DMAIC
Ask any consultant, and I mean ANY consultant (strategy, process, IT) and they will know what DMAIC stands for. It is an abbreviation for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. It is a tool often used in process improvement projects. I am not a fan of jargon, but this one is worth learning, and using. It’s good and keeps you on task.
If you hired a consultant and they used a five-box slide that looks like the one below to explain a project approach. . . chances are good it is some derivation of DMAIC. It is simple, logical, and a good starting point.
D = DefinE
Make sure you define what problem. What does success look like? Without this step, you might be solving the wrong problem (happens all the time). Consultants are uniformly good at this because their time is money, and often, they don’t understand the constraints, assumptions, interdependencies as much as their client’s. Therefore, they are keen to “watch where they step” and also make sure they get out of the project alive. Specifically, what are we trying to solve?
M = Measure
Before you can improve, you need to know where you are. This is often laborious and time-consuming, but critical. Are you getting a better price for the widget this time? Impossible to know if you don’t know what you paid last time.
From personal experience, client can get a little impatience during this step. They may get a little frustrated that you spend so much time “getting smart” and looking at the past, but remember “You can only manage what you measure”
Note: As more consulting projects are “at risk” (pay-for-performance fees), accurately measuring the baseline prevents a lot of arguing with the invoice and “he said / she said.”
A = Analyze
This is where the data analysis and experience come into play. Figure out why things are wrong, broken, or not working. The majority of consulting tools fit in here: fish bone diagrams, Pareto charts, maturity models, business cases, waterfall charts, RACI charts, RFPs etc. . . This is the thinking work that many of us enjoy so much. . . seeing the patterns in the data.
Sometimes, you know what analysis is needed. Other times, you are tackling new problems and applying hypothesis-based thinking. Logical structuring, putting things in buckets; things we are good at.
I = Improve
Make the change. This can take 1 week (Kaizen event) or 2-3 years (think ERP implementation). Too often clients want to do the implementation themselves. Perhaps they are thinking. . . “yes, we are willing to pay $50K per week for high-end thinking, but after the final report out – we have the roadmap, prioritization, and governance model – this should be easy.”
This is rarely the case. Yes, clients benefit from consultants on the upfront diagnostics and strategy setting. Yes, they benefit from the program management, change management, and politics busting.
C = Control
This harkens back to the six-sigma concepts of statistical process controls (blah, blah, blah), but let’s keep it simple. Keep your eye on the process and improve it as you need to. For anyone who has lost 10 (hard earned) pounds, only to find that 6 months later they have gained them back, knows the importance of diligence, consistency, and habit.
3 Minute Video Explanation
