Measures
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- Last Updated on Friday, 04 October 2013 18:51
DEVELOP MEASURES (Answers the question: How will we know our changes are an improvement?)
Have you ever changed something? How did you know that the change you made was an improvement? You probably had some kind of data to assess the improvement (e.g., a tally of positive comments from observers or before and after pictures).
When doing an improvement project measurement is a key ingredient. It helps show results and achievements toward your desired goal and also helps replace personal subjectivity so that you do not rely on the notion of "I think or I feel that things are better". Instead, you have data to actually show if the changes you make are improving your current process. As you collect data for your project, you should include three types of measures, which are linked to your project aim and goals. These measures include:
- Outcome-the ultimate results you are trying to achieve
- Examples: Overall wait time for family planning visit, time to receive final septic tank permit, overall time to process an application, etc.
- Process-what you do to achieve your outcome
- Examples: Number of forms to complete, number of steps the patient takes during their visit, number of steps in a process, etc.
- Balancing-what could we "mess up" while trying to improve the process
- Examples: Satisfaction with the time spent with provider when increasing clinic efficiency, accuracy and completeness of a form when trying to streamline a process, etc.
While it is critical to have quantitative measures as above, qualitative data including stories from customers/staff and before and after pictures are important to add richer meaning to your results. In addition, these items will be critical to fully communicate the success of your project as well as help spread your improvements to other areas in your organization. Once measures are established, it is important to define the measures and develop a plan for collecting the data (e.g. how will it be collect, how often, who will collect it, etc.) A Measurement Plan can be used to summarize the details of your data collection plan. As you collect your data, use a Run Chart or other graphs to display the data.
Additionally, as part of your measurement plan, you should begin to think about how you are going to capture data to calculate a Return on Investment (ROI) for your project. ROI will help provide additional data to show the importance and impact of the improvements.
* We recommend using a Project Charter to summarize all the information for your project (e.g. aim statement, measure, team participation, scope, and stakeholders). Once the team has developed a charter, it is important to review it with your organization's leadership, management team and other senior managers and get their sign-off to ensure everyone is in agreement on the project aim and agree to provide the needed resources to support the project.
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