Sustaining process improvement requires more than setting a process program in place. It requires attention to the program from multiple directions. To help sustain process improvement in your organization, consider employing some of the following techniques:
Remember what you do. Understand your products and your customers so that your process program can continually reflect the needs of both.
Weld business success to program success. Engage upper management in program commitment and use by tying business performance and process performance together.
Participate. Visibly participate in the program's organizational use. This demonstrates that all levels of the company find value in the program and are committed to its success.
Train. Remember to provide adequate training to the organization so that various work groups can use the program in an informed and appropriate manner.
Support compliance. Provide resources to monitor process program compliance and provide guidance and support when teams need to better adhere to process guidelines.
Seek active feedback. Seek open and regular feedback on ways to improve the program.
Provide performance incentives. Give your people formal and informal awards to encourage their use of the program across daily business activities.
Measure, measure. Collect and analyze measures that help you understand, from a data viewpoint, how the program is working for you and the different business teams.
Implement periodic reassessment. Periodically reassess your program, seeking opportunities for refinement and improvement.
Appreciate the journey. Understand that process improvement is not a goal; it has no end point, no finish line. It's a cultural atmosphere that seeks to continually make business more efficient and more effective.