Click on each step of the Rapid Action Roadmap to take a tour of the 60-day process.
STEP 1 | DAY ZERO
Screen Opportunities for Rapid Action Application Craft Team Charters Recruit Team Members Complete DMA Analysis/Process Redesign Work as Needed |
STEP 2 | DAY ONE
Brainstorm and Sort Ideas Prioritize for Action Check for Viability Assign Champions Lock in Assignments & |
STEP 3 | DAYS 2 TO 60
Learn By Doing Share the Workload Short, Disciplined Weekly Meetings Continuous Communication |
STEP 4 | DAY 60
Assess Performance Impact Identify Failure Risks Design Controls Create the Sustainment Plan |
STEP 5 | DAY 60+
Close the Motivation Loop Show Appreciation Demonstrate Commitment Leverage Learning and Follow-Through |
STEP 1 | DAY ZERO
Prelaunch Planning - Target the Right Opportunities
Screen Opportunities for
Rapid Action Application
Effective Lean Six Sigma Deployments recognize that all improvements are not equal in scope, complexity, tools required and results potential. That’s where Rapid Action makes a big difference in accelerating results.
Rapid Action Teams are the fastest, yet controlled, method for responding to Quick Win and Solution Replication opportunities – where solutions are likely to be straight-forward but there’s a critical need for employee engagement to achieve and sustain results.
Rapid Action Tools also add value in more complex projects involving fundamental process re-design or requiring new data gathering and statistical analyses by engaging employees to speed solution development and implementation. (The I & C phases of DMAIC)
Included in the Rapid Action Toolkit is a simple, but effective Prelaunch Planner that guides Black Belts and Rapid Action Team Sponsors through a step-by-step process to identify, qualify and then plan the launch of Rapid Action Teams for Quick Win and Solution Replication as well as application of Rapid Action Tools for complex projects.
Craft Rapid Action Team Charters
and Recruit Team Members
Once Rapid Action opportunities are identified, Black Belts go to work developing Rapid Action Team Charters. Working with the Team Sponsor (a line manager with sufficient authority for the improvement targeted) and designated the Team Leader (often a Green Belt or line manager/supervisor), the Black Belt uses the Prelaunch Planner to link the improvements needed (the Xs) to the outcomes that matter (the Ys) and develops a Rapid Action Team Charter that clearly outlines expectations of the team and the timeline for completion.
Rapid Action Team Members (typically 5 to 8 employees including the Team Leader) are recruited based on their knowledge of the issues and processes associated with the charter and their willingness to participate on the team.
Complete DMA Analysis/ Redesign
Work as Needed
For most Rapid Action opportunities, prelaunch work is as simple as completing a Rapid Action Team Charter. However, on complex problems, Rapid Action Tools can assist Belts by adding structure and facilitation support for DMA (Define, Measure and Analyze) project steps. Once root causes are identified and or a “To Be” process design created, Belts can craft a Rapid Action Team Charter to engage employees and speed completion of the I and C (Improve and Control) steps of the project.
STEP 2 | DAY ONE
Team Launch - Engage, Energize & Focus!
Create Energy by Brainstorming,
Sorting and Prioritizing Ideas for Action
Training on Lean Six Sigma concepts, while useful, is not the fast path for energizing frontline employees to make improvements happen. What works better is to start by giving employees the opportunity to share what they know and feel will work.
Rapid Action Teams are launched on a just-in-time basis through a four-hour Fast-Start Meeting where Team Members, Team Leader, Sponsor and a Rapid Action Coach (a Black Belt trained in the tools) quickly review the project goal and timeframe (60 days or less), discuss personal goals and motivation to participate (the What’s In It For Me).
Next, natural energy for change is activated! Everyone on the team gets to offer ideas for achieving the team’s charter. Silent brainstorming with post-it notes encourages participation and creates a big volume of potential solutions. A sequence of rapid, interactive, poster-driven activities helps teams organize and prioritize the most promising ideas for potential implementation.
Within two hours of meeting time, Rapid Action Teams have typically posted over 40 ideas for action, sorted those ideas based on “execute-ability” and prioritized the best ideas for further analysis and planning.
Test Ideas for Viability Using DMAIC Thinking
Six Sigma advocates often ask, "What about the principle of operating from facts and data and focusing on root causes? Isn’t it dangerous to tap tribal knowledge to solve problems, even relatively simple ones?"
There would be danger if the process stopped at this point. But it doesn’t. Where the first half of the Rapid Action Fast-Start Meeting focuses on tapping incoming knowledge and creativity of Team Members to generate energy and enthusiasm, the second half of the meeting pulls in Lean Six Sigma thinking and tools to focus and refine action ideas.
Based on the premise that DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve & Control) is not just a Lean Six Sigma project roadmap, it’s also a way of thinking, the Rapid Action Toolkit includes a DMAIC Checklist through which all ideas selected for action must pass. This Action Accelerator, as it’s called, is more than a perfunctory toll-gate. It’s a detailed series of questions with links to other tools that ensure every priority action is supported with a fact-based case for action and draft implementation plan.
Assign Champions
In the second two hours of the Fast-Start Meeting, Rapid Action Teams apply the Action Accelerator to priority ideas. Every idea selected for potential action is assigned to an ‘Action Champion’ who guides the team through the DMAIC checklist and solicits team input to develop a plan for testing and implementing the solution once the potential benefit is verified.
Lock-In Weekly Action Assignments and Create the 60-Day Team Meeting Calendar
The key to any Lean Six Sigma project success is time discipline. Rapid Action Teams operate with a tightly structured and time efficient discipline of short weekly action meetings that begin after the Fast-Start Meeting and continue until all priority ideas are moved through the process to completion over 60 days.
The team works only on what it can accomplish in 60 days. Ideas with high potential pay-off but requiring more resources, time or advanced tools are forwarded to an ‘Idea Bank’ for future assignment.
Each week following the Fast-Start Meeting, Team Members complete assignments, report on progress and make adjustments to move action plans to completion.
STEP 3 | DAYS TWO TO 60
Action Meetings - Implement, Learn & Refine
Learn By Doing and Share the Workload
By starting with potential solutions and then testing their viability, Rapid Action Teams engage all team members in meaningful and productive work right from the start.
Team Members take responsibility for executing at least one DMAIC-based action plan for a priority idea selected by the team for testing. This share the workload approach allows Rapid Action Teams to achieve more is shorter timeframes than conventional DMAIC projects, particularly at the execution level.
Team Members can “keep their day jobs” because the individual time burden is minimized. Black and Green Belts shift from doing all the work to coaching and facilitating the application of advanced tools when needed.
Short, Disciplined Weekly Meetings
The key to Rapid Action Team success is weekly progress toward the goal. Built into the process is a Weekly Action Meeting Agenda that holds individual Team Members accountable for completing weekly assignments and focuses the team on clearing barriers to implementation.
Continuous Communication Up-the-Line
Sponsors of Rapid Action Teams are kept informed through standard weekly progress updates along with a formal Midpoint Progress Check Meeting no more than 30 days into the project. A standard communication tool allows Rapid Action Teams to ‘Push-Up’ issues and barriers requiring Sponsor support to resolve. As Rapid Action Teams implement action plans along the 60-day roadmap, they acquire more knowledge and are able to take on more challenging solutions.
STEP 4 | DAY 60
Wrap-Up - Document & Control
Assess Performance Impact
Lean Six Sigma insists on rigorous results documentation and performance controls. The standard is no less for Rapid Action Teams.
Built into the Rapid Action Toolkit is a straightforward and effective way for the team to assess both the operating performance impact (quality, customer satisfaction, cycle-time, productivity, etc.) and the financial impact (unit costs, budgets, revenues, balance sheet, etc.) of their work.
The tools for completing these calculations are introduced in a final series of Wrap-Up Meetings.
Identify Failure Risks and Design Controls
Rapid Action Wrap-Up Meetings also guide teams through a simplified Failure Risk Assessment that helps each team develop control plans to sustain results of their improvements. Black Belts leverage their skills and expertise by providing coaching to supplement the self-directing templates included in the Rapid Action Toolkit for these activities.
Create the Sustainment Plan
The final task of Rapid Action Teams is to ensure that improvements are sustained. Rapid Action Sustainment Plans outline specific action commitments, ongoing responsibilities and calendar checkpoints for ensuring results.
STEP 5 | DAY 60+
Report, Recognize & Transition - End Effectively to Sustain The Gains!
Closing the Motivation Loop
The goal with all Rapid Action Teams is to end as well as you start – with energized participants, committed leaders and results that can be sustained.
Our experience with thousands of Rapid Action Teams suggests that Team Members perceive the greatest reward in seeing their ideas supported by leaders and then implemented in the workplace.
The Rapid Action Process ensures this outcome by making Team Sponsors accountable for hosting a Report and Recognition Meeting where the team will share results, lessons learned and any final recommendations for leadership decision that will cement results.
Show Appreciation and Demonstrate Commitment
To help Team Sponsors manage their “leadership moment of truth” with Rapid Action Teams, the Rapid Action Toolkit provides recommendations for ways to recognize teams and guidelines for being decisive while communicating realistic expectations for support of final action recommendations.
Leverage Learning and Follow-Through
The rapid timeframe from launch to completion of Rapid Action Teams produces faster cycles of learning for improving the use of Rapid Action Tools by the organization. Report & Recognition Meetings facilitate this organizational learning by providing a forum for teams to present lessons learned from their 60-day experience as well as recommendations for future applications and modifications to continue the benefits.
The final task that closes-out the Rapid Action Team is review and commitment to the Sustainment Plan for ensuring results.
