An SQDEM board is a basic process improvement tool. Different letters can be used, but its purpose will still be to create transparency, alignment and focus around how we’re doing, what we’re doing and why we’re doing it to help us work on the what’s most appropriate.
Safety is usually listed first because preventing harm is generally accepted as important, but applying SQDEM thinking starts with Quality, because in a nutshell:
By managing key performance indicators in each category, we can make changes to improve anything. This post gives a quick and dirty overview of how to apply SQDEM, but before that, there are two important definitions that need to be distinguished
The Customer and the Supplier could be the same, but it’s always prudent to question if we have the most appropriate Supplier for what we want. There’s the old saying that “If you want something done right, do it yourself”, but it should be “if you want something done the way you think it should be done, do it yourself” because labeling it “right” is a dangerous assumption. A quick internet search of “do it yourself fails” supports this update with over 22 million results.
Now, back to SQDEM thinking…
Quality is the goal and it’s driven by the Customer. Quality is what we want, it’s why we do things, and it’s worth a little extra time to make sure what’s wanted is clear and meaningful, or providing it becomes harder. Lack of clarity around goals is a leading cause of unnecessary problems.
Once we’re clear on what’s wanted, 3 questions about it need answering:
Process & Metrics are primarily Supplier-driven, but getting Customer confirmation on the first question will avoid all kinds of problems down the road.
Safety is a category of concern for both Supplier and Customer that looks at identifying and addressing problems that can harm, hinder, or threaten what we want. Safety is often focused on preventing physical harm because with injury or death comes a good chance the other SQDEM targets won’t be met (unless someone set a really low bar).
Basic safety management starts with 2 actions:
A commonly overlooked risk is the time it takes to complete the Quality and Safety planning. Situations, priorities, and risks will change, and windows of opportunities close if we take too long to act. Missed windows can result in weeks or months of wasted resources and efforts. In the public sector, where there are a lot more voices during the planning, it’s not uncommon for this waste to span years or decades. To optimize progress, the basic premise should be: “if it’s safe, try it”.
By this point we should know what to do, how to do it, and why we’re doing it.
Delivery looks at how long it takes to complete the process to get the Customer what they want. For example, if a customer wants a pizza, the delivery time starts from the moment they place their order to when the pizza is in their hands. It doesn’t matter to them that there were lots of other orders, the restaurant was short-staffed, or an accident was backing up traffic. Time is an effective measure of improvement because it’s objective and quantifiable.
Efficiency is a Supplier-driven category that looks at the resources required to complete the process including people, procedures, equipment, materials, environment, and money. Good processes for the people who do the work should be simple, consistent, reliable, and as painless as possible. This can be achieved by continually removing process waste like unnecessary work, wait time, not having what’s needed at the right time in the right place, and mistakes. Efficiency is another basic improvement measure, commonly expressed in dollars because most time or material resources can be converted to a dollar value.
Morale is a Supplier-driven category that measures how happy people are with processes and helps identify opportunities for improvement. If the people doing the process aren’t happy, then there’s a problem that needs to be understood and addressed. Morale problems are commonly related to issues with respect, clarity, or consistency but any prioritized wants not being realized or understood can harm Morale. Whether it’s personal or business, improving morale basically comes down to asking, listening, and caring enough to act. Unfortunately, Morale performance indicators aren’t always used so when there are Delivery and Efficiency problems, Morale is often sacrificed. There’s some tragic irony there because raising morale is one of the fastest ways to put things back on the right track. When Morale is high and everyone’s on the same page feeling valued and respected, amazing things happen.
Those are the SQDEM basics. There’s a lot more that can be said, but having even just the basics can help kickstart any improvement journey.