Communicating results in process improvement is a critical step in ensuring the success and sustainability of process improvement efforts. Knowing that your efforts are paying off builds momentum.
Moreover, clear communication of results provides transparency, builds accountability, and helps build trust and confidence between stakeholders, including employees, management, and customers.
Here are some tips on how you can effectively communicate process improvement results to stakeholders:
Identify your stakeholders
Start by identifying the stakeholders who will be most interested in the process improvement results. This could include senior management, team leaders, front-line employees, customers, and vendors.
Determine the best way to communicate
Depending on your stakeholders, you may need to communicate your process improvement results through a variety of channels, such as reports, presentations, dashboards, email updates, or meetings. Ensure that the method you choose is appropriate for the message you want to convey and the stakeholders you want to reach.
Share important milestones
The best times to communicate to the stakeholders that you’ll need to be a part of the execution or a part of anywhere in the process are during major milestones in the PDCA process. You don’t have to wait for actual improvements or outcomes to communicate with your stakeholders.
The first big milestone is documenting the current state. No changes are made, but it’s powerful and transformative. Simply documenting your current process and being clearer on what it’s supposed to be typically solves 20% of the problems. This also builds alignment. People love to read this, and you can share that as a cloud document.
The second milestone that you can share is the identification of the problems. The way I recommend sharing this is by total numbers and by themes. An example of a theme that I often see in organizations is starting things from scratch. A lot of problems in processes are due to, for example, not having a template so people have to keep on copying or creating things from scratch.
Use data
Use data to support your results. This could include data on the improved process metrics, customer feedback, employee feedback, or any other data that helps illustrate the impact of the process improvement efforts.
Highlight the benefits
Clearly communicate the benefits of the process improvement results, such as improved efficiency, increased productivity, better customer satisfaction, or reduced costs. This will help stakeholders understand the value of the process improvements.
Address any concerns
Be prepared to address any concerns or questions that stakeholders may have about the process improvement results. This could include addressing any negative impacts or unintended consequences of the improvements.
Follow up
After communicating the process improvement results, follow up with stakeholders to ensure that they understand the results and address any remaining concerns or questions. This will help ensure that the improvements are sustained and continue to provide value.
Make sure your stakeholders are aware of not only the changes but also the benefits that have been achieved
Communicating results to stakeholders not only helps to build support and buy-in for the process improvement initiative but also enables stakeholders to understand how the changes have impacted them and their role in the organization.
Effective communication of process improvement results can also help to identify any remaining issues or areas for further improvement, ensuring that the initiative continues to drive ongoing improvement and positive change.
In your service,
Hilary Corna
