Rohit_Kurup

The ADKAR (Awareness>Desire>Knowledge>Ability>Reinforce) is people focused change management tool developed by Jeff Hiatt. It's a structured framework towards implementing organizational change through changing individuals of the organization. The acronym is fairly self explanatory and refers to steadily lead individuals through some steps wherein they would end up achieving the following stages: -

1. Awareness :- Individuals will become aware of what the change is and why it is being pursued.
2. Desire :- Change is more often than not met with some resistance or denial by the people. In this stage they are made to overcome any resistance to the change. People should become forthcoming to participate in the change wholeheartedly.
3. Knowledge :- At this stage they will trained on the knowledge required to bring to effect the change.
4. Ability :- The knowledge gained is to be put to work. Once that happens the ability of the people within the organization improves.
5. Reinforce :- Any improvement if not sustained will eventually wither away. Just like that any ability/skills/change in the way of working if not reinforced will wither away. Therefore, strategic steps such as R&R, promotions linked to participation, etc. are to be implemented in order to reinforce and sustain the change management.

It's integration with the DMAIC methodology to effectively manage change in a Lean Six Sigma project can be multifold. They are as mentioned below: -
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1. DMAIC aided by ADKAR
1.1. DEFINE PHASE
In Define Phase, through the usage of multiple tools such as SIPOC, Affinity Diagram, VOC/VOB/VOP analysis etc. a project charter is created which is supposed to be signed off by all stakeholders. This is similar to Awareness and Desire phase of ADKAR as proper stakeholder analysis management, risk analysis and management, leadership engagement and communication plan are used to bring awareness and desire in the people.
1.2 MEASURE PHASE
In Measure phase, a multitude of statistical methodologies are used to measure the current level of performance & quality through DCPs, Process Mapping, Sampling, MSA, SPC etc. For this Knowledge on the processes are shared and people are trained to use these tools. This can be synonymous to the Knowledge & Ability phase of ADKAR.
1.3 ANALYZE PHASE
Post this, usage of tools for Hypothesis testing, RCA, FMEA,etc. are also used analysis. Even for this the Project Lead (BB/GB) would have to share the knowledge to the process owners and other stakeholders for performing these analysis. These too falls under the gambit of Knowledge & Ability phase of ADKAR.
1.4 IMPROVE PHASE
Utilization of the tools mentioned above and the improvement plan put forth leads to not only improvement in the process but also leads to the improvement in the ability of all participants in the DMAIC project. This integrates well with the Ability phase of ADKAR.
1.5 CONTROL PHASE
The control phase in DMAIC leads to Improvement Sustenance Plans and Control Plans to be implemented in order to sustain the improvements achieved in IMPROVE Phase. This needs the Reinforce phase of ADKAR to ensure that the changes through these plans are sustained.
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2. ADKAR leading to DMAIC
Organizations, due to multiple reasons such as rising costs, competition, stakeholder demands, etc. may undertake change management projects to improve their operations. One of the best available methods is to adopt Business Excellence Goals and run Lean Six Sigma Training programs and certifications in the organization. In order to reduce wastages and variations. This falls under the A & D stage of ADKAR.
In such cases LSS Yellow Belt, Green Belt and Black Belt trainings can be introduced. And these trainings can be certified after completion of some DMAIC projects. This falls in the K & A stage of ADKAR.
Setting up of aspirational targets within the organization. For e.g. Targeting that at all times within the organization there are at least 5% Black Belt, 50% Green Belt and the remaining 45% are Yellow Belt trained and certified workforce. This would ensure that culture of continuous improvements are sustained through constant and sustained continuous improvements(this is just an example, different organizations may take different approaches based on their maturity towards adoption of Business Excellence). These would fall under the R stage of ADKAR.
 
 

Any exercise which utilizes elements of games (situations/step-by-step escalation/challenges/awards/comparative dashboards/points/levels etc) in order to enhance the experience of the participants similar to that of the wide myriad of games can be called as Gamification.
It is intended to create a gaming-like experience of achievements and rewards in a real life situation so as to build motivation, sense of competition, build engagement, etc. 
We get to see gamification being used to achieve a lot many things such as :-
a. Increased sense of competition: - Comparison dashboards or leaderboards for different sites/teams in an organization 
b. Training & Skill Development: - Different levels of achievements through Badges, Belts(LSS YB, GB, BB, MBB is also after all a way of building skills taken from the level of mastery in Judo) & learning apps which gives have built in skill development through multiple levels of achievements and rewarding users with recognition for achieving the same
c. Maintaining a streak of good performance: - At the entrance of the many manufacturing organizations we can get to see streaks mentioned such as 0 Near Misses, 0 Accidents Reported since so and so dates.
d. Engagement: - Competition built within different departments of organization through competitions
e. Healthcare & Habit building Tech.: - A lot of wearable tech and fitness apps also gamify exercises and health routines giving the users an external stimulus to maintain their streak of achievements for maintaining their practices of exercise, habit building such as waking up in a particular time, journaling, etc.
f. Marketing: - Almost any store, payment app, credit/debit card we use, we can see them send some points, credits, awards which can be collected and then used for taking part in some contest/ lottery/ any other uses in order to build customer retention.
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Some of the risks associated with gamification which we can see are: -
1. Obsession leading to harmful consequences: - There can be risks of obsession fuelled decision making in order to gather more points at the expense of their well-being. Buying unnecessary goods only to improve tally of points by customers, using unfair practices by people in organizations to reach and remain at top of the leaderboard, etc. are all true events which have become very common.
2. Discontentment: - Poorly designed gamification can lead to discontent and disillusionment to creep amongst participants just like any poor decision making. For eg. Counting the no. of hours someone spent reading a content. People may simply keep the window open for hours and go about doing something else. They will surely benefit over others who actually read through diligently and closed the window).
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We can utilize gamification in the following ways to improve LSS Training : -
A. Point Systems 
During trainings we see that the interaction of the trainer and only a minority of trainees happen frequently. Majority end up remaining silent spectators or are too shy/disinterested to interact though they may a lot to add. For getting more interaction the below ideas can be implemented, such as:- 
1. Building a points systems for meaningful interaction. Giving points for active participation which do add some value to the training program and having a leaderboard for the same. Off course this needs to be thought out well else there would a cacophony of pointless talk just to score some points. Something which is hilariously visible in Group Discussions.
2. Points systems for the amount of time the camera had been switched on. Only if the participant is having the camera on and focusing on the content for a minimum amount of time should he/she be given attendance or some points. This can address the rather troublesome challenges we see in online classes were people will join the meeting but will be simply working on something else.
3. Profiling an Ideal Trainee. An image of an ideal trainee should be created who will be having  some minimum no. of pts. for abovementioned activities, on-time arrival/joining, etc). This would act as a benchmark for the trainees. Creating a real time profile of the participants based on these parameters will help create a sense of comp etition and also motivate the trainees to reach the ideal level. Offcourse, this has to be enabled by using some AI tool to track the sessions.
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B. Content Delivery
We can also improve the training through gamifying delivery of  Content
4. Phase by Phase Buildup, gamification of the skills developed being part of a puzzle which eventually leads to the completion of an image/art of the training. This will give a sense of achievement and satisfaction to the trainees.
5. Gamification of Sub-section quizzes. Most of the gamification in learning platforms are limited to different phases of LSS training i.e. D-M-A-I-C. However, a layer of gamification can be added to the different stages within the Project. Such as different exercises within each phase. 
For eg. micro-quizzes for CTQ identification, VOC/VOP/VOB, QFD, SIPOC,As-Is, Resistance Analysis, Project Charter etc. during the Define phase. 
This will help in keeping the training engaging.
5. Role-play gamification of a case study. Where, branches of scenarios and decision trees are built. Each decision would lead to a scenario which would lead to another scenario. 
This will help the trainees understand the concepts better and also help explain how and where common mistakes can occur.
6. Toll gating/ Mile stoning with a roadmap of different stages of the training rather than just a %age completion of the course. This would be a visually appealing added feature that would keep the trainees engaged.
7. Revealing the content level by level. While handing over reading materials and other contents to the trainees will be helpful to them to prepare themselves for the training, however it can be seen that it can also overwhelm trainees with a lot to absorb. Revealing the Content Page and progressively enabling access to them would allow for bite-size consumption of the material thereby improving retention of the same.
This would also build an anticipation for the next part of upcoming sessions which would also fire up the curiosity of the trainee.
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C. UNPREDICTABILITY/ANTICIPATION
8.  Surprise rewards within the training. During the training certain elements of surprise gifts should be included. This would hook the participants to focus on the training by giving them a short term reward. This can be anything from a cashback, licensed access to a paid-library, discount for other trainings, premium subscription to online tools etc.
This will ensure that the trainees are given a short term achievement by focusing on the training.

All companies are evaluated based on the performance on some of their key metrics such as Market Share, Earnings Before Income Tax, Depreciation and Amortization), PBT (Profits Before Tax), Earnings Quarter to Quarter Growth, etc. This is a good way to evaluate and compare the performance of the organization against some standard or benchmark metrices. This is referred as Managing by Metrics. 
 
And in today's age of ultra-sensitive market dynamics and volatile market conditions aggravated by issues of bonuses/payouts of key decision makers linked to the achievement of short-term goals(humorously referred to as the Quarter-Se-Quarter-Tak attitude, punning the name of the popular Bollywood movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak) the key team responsible for decision making in organizations chase the numbers of such metrics by hook or crook at the detriment to the larger interest of the organizations. This is referred as Managing The Metric.
 
This also explains the evident jump in the closing dates of every month, quarter and annual calendar of metrics like deals signed, sales no., OEE nos. etc. And dip in metrics such as Consumption of Raw Materials, Incoming Inventory, Losses, etc.
 
The impact of this at the CSAT(customer satisfaction) and business growth is the following: -
 
1. Growth of dissatisfied customers
In order to paint a rosy picture or a less painful picture of the current state organizations attempt to manage the metrics, organizations falsify or close customer complaints, feedbacks without addressing it properly. This would though in the short-term bring down the resolution time & pending customer complaints it would leave customers dissatisfied and damage the customer relations in the long term.
 
2. Risky decisions to meet targets
The 2008 financial crisis started off due to the practice of US financial institutions of giving out risky loans without any due diligence in order to show growth in businesses and for fatter bonus payments. This eventually led to the closing down of many such banks. Similarly many established organizations had to close down or downsize their operations due to the mismanagement of their businesses just in order to meet business targets. Very good example of this is GE which had actually popularized the use of Six Sigma to improve their operations but later had to sell their once most profitable business.
 
3. Diminishing Brand Value
In order to meet short term goals, many organization may peddle in nearly unlawful or outright unlawful practices. When such practices are caught they eventually lead to loss of trust amongst stakeholders and lead to diminished brand value. This can affect the good will created by the companies over decades of responsible behaviour. Thereby causing  business to degrow.
 
4. Negative Company Culture & Unintended Consequences 
Once the practice of Managing the Metrics culture catches on in a single team, it very quickly spreads like wildfire across the organization with over-enthusiastic participation and competition in order to manage the metrics. So much so that it would become near impossible to actually know what is current condition of those metrics are leading to unintended consequences.
This would also generate animosity amongst departments, and further worsen the organizational culture. Departments and functions would work in Silos and eventually the customer and the business suffers.
 
4. Kill Innovation
When teams focus on managing the metrics, they will go blind to available avenues of innovation and risk obsolescence. In pursuit of managing the metrics they will lose sight of the big picture and miss opportunities of growth and loss market share.
 
The methods to control these are: -
1. Integrated Balanced Scorecard
Having a integrated balanced scorecard, would allow organizations to measure how each department and each entity would be working towards providing value to the customer. And linking those with the customers' satisfaction metrics. This would ensure that there is a coherence in the leading and lagging metrics of the organization.
 
2. Business Excellence Culture
By instilling a business excellence culture and through participation in thorough assessment of the organization be it for internal continuous improvement culture or for challenging different Business Excellence Awards such as the CII EXIM Bank Business Excellence(Based on European Foundation of Quality Management), the Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award(Based on Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards Framework), Deming Prize for Total Quality Management and many other more. Through such exercise they can keep themselves abreast with the changes in the industries and assess their businesses holistically.
 
3. Conduct regular 3rd party audits
Having regular 3rd party audits beyond the statutory requirements helps in desisting the malpractice of managing the metrics as most of the metrics which are managed are those of statutory nature.
 
4. Comprehensive Incentive Plans
Many in HR functions believe that comprehensive incentive plans are complex good-to-haves rather than must-haves and follow outdated single or limited KPI(Key Process Indicators) incentive plans. For e.g. in Sales functions even now incentives are based on Q-on-Q business growth or absolute sales figures. This incentivizes fake invoicing, inflation in some metrics at the expense of others, poaching/encroachment of team members customer segment etc. Instead of this it should make the metric comprehensive through an integrated score based on customer retention, market condition, etc. 
 
5. Real time-automatic data acquisition
By automatization of data real time the opportunities for managing the metrics can be reduced and ensure that the actual picture of the business is captured without any embellishment.