to deliver the exceptional standards of Lean Six Sigma methodology and quality process management.

Black Belt status is usually a stepping stone for those graduating Green Belt status, though the characteristics that define a Black Belt are of a different calibre. Black Belt candidates need at least 3 years of full-time experience practicing LSS methodology, and verification of two successfully completed LSS projects. Black Belt courses can be achieved within 1-4 months, with no prerequisite for accessing the course. So where can you access these courses? ASQ and IASSC are both globally recognized LSS Black Belt certifiers and are a superb choice offering the highest quality education.

Master Black Belt

At the top of this hierarchy sits Master Black Belts (MBBs). With a complete and total understanding of LSS philosophical principles, Master Black Belts assume expert, leader, innovator, and mentor roles. Holding the highest LSS Belt certification, MBBs are almost as foolproof as the processes they’re improving, equipped with excellent data-driven statistical skills and unmatched knowledge of process improvement methodologies. A huge part of a Master Black Belts responsibility is passing on knowledge to lower-tiered Belts, educating and guiding staff so that the LSS methodology and practices trickle down through the workforce – which in turn cultivates productivity and improvement across sectors. 

A major part of a Master Black Belts role is harnessing their interpersonal skills to create synchronicity within and around project activity. This means knowing how to utilize both their soft and hard skills where appropriate. Establishing project objectives and deadlines, easing cross-level communications, understanding conflicting viewpoints, and eliminating major errors are all within the responsibility of an MBB. 

To seek higher education and qualify as a Master Black Belt, you’ll need a minimum of 2 years of full-time experience working on Black Belt level LSS projects as well as over 5 years of business experience. You’ll need proof of at least 5 successfully completed Lean Six Sigma projects with verifiable results, strong change management skills, and exceptional verbal and written communication skills. 

Becoming a Master Black Belts is not easy, you’ll need years of experience and education within LSS. You’ll need to be a master in quality process improvement tools such as DMAIC and Lean practices, holding a confident knowledge on various LSS improvement methods that include, rectilinear regression, material-and-information flow mapping, and root cause analysis. When it comes to seeking a Master Black Belt certification, The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is the only institute exclusively offering MBBs. 

Conclusion

Whether you study with the American Society for Quality (ASQ) or the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC), or the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC), striving to become a Six Sigma practitioner is an invaluable skill that will gain the attention of employers and set you apart from others. Along with increasing your credibility, certified LSS practitioners versed in identifying and eliminating risks have a greater potential to affect change within the field of quality process improvement.

The post Lean Six Sigma Belts Explained: Which Belt is Right For You? appeared first on Digital Adoption.

This article covers what is meant by a line of business, examples, the role of a LOB manager, and the meaning of LOB applications. 

Let’s dive in.

What is a line of business?

Line of business (AKA LOB) is a term that describes a business’s product or service, the resources used, and the process for delivering value to a market segment. It could be the primary or one of the main processes that bring revenue. 

For example, manufacturing dry-erase markers is a line of business. Everything that happens from concept, developing the markers, marketing, selling, to fulfillment, and staying competitive makes up the business line. So, a LOB could also describe a product line.

If the ink-making department sells ink to other dry-erase markers manufacturers, that’s another line of business. In this way, LOB could also describe a department within an organization.

The company could have many more LOBs. For example, they may take advantage of an opportunity to sell whiteboards.

For a small business, one LOB leader could manage all the lines of business.

As the company grows, they may custom-build a digital LOB solution to automate some processes, increase transparency, reduce fraud, and increase productivity. 

For example, the company could automate employee onboarding.

The organization’s size and the operation’s complexity determine whether to adopt a digital solution. However, an organization may be quick to build a custom LOB solution to enjoy more accurate research and lower production costs.

Digital transformation can also quicken an organizations’ entry to new lines of business. 

But before choosing a digital solution, the organization should consider:

• How many people are involved in the line of business and their roles
• The functional requirements of the system
• Usability and security, among other needs.

The LOB leader is in charge of assessing risks in adopting the new technology, projecting profitability, determining how much resources go into the change, and maximizing revenues. 

Lines of business definitions

Line of business could also be referred to as branch, department, product line, or domain.

LOB refers to a group of similar products that an enterprise sells to generate most of its revenue.  For example, banking.

Similarly, it could describe a major service or product offered by an organization — for example, commercial loans.

It could also be used to label the department within the enterprise that manages the group of products — for example, commercial banking.

What are the examples of Lines of Business?

The primary revenue-generating process of an organization (or individual) is considered its line of business. It could be selling homes or insurance, lawn services, or manufacturing, etc.

Let’s look at some common examples below.

Line of business in retail

Line of business in retailing refers to the products or services offered to consumers and the associated resources and procedures. It could also be termed as a product line or line of merchandise.

Nonetheless, some retailers also sell to businesses.

For example, Home Depot is a home improvement retailer, but they also have the Pro Xtra program that serves contractors. 

For such businesses, they’d report the numbers for B2B and B2C sales separately in their financial statements because they are separate lines of business.

Line of business in banking

Banks usually have many lines of business which are essentially products created to serve specific customers’ needs. The bank can define their LOBs based on the clients they serve, i.e., individuals, small & medium businesses, investors, etc. 

For example, personal (or retail) banking provides deposit, mortgage, consumer loan, and investment products to individuals.

At the same time, the bank offers small business banking that provides checking accounts, commercial loans, money market products, among others, to small and mid-size enterprises.

Line of business in insurance

Most people are familiar with lines of business in the insurance sector. It refers to a group of similar products defined by the risk covered, the type of coverage, or other factors. For example, life insurance, health insurance, property and casualty insurance, and reinsurance. 

An insurance company may have multiple LOBs depending on what they’re authorized to sell. 

For example, a property and casualty insurer may have several lines of business, e.g., aviation insurance, marine cargo insurance, etc.

Who is a LOB manager?

The LOB manager is concerned with how the department they oversee delivers value to the customer and remains competitive. Their primary role is to maximize profits. The LOB leader title could also be product manager or account manager. They answer to an executive-level staff.

The LOB manager may have responsibilities like:

• Reducing operations, IT, and administration costs.
• Budgeting and achieving revenue goals.
• Forecasting sales
• Maximizing productivity 
• Overseeing day-to-day operations – e.g., staffing, equipment upgrades, training, etc.
• Assessing and minimizing risks.
• Analyzing changes in market demands and their implication
• Implementing changes
• Identifying opportunities that may give the LOB a competitive advantage

While the LOB manager is responsible for how the line of business operates, some disruptive events affecting the LOB may be beyond the manager’s responsibility.

For example, if the manager identifies a need for an acquisition, they’ll have to communicate this to an executive-level staff.

Other disruptive events that may be beyond the LOB manager’s responsibilities are: 

• A need to incorporate a new technology that will exceed the threshold for investing in new capabilities.
• A competitive disadvantage that may phase out the business line
• An opportunity for a new line of business
• When the LOB needs to realign business operations substantially in response to market or business needs.

So essentially, a LOB manager is an employee who oversees the operations of their department but reports to an executive-level employee.

What is a line of business software?

A line of business software is an application that is critical to the business’s process for delivering a product or service. It’s built to support the business’s core functions.

In most cases, LOB apps are coded explicitly for a particular line of business or heavily configured to support the business’s critical functions. 

For example, a real estate enterprise could use a LOB app to research trends, analyze sales, identify in-demand locations, among other functions.

LOB apps are different from productivity apps like Spreadsheets because LOBs are specifically built to support the organization’s unique requirements.

When the app can be used on mobile devices, then it’s a mobile LOB application.

For example, a sales operation director can get a lead in the field and use their tablet to add the lead’s information to the company’s ERP for fulfillment. 

That said, a LOB app has the most value to an organization compared to any other software.Find out why every line of business should invest in digital innovation!

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BPA: Meaning and Importance in Business

Like any other emerging technology, business process automation (BPA) has found its way into the workplace, improving employee productivity, efficiency and more. 

But what exactly is “business process automation” and how does it differ from other types of automation, such as workflow automation automation and cognitive automation?

BPA refers to the automation of business processes, typically using digital tools to perform tasks normally done by humans. 

In many cases, these tasks are complex, but not always – they can also include simple tasks, such as data entry.

Here is how BPA compares to other types of automation:

• Robotic process automation (RPA) is a type of automation technology that uses software, rules-based programming, or artificial intelligence to automate tasks. In this case, “robots” refers to software, not physical robots. 
• Cognitive automation is a type of AI that can perform “intelligent” tasks such as analysis and decision-making, natural language processing, speech recognition, and other “cognitive” tasks. 
• Workflow automation refers to any automation platforms that are used to automate workflows, which can include cognitive automation or BPA

One important point to note about these terms is that they are constantly evolving, and in some cases the definitions overlap. To some people, for instance, workflow automation and RPA mean the same thing – to others, cognitive automation may be included in the definition.

Also, some people use different terms to mean the same thing, such as “business automation,” which is used by Red Hat. 

What Are the Benefits of BPA?

BPA can generate a number of benefits for the organization, such as improved productivity and decreased overhead.

Organizations that use BPA, for example, can save on human labor costs by either reducing the workforce or reallocating employees to more value-added and strategic activities.

Other benefits of BPA include:

Greater efficiency. Automated processes are more accurate, faster, and more cost-effective, since they can be run entirely on computers.

Scalability. Software automation can be scaled infinitely within IT hardware. They require no extra equipment, after all, aside from computing power, which can even be purchased on a pay-per-usage model through cloud companies. 

Availability. BPA can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no need for downtime, rest, or time off. 

Productivity. Since BPA platforms can operate at such scale and efficiency, they can vastly improve the output of the workforce and the organization.

Better employee experiences. While many focus on the idea that “robots will take our jobs,” there are upsides to automation, such as smoother work environments, less complex workflows, and more free time to focus on more interesting work tasks.

In short, there are quite a few business benefits to using BPA – both those that positively impact the organization as well as employees. 

What Are the Drawbacks to BPA? 

While BPA can streamline workflows and improve organizational performance, no technology is perfect. 

For instance:

Employees must upskill to stay valuable in the workplace. The more skills they have, the more relevant they will be. Since automation will reshape and restructure the workplace, it will remove low-level tasks and low-skilled tasks from many jobs, such as data entry or administrative tasks. As technology evolves, cognitive automation will enable more complex workplace tasks to be performed by automation platforms, further absorbing certain types of job tasks and even job categories. 

Over-automation can negatively affect the business. If an organization automates activities that should be performed by humans, then it can have a detrimental impact. For example, using automation in places where empathy and face-to-face interactions are required, then this could drive away customers. In certain situations, such as B2B sales pipelines, human interaction is a must. Also, consumer-facing sales people often do a better job selling than machines can. 

Despite these downsides, automation will have a net positive outcome on the business world – and we are already seeing examples of it in the modern marketplace.

What Are Some Examples of BPA?

Let’s look at a few examples of BPA that most of us will already be familiar with:

Chatbots. These tools automate interactions that occur between a brand and people, such as customers or employees. Chatbots are often used in B2C interactions to provide customer support or technical support. They can also be used as self-service tools in the workplace. Also, more advanced chatbots, such as WalkMe’s ActionBot can be integrated with workflow automation functions to perform tasks in the workplace. 

No-code platforms. These platforms allow users to create “mini-apps” or automations, even if they don’t know code. No-code platforms are being increasingly adopted in the enterprise world to speed up business processes, as mentioned in the last point. There are also consumer-facing apps, such as IFTTT, which allow anyone to create new workflows, all without the use of code.

IT automation platforms. These are specialized platforms specifically designed to handle repetitive, IT operations tasks, such as scanning network traffic, optimizing databases, or cloud maintenance. 

Marketing automation. These automation tools can be used to simplify and perform communication tasks such as scheduling social media posts, responding to emails, and more recently, write content. Advanced marketing platforms can also automatically analyze data, create models, make forecasts, and make business recommendations.

These are just a few of the many examples of how BPA is being used to drive innovation and growth. In the years ahead, as technology continues to advance, we can expect to see automation to evolve even more and drive even more change in the workplace and the business world.

The post BPA: Meaning, Benefits, Drawbacks, and Use Cases in Business appeared first on Digital Adoption.

Process Modeling Explained

Process modeling, unsurprisingly, refers to the modeling of a business process, usually by mapping the business process on a flowchart, in a diagram, or in documentation. More recently, software can be used to model and improve processes.

Process modeling, also known as business process modeling, is an established practice that takes specific forms such as:

• Business process model and notation, or BPMN. BPMN is a notation used to describe business processes. This notation system is easy to learn and can generate significant business benefits when used properly. BPMN uses graphical elements to describe business processes, such as activities and events.
• Flowcharting. A flowchart is a diagram that represents a process or a workflow. It outlines a series of tasks, events, or activities to undertake in order to complete the process. This is a very straightforward way to enhance one’s understanding of a business process.
• Data flow diagrams. A data flow diagram maps out the information flow within a process. It looks much like a flowchart, but it focuses more on data and information, inputs and outputs, and the path that data takes through an organization.
• Value stream maps. A value stream map is a tool used within lean. This map the steps needed to take to deliver or create value for end customers.
• Event-driven process chains.  An event-driven process chain is similar to BPMN in that it is a language used to describe processes. The language takes a slightly different approach, and while it does include similar elements to BPMN, such as events, it offers more detailed elements, such as logical connectors, control flows, and information flows.
• Formalized administrative notation. Another type of notation, formalized administrative notation focuses on people within the organization, their responsibilities, the sequence of operations, and other elements of interest to administrators.
• Gantt charts.  A Gantt chart is a project management tool that shows business activities on a timeline. At the top of the chart, dates are organized horizontally from left to right. On the left side of the chart, activities are listed. Then in the main grid, each activity spans a certain length of time, and is represented by a bar on the chart.

There are actually dozens of tools that can be used to model processes, and they are often also used with other tools, such as a business reference model or a business model.

When Is Process Modeling Used?

Process modeling can be viewed as a process, technique, or activity, which is often conducted as part of other business disciplines.

A few of these include

• Business process management. Business process management is the discipline dedicated to process design, redesign, and improvement.
• Process improvement methodologies. Certain process improvement methodologies, such as lean and Six Sigma, aim to improve organizational processes and activities. One way they can do this is by re-engineering business processes, using tools such as those covered above.
• Organizational change management. Change management focuses on designing implementing, and optimizing organizational change initiatives. in the course of any organizational change project, business processes will often be redesigned, refined, or created from scratch.
• Business process reengineering. Like business process management, business process reengineering aims to improve processes. The emphasis typically is upon rethinking business processes and applying a repeatable method to improving those processes.

Process modeling, in short, is a well-established and well studied business activity that has been used for a long time to enhance business processes and outcomes.

Why Model Business Processes?

Though we alluded to the benefits of process modeling above, it is useful to understand exactly why process modeling is used in business. 

Here are a few reasons:

• A greater understanding of business processes. As mentioned, analyzing business processes can offer a window into how those processes operate. that information, can then be used to offer insights into what works, what doesn’t, and what needs fixing. 
• Improved process efficiency and performance. One of the main benefits of reengineering processes is performance improvement. By understanding how the process works, process modelers can redesign processes and optimize them to decrease waste, shortened process timelines, improve outcomes, and more.
• Better business outcomes. Better business outcomes is one of the primary reasons to improve processes. Inefficient processes, for example, can miss their objectives, cost more, impact quality, and so forth.
• Process documentation. By analyzing and understanding a process, it is much easier to document and standardize a business process. That standardization, in turn, can help improve key stages in employee workflows. When a process is well documented, for example, employees will have a much easier time learning that process, understanding expectations, and carrying the process out.
• A smoother work environment. The more clearly a process is understood, the easier it will be to onboard and train employees. These types of benefits, in turn, can contribute to a more seamless, less frustrating workplace.

Business process modeling is an essential business technique that can enhance the organization in many ways – not only by improving processes and their outcomes, but also by positively impacting the workplace and the customer experience.

The post Why Every Business Should Use Process Modeling appeared first on Digital Adoption.

We’ll also learn how OCR and AI will impact the future of work – and why it is so important to keep up with new technology and adopting innovative tools earlier rather than later.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Defined

Optical character recognition (OCR) refers to the use of machines to recognize letters from an external source, such as a text document, an image, or a video. Simply by providing a text document to an OCR application, for instance, that application can “read” the individual letters in that document.

By gradually “teaching” AI what specific characters look like, the AI can learn to recognize those patterns and identify them as, for instance:

• Letters of the alphabet 
• Chinese characters / kanji
• Numbers
• Symbols

In and of itself, this functionality may not be very useful.

However, when combined with other AI capabilities, such as external sensors and natural language processing (NLP), it becomes very powerful indeed, as we’ll see below. 

Examples of Business Use Cases

OCR is one AI function that can augment human workers’ capabilities or, in some cases, automate business tasks completely.

Here are a few examples of how OCR can be applied in business:

• Reading and transcribing hand-written documents
• Analyzing text from one document and reformatting it into another document type
• Extracting text from images or video

Since so many jobs involve reading and analyzing text, the value of OCR should quickly become apparent. 

OCR, for instance, can be used to assist with any job that involves textual analysis, data entry, transcription, or similar tasks. 

Also, once that data is read, it can be immediately used as output in another application or job task. 

In most cases, OCR can simply augment existing employees’ tasks – and that alone is often enough to enhance employee performance and even organizational performance. However, it may replace the need for certain types of administrative job roles, such as data entry clerks.

OCR Plus NLP, Image Recognition, and Semantic Analysis

OCR becomes especially powerful when it is combined with other AI functions, such as NLP, image recognition, and semantic analysis.

Here is a quick breakdown of these other types of functions:

• Image recognition learns to recognize objects within pictures
• Semantic analysis and natural language processing (NLP) can analyze the semantic meaning of text
• Sentiment analysis can analyze and categorize the emotions of a piece of text

Here are a few examples showing how these capabilities can be combined in a business setting:

• Reading and summarizing legal documents. Reading and analyzing legal documentation is a time-consuming task within the legal field. AI is already being used to automate many tasks in this field that require reading, textual analysis, and semantic analysis, saving both time and money. 
• Reading and compiling receipt data. Google has introduced a feature in its suite of applications that allows users to scan their receipts and automatically incorporate that data into their personal budgets. Rather than needing to manually write down expenditures, all a user needs to do is take a picture of the receipt and Google’s OCR-based app will input, analyze, and categorize that information for them.
• Transcription apps. There are many, many apps, both on the web and in app stores, that automatically recognize and transcribe text from images. Use cases for these apps can include everything from transcribing recipes to storing product information to translation.
• Product recognition. Some consumer-oriented apps use a combination of image recognition and text recognition to recognize products on store shelves. Amazon has an app, for example, that can analyze images of products, pull that product up in the app, then allow the customer to compare prices on Amazon.com.

In short, OCR can be implemented anywhere there is a need to read text – and since that is such a universal need, its applications are equally universal. As we have seen from the examples above, for instance, OCR can be used for both consumer-oriented apps as well as business apps.

When assessing how valuable OCR can be in one’s work environment, it is useful to begin by breaking down the job by task and focusing on those that require text recognition – that is, reading. 

Every job is unique, after all, and will have a unique set of tasks. 

An administrative assistant, for instance, may spend about 5% of their time performing tasks that require reading. So an OCR app will certainly not replace their job completely – rather, it will take over just those OCR-related tasks, which can free up human time for other activities.

Beyond OCR

When it comes to the impact of automation and AI on the workplace, it is important to understand a few points.

Namely, it is important to recognize that OCR just recognizes letters. 

Alone, OCR can improve the efficiency of jobs or take over certain job tasks. Or, as we have seen, OCR can become the basis for certain types of apps.

However, AI can segment and automate other tasks, such as image recognition, pattern recognition, semantic analysis, and sentiment analysis. Each of these functions, in turn, can then become recombined into apps that are quite powerful.Taken together, these separate AI capabilities can significantly accelerate employee productivity and automate an increasing number of job tasks.

The post How Will OCR and Automation Affect Your Business? appeared first on Digital Adoption.

The short answer is that they are goal-setting frameworks that help business leaders set and track objectives. 

Below, we’ll discuss the long version of this answer – we’ll learn about this goal-setting system, how this approach can boost business performance, how OKRs differ from KPIs, and more.

A Beginner’s Guide to Objectives and Key Results (OKR)

Like KPIs and metrics, objectives and key results (OKRs) provide a framework that organizations can use to track the performance of projects and initiatives.

However, unlike KPIs and metrics, which assess overall business health or the health of a project, OKRs measure performance against objectives. They are therefore more useful for determining progress, rather than health.

Here is a top-down overview of how to use OKRs:

• Create a small set of goals, less than six, that will be tracked throughout the quarter
• Once those are created, develop measurable objectives tied to those goals
• Choose goals and objectives that are most relevant to a given business strategy or aim
• Design a scoring system for those OKRs, such as a percentage-based system, which will tell teams how close they were to reaching their goals
• Be sure to define each objective in terms of its impact on business outcomes, since keeping it in context will help employees understand the rationale behind the OKRs and how their work affects business outcomes
• Continually review progress and make performance adjustments if necessary

OKRs can be very useful in a number of areas, from short-term business projects to long-term business initiatives, such as digital transformation programs.

Why Use OKRs?

Metrics and KPIs are a well-established method for tracking performance – so why do we need a new one?

There are a few reasons to consider OKRs over other methods:

• OKRs are better for evaluating performance against goals and objectives, which can then be tied directly to business outcomes, as mentioned elsewhere in this post
• OKRs clearly define “what success should look like” by quantifying it
• OKRs help teams see how project performance affects business outcomes, which can help motivate and engage employees
• OKRs help teams see how close they are to – or how far they are from – meeting their goals, which can then inspire change
• OKRs help managers make better decisions, since they offer insight into what works, what doesn’t, and why

These are just a few of the many points to consider when adopting OKRs. However, it is important to point out that these benefits can only be gained if OKRs are applied properly. 

Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing OKRs

To make the most of OKRs, it is important to use them appropriately.

Here are a few common errors and mistakes to avoid:

• Limit the number of objectives – too many objectives can be hard to track
• Don’t set and forget OKRs – they are only useful if they are actually used, reviewed, revisited, and followed
• Don’t “go it alone” – teams should be involved not only in the creation of OKRs, but in review sessions, which can boost employee engagement and productivity
• Don’t be vague – to be useful, OKRs should be quantifiable and measurable

Used in this way, OKRs can help teams rethink their approach to performance improvement and, ideally, generate better results than other methods.

OKRs vs. KPIs vs. SMART vs. CSF

OKRs are only one of several approaches to goal-setting and performance management.

A few other examples include:

• KPIs and metrics. KPIs and metrics measure the overall health of a program by tracking key performance indicators and similar measurements, which are ideally tied to goals. This approach is extremely common and can be very useful, but it tends to focus less on achieving specific goals than on monitoring performance.
• SMART. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This framework further narrows the KPI approach by creating defined criteria for developing the most effective KPIs and metrics.
• Critical Success Factors. Critical success factors identify the drivers that determine an organization’s success or failure. Focusing on these critical factors can help managers and teams stay focused on the areas that boost organizational effectiveness and performance.

Overall, the performance measures outlined here tend to share the same aims, such as improving business outcomes, employee performance, and project results.

Putting It All Together: Improving Goals, Decisions, and Performance

Ultimately, OKRs should be part of an integrated strategic planning framework designed to improve goal-setting, decision-making, and business performance.

As we saw above, OKRs offer a new way to look at goal-setting, and they can help employees boost performance and business outcomes. We also saw how OKRs differ from similar performance improvement methods, such as metrics and KPIs.

One point to note, however, is that these methods are not mutually exclusive – OKRs can be used in combination with the other methods above, such as KPIs, the SMART approach, and CSFs.

Experimentation is perhaps the best approach to take, since this will help teams understand what gets the best results, what doesn’t work, and how to improve over time.

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There are so many terms, concepts, processes, and acronyms that it may seem like you need an advanced degree in order to understand what they all mean. 

This post will give a brief overview of some of the most basic concepts, as well as some resources that will help you dive deeper into each.

The ITIL Framework: A Beginner’s Guide 

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is one of the most well-known and widely used IT service management (ITSM) frameworks. 

In fact, it could be considered the de facto standard ITSM framework across many industries, in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

One of the reasons why it is so widely used is because it is so comprehensive – yet, as mentioned, its exhaustive level of detail also presents a problem for those just starting out.

Below, we’ll provide a top-down overview of what this framework is, as well as a few of its key concepts.

ITIL: A Brief Overview

ITIL, which is developed and maintained by Axelos, provides a set of ITSM principles and best practices designed to:

• Maximize customer value
• Optimize resource allocation and capabilities
• Delegate IT roles efficiently and effectively
• Take a goal-oriented approach to ITSM
• Ensure that the services offered are relevant and consistently available

The framework is built around a life cycle that consists of five stages:

Service Strategy

This stage focuses on the overall approach to developing, maintaining, and delivering services. 

It is also designed to ensure IT services stay aligned with business goals and customer needs. Within this stage, there are several other subcategories: 

• Service Portfolio Management

• Demand Management
• Financial Management
• Strategy Operations

Once strategic planning efforts are complete, IT managers will then do the actual planning needed to make that strategy a reality.

Service Design

The next stage of the life cycle prepares services for deployment. 

There are several subcategories within this stage, including: 

• Service Catalog Management
• Service Level Management
• Availability Management
• Capacity Management
• Service Continuity Management
• IT Security Management
• Supplier Management

After designing service deployment plans, the next step is to ensure that those services are implemented with minimal problems.

Service Transition

This stage of the life cycle focuses on the actual deployment and implementation of IT services. 

One of the main goals of this stage is to manage change effectively. Subcategories within this stage include: 

• Change Management

• Evaluation
• Transition Planning and Support
• Release and Deployment Management
• Service Validation and Testing
• Service Asset and Configuration Management
• Knowledge Management

Once transitioned into use, ITSM professionals must then focus on the continual operation of those services.

Service Operations

The fourth stage in the life cycle is aimed at balancing affordability against customer needs, the customer experience, and customer success. 

This stage includes a set of both functions and processes (concepts we’ll look at below). These are: 

• Event Management
• Incident Management
• Request Fulfillment
• Access Management
• Problem Management
• IT Operations Management
• Service Desk
• Application Management
• Technical Management

After operations, the next area of focus is on ongoing improvement.

Continual Service Improvement (CSI)

The final stage of the ITIL life cycle is simply designed to learn from and improve upon past experiences. 

During this stage, IT managers will focus on tasks such as collecting and analyzing data, compiling that information, presenting it in an understandable form, and applying that information to ITSM.

Key ITIL Concepts and Terms

The above stages represent a high-level overview of the ITIL process, yet there is much more depth to this framework.

Here are just a few of the other important key concepts to understand:

The Four Dimensions

ITIL’s Four Dimensions represent the holistic principles upon which the ITIL framework is founded.

These dimensions are:

• Organizations and People
• Information and Technology
• Partners and Suppliers
• Value Streams and Processes

New to ITIL 4, these dimensions represent a shift in focus from service delivery towards value creation.

The ITIL Service Value System

The ITIL Service Value System (SVS) is another systematic component of the ITIL framework that connects ITIL to the organization and value creation.

The SVS’s components include:

• The guiding principles, or recommendations that are used to inform decisions
• Governance, the system of managing and controlling resources and the organization’s direction
• Service value chain, the chain of activities the organization engages in to produce value for end customers or users
• Practices, the actual activities engaged in to accomplish objectives
• Continual improvement, the process of regularly enhancing organizational activities to maximize output and value creation

This framework, as mentioned, has been updated for ITIL 4, and the emphasis is now on new principles, such as organizational agility and resilience.

Further Reading

For more information on ITIL, visit the Axelos website, or see our posts on CIO frameworks, which outlines modern IT frameworks, such as ITIL, COBIT, and TOGAF.

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A great powerful change management initiative may be the second stage necessary to make certain decisions. It is also where the employees must have expertise and structure to provide.

There are many elements that decide the achievement and impact the execution of effective client encounter operations software. Technology has become the most important enabler.

This enables one to target the perfect audiences with sophisticated marketing campaign control equipment, produce quite happy with complex administration systems, and measure and optimize the results applying analytics. Merged, these functions make up a great venture advertising system.

Dependence On Organizational Switch Management

Substantial and long-lasting change just occurs the moment employees adjust their thinking, beliefs, and habits. Although it could be simple to comprehend the advantages of change, placing this in practice is an excellent entirely unique story.

Human beings are, by simply nature, tolerant to change. Amount of resistance takes various forms.

Moreover, this unwillingness to learn a brand new program, difference with supervision decisions and hardship above changing task requirements for securing a job. This is the main reason venture initiatives are unsuccessful.

Change Management: Company Transformation Supervision Concepts

Expert defines transformation management to be a set of standard tools or possibly structures meant to keep any kind of change work under control. The goal is always to lessen the disruptions and impacts of the change. Hence, it maximizing the adjustment hopes to carry.

Through the initial period of a rollout, the following areas need to be tackled as a part of the change management process.

Transform Isn’t Merely Beneficial But A Necessity For Success

Buyers have sufficient options and unlimited control. They travel their own activities and designs have been sent to the rear seat.

Nevertheless, brands are no longer travel anymore. They will steer consumers along the journey, identifying organization benefits like alteration, preservation, and commitment along the route.

CXM pursuits make sure that client activities are amusing, relevant and convincing. They are simply driven by a combo of promoting, technology and organizational place.

Marketing possesses the brand which is responsible for resulting in the right principles. Technology offers the right correspondence, to the proper person, at the right time, with the right funnel, on the correct device and utilizing the suitable program.

Furthermore, well-planned and well-executed switch administration attempts can triumph over the company challenges linked to enterprise CXM initiatives. Studying employees, teaching decisions and defining fresh roles and responsibilities working with change management practices streamlines a turns out.

Hence, this allows one to harvest the key benefits of client knowledge administration with little severe headaches and optimum rewards.

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Even so, you increase the likelihood of your accomplishment if you take you a chance to retain staff members in your modification management strategies. Here are the methods to involve your staff members in your modification management system:

Lead simply by Example

That is essential that your more mature commanders version any transform initiatives to your employees. Should your senior commanders do not “walk their speak, ” staff members will quickly quit as well.

An alteration initiative necessitates a workforce effort, and management ought to be fostering trust and leading their groups. Senior chiefs can add a change management.

But that is their energetic contribution that demonstrates the organization’s dedication to change management.

 Converse Consistently

Is considered likely you will have some stress during an improved process. Personnel may possibly look and feel disoriented otherwise you organization lets us go of old techniques and holds new types of procedures. In order to support your personnel feels more at ease, make sure to contact them typically.

Think of the business as being a sailboat, and you’re easily changing your study course. When you go to your vessel, the sails often luff or argument as they adapt to the switching winds. While the captain, you may keep your team from panicking by encouraging them you happen to be headed the right way.

Reinforce and Remind

It has natural to actually want to see quick results, although it might take time when considering personnel to catch-on to new strategies. Your organization has to give staff members time to emotionally adjust and absorb the modern processes even while likewise making certain employees would not hold on to previous methods as well long.

Invitation to Employee Data

As you happen to be going through the change management or procedure, make sure there is a route for workers to offer commentary. When you provide employees an excellent outlet because of their concerns, they may have an active approach to express themselves rather than worrying, venting, and grumbling in today’s world.

They’ll as well feel that there is a voice and are generally a respected part of the adjust initiative.

Build Accountability

If you choose not to put in force following fresh strategies and methods, the personnel might tempt to slide into previous patterns. Liability frequently could establish through metrics and reports. Nevertheless, leadership needs to verify in with personnel more frequently the moment launching fresh initiatives.

This often handles through one-on-one support groups or through smaller staff meetings. The main advantage of team conferences is that there is a great component of collaboration, which is we are all through this together motto.

Nevertheless, there is a great component of peer pressure. If everyone else is committing to switching, then even your transform resisters can feel pressure to adapt to the crowd.

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You could use technology to allow even more mobile employees, re-engineering a procedure to ensure corporate compliance. In addition, you might use a great enterprise-wide improvement in consumer knowledge.

There is a prevalent denominator to obtain reaching the intended rewards of your people. The initiatives effects how specific people carry out their function, which includes their functions, job tasks, workflows, canceling structures, manners and even all their credit rating inside the organization.

Close The Move Between Requirements And Outcomes

All also often, enterprise changes fulfill requirements devoid of delivering anticipated results. That they deliver the important outputs while not providing for expected final outcomes.

The focus of this change work is within the solution alternatively than the important things about the option. The move that occurs between requirements and effects, between results and successes, between alternatives and rewards is the persons who accept the change to personal life in their daily work.

Modification management permits the final of this difference by successfully supporting and equipping people. It also impacts the company by simply changing the way to reach goals.

Treat Staff Right

Most of us are familiar with the saying “our personnel is the most important asset”. Then, when considering a change for being implemented, staff members are sent a message on Friday for schooling on Tues for go-live on Wed.

That is not the proper way to treat persons, specifically the folks that are the most valuable property. By proactively engaging and supporting persons in times of switch, we display in action we value all of them.

Thrive In An Ever-Changing Universe

Establishments are facing more quickly, more advanced, more interdependent and more cross-functional change than in the past. Being able to deliver results in multiple improvements enables a great company to obtain their particular strategic perspective. Furthermore, it makes the company prosper in nowadays changing the landscape.

Making use of switch control permits agencies to provide results for each change even more efficiently. Moreover, it makes competencies to grow the organization’s ability and handle more improvements at one time.

Take Those Chance Out Of Transform

Change is usually problematic. Towards the degree that people can, we would like to remove the prospect or variability associated with the switch. Project operations have achieved this simply by offering the course on sequencing milestones, giveaways, actions and solutions in the lifecycle of any work.

Until we proactively support and guide persons through the improvements our tasks bring, we all leave them re-discovering the joys of change to the possibility. Change administration removes the opportunity from switch simply by rendering personnel while using preparation, support and expertise they need to do well to improve.

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