Q 241. As a tribute to Jack Welch, the GE leader who got tremendous success with Six Sigma and passed away recently, here is our question -  

 

One of the most powerful change sequences in GE in the past has been the Change Acceleration Process, this included the Action Work-Out. 

 

Explain the following statement "Work-Out can address issues that Six Sigma projects probably cannot."

 

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If you ask the firm , say how many Six Sigma ventures were a long haul achievement and more than likely relatively few will say "every one of them." Six Sigma for Change,Why? Since most will have invested an excessive amount of energy concentrating on devices and procedures, including DMAIC and DFSS, and too brief period on dealing with the "individuals side" of progress. At the point when Six Sigma experts need change the executives competency and the capacity to lead individuals – not simply forms – undertakings can be bound for long haul disappointment. The estimation of putting resources into the "individuals side" of Six Sigma activities is generally recognized. So significant is change the executives that GE actualized the Change Acceleration Process (CAP) to quicken Six Sigma results. In CAP, the recipe for progress is QxA=E (specialized quality occasions association acknowledgment rises to viability). As per a 2013 article in Plant Services Magazine, Bill Wilder, Director of the Life Cycle Institute, said that Jack Welch is affirmed to have expressed that half of the time ought to be centered around "An" exercises. Here are four incredible approaches to help create viable change the board in your Six Sigma groups and inside your association: Fabricate Awareness and Desire Everything begins with building mindfulness and want for change the executives competency inside the Six Sigma group. For some Black Belts who have just contributed a unimaginable measure of time to get confirmed, the idea of investing more energy in preparing isn't constantly a solace. This is the reason official supervisory crews must impart the reasons why change the executives competency is vital for progress. Conversation focuses to be incorporated: Undertakings have a superior shot at remaining on schedule and spending plan Supervisors will designate significant assets all the more promptly and show support all through the venture Opposition from representatives and different partners will diminish Worker efficiency will be less affected by the change Learn and Practice Effective Change Management Skills When mindfulness and want for change the board competency have been built up, it is the ideal opportunity for the change agent(s) to pick up information and become familiar with the procedure. Despite the fact that this instruction can be gotten in various manners, going to affirmation preparing is one of the quickest and best methods for learning the vital aptitudes. Affirmation classes can be discovered both on the web and off, and a few organizations will pay the related expenses. Careful discipline brings about promising results The main reasonable method for getting capable at the handy use of progress the board instruments and procedures is to work on utilizing them. Information is acceptable, yet use of information is better, particularly with regards to dealing with the "individuals side" of progress. For the duration of the life of every single Six Sigma venture there will be any number of factors, for example, culture, history, or official help that can possibly warn the train of its tracks, so no change operator ought to ever be tricked into intuition they have "aced" the administration procedure. Reward and Reinforce To guarantee change is supportable, specialists should compensate and strengthen change authority social abilities inside the group, praise victories, and perceive the important commitments of colleagues. A definitive objective of any Six Sigma change specialist is to convey extends viably. To make this goal a reality, hold onto change the board as the most significant buddy train and urge Black Belts to concentrate on the "individuals side" of progress. By doing so you can help guarantee your interest in Six Sigma produces incredible returns.

General Electronics(GE) adapted the “Work out” theory of Jack Welch, who was CEO and Chairman of GE. Work out is a  kind of team based problem solving and employee empowerment process. Work-Out  proved to be revolutionary in GE success  and the result of this process was the Change Acceleration Process, commonly referred to within GE simply as “CAP.” 

Change Acceleration Process (CAP) is the process of significantly improving the current state of any process/product by  accelerating the transition steps. 

ARMI (Approver, Resource, Member, Interested Party) is an integral tool of CAP.  . ARMI stands for:

• A - Approval of team decisions
• R - Resource of the team, pertaining to the skills and expertise
• M - Member of team
• I - Interested Party, who need to keep himself and  others informed during the process

ARMI  clarifies the role of each individual in process and resolves any ambiguity in roles and responsibilities. 

 

Other  commonly used  CAP tools are: 

      

-       Critical Success Factor analysis

-       Stakeholder Analysis

 

The effectiveness of the change in CAP is measured by:

 

Effectiveness=quality x Acceptability

 

Quality  and Acceptability denotes the quality and acceptance of technical strategy  respectively. So it implies that apart from technical excellence, the process must be friendly and accepted by the people/employee. 

 

THE CHANGE ACCELERATION PROCESS (CAP) MODEL

1. Leading Change

 Authentic and committed leadership throughout the process is of prime importance.

2. Creating a Shared Need

The need for change  must be well felt throughout the organization and must be  able to overcome the inertia of change.

3. Shaping a Vision:

Clear vision of the organization after the change  initiative, must be well articulated and understood. 

4. Mobilizing Commitment

 Influencing  strategy to mobilize commitment to drive the change.

5. Making change last

The change must last, the gains  and knowledge of pilots, must be integrated with existing processes to achieve a sustainable change.

6. Monitoring process

Measuring the progress of change initiative, benchmarking them  and  developing accountability for any lack of progress.

7. Changing Systems and Structures

The underlying systems and processes, Standard operating procedures(SOPS) must be altered  to accommodate the changes, so that improvement becomes tenable. 

The key advantages of CAP are::

-       Speed to action

-       Simplicity of tools

-        Self confidence to bring innovative and sustainable solution

-        Faster and cost effective

 

Six Sigma Versus Workout:

-Six Sigma projects are based on systemic methodology of reducing defects and making improvement in process through problem statement, statistical analysis, testing hypothesis, implementing and controlling the improvement process. The major limitations of six sigma projects are – time consuming, significant funding and resources may be needed in complex projects, difficulty in  meeting the expectations of non belts (non six sigma  professionals). Work out on the other end is much faster, improvement can be demonstrated at earliest. The managers and employees can quickly implement their ideas in work out  and  improvements are visible very early for internal and external customers. A structured format is made in work out, assigning specific responsibilities to each of the employee in bringing out accelerated change. So the level of engagement of employees is better in work out compared to six sigma process. 

Work out process, if integrated with six sigma process, can significantly add in efficacy of six sigma implementation in companies by  accelerating implementation of solutions of six sigma, improving employee satisfaction and significant savings in financial costs of six sigma process.

 

Benchmark Six Sigma Expert View by Venugopal R

Most of us are aware that GE has played a major role in popularizing Six Sigma practices and is well known for obtaining huge benefits. Having undergone my early training on Black Belt through IGE, one of the mandatory modules for the leadership team was Change Acceleration Process (CAP), which was imparted to all champions and executive leaders.

 

The CAP broadly looks at Change as changing from ‘Current state’ to ‘Improved State’. It involves leading the change and also changing of associated systems and structures. One of the major challenges for an organization during a change is to overcome the ‘Resistance to change’. ‘Leading change’ focuses on Creating a shared need, Shaping a Vision and Mobilizing commitment. The Systems & Structures would ensure Monitoring the change, Finishing the job and Anchoring the change.

 

The ‘Work-Out’ session is an approach taken up to accelerate the whole cycle of change management. Now, if we look at a Six Sigma project, we are trying to bring about a change, mostly on a process, which is expected to provide a sustained benefit on the efficiency, effectiveness, or both.

 

Some of the main problems that we face in running Six Sigma projects are:

• Inability to provide continued attention
• Hindrance due to Overlapping priorities of day-to-day work
• Non availability of key resources at a time, to take decisions on the project
• Delays in obtaining approvals

The ‘Workouts' are highly focused, planned and dedicated sessions. The Workout consultant works closely with the Champion and the Sponsor for initial decisions about the project, designs the sessions and associated logistics. Typically the work-out process will have a Design phase, Conduct phase and Implement phase

 

Design phase:

• Obtain Executive sponsorship
• Define the critical business issues and desired outcomes
• Clarify Boundary conditions as applicable
• Select Experts across functions
• Define, Gather data
• Design work out session agenda

Conduct: (usually 1 to 4 days session)

• A neutral third party facilitation is done for
• Team chartering and launch
• Process Analysis and Problem Solving
• Application of Analysis tools
• Decision maker’s briefing
• Team report-out and On-the-spot decisions
• Team implementation and communication plan

Implement:

• Ongoing team implementation of approved recommendations
• Consulting liaison between team and decision makers
• 30, 60 and 90 day check points with decision makers
• Celebration of success, capturing learning
• Build internal change management capability

As seen above most of the activities are covered during the phases of Six Sigma DMAIC or DMADV and appropriate tools are available. Effective Workouts help in accelerating the Six Sigma project cycle

The winner for this question is Shashikant Adlakha. Please read the response by Benchmark Expert Venugopal as well.