Lean Six Sigma for Service

CHAPTER 10 Service Process Challenges

Suppose you asked a dozen people who all do the same kind of work in your organization to walk you through what they do, step by step. What are the odds, do you think, of getting the same answer from each person? You'll probably end up with a dozen different descriptions.

Here's the question: How can you improve a process that is really a dozen different processes? How can you improve something that doesn't really exist? In all likelihood, some combination of the dozen different procedures will comprise a better process, one that produces consistently better results, with less rework and waste.

The lack of a documented, standard process that everyone is trained on is just one of many reasons why improving ...