Managing With Data

In Fall 2008 the following were obvious at a North East Urban University: enrolment at numbers continues to dwindle, and financial fid remains one of the least satisfactory services on campus (to students) and the financial aid staff had unresolved workplace issues. The University executive team agreed on the need to do something about financial aid processes, and the task of assessing the financial aid program and processes fell on the newly hired assessment coordinator (an assistant vice president). All members of the assessment team were at one time or the other in the past examiners or application writers for a state version of the Baldrige National Quality Award Program. We also have intimate knowledge of lean, six sigma and assessment and reporting. The group's charge was to assess the program!

A close look at the problem revealed a system in dire need of improvement. It was easy to conclude that the underlying financial aid processes can be improved to drive better outcomes and that personnel attitude may also benefit from a lift. At the outset, there was little evidence beyond the obviously unacceptable long queue, the bad press and the obvious dissatisfaction of parents and students who have to endure the lines and confusion during the early part of fall registration.

We were convinced that assessment as a goal was not sufficient, and the project team agreed to adopt improvement as the project mission and to use a modified version of six sigma and lean to manage the project. The project’s scope was soon defined and the timeline of twelve weeks adopted.

A typical six sigma project takes between three and four months and requires a lot of rigorous statistical analysis of the underlying processes. A typical Lean project takes about two weeks and is light on statistical analysis, relying rather on visual analytics and quick fixes and low hanging fruits. From the outset, the Morgan FAIP was going to be a hybrid project.

A full blown six sigma project would have been overwhelming on the first go with the cadre of personnel at the department and the culture of the University management. However, not having the right influence, a continuous improvement paradigm will be hard to foist on the practitioners. Sure, Six Sigma expects continuous improvement as a process paradigm to help lock in the gains (Control Phase), but the a hybrid solution that takes advantage of the strengths of both Lean and Six Sigma in this environment is more likely to produce some desirable outcome.

The first step in any improvement project is to define the problem, clarify it and state the objectives of the project. Clarity and succinctness is essential at this stage to ensure that parties involved in the project know what to expect as the project progress. Also important is the need for an executive sponsor. Most improvement projects fail due to lack of buy in from the right quarters, and executive sponsorship often always guarantee access to resources (human and others). In Six Sigma or Lean project, this first phase is encapsulated in a project charter.

Drawing up the project charter could be a challenge. It requires the consensus of the project principals. In this case the principals include the vice president of student affairs (who is the supervisor of the financial aid directory), the director of financial aid, and the improvement team (which must include at least one Six Sigma Black Belt). The Six Sigma Black Belt is the Six Sigma expert who guides the process and ensure adherence to the methodology principles. The presence of skilled improvement experts on the team was essential in smoothening potential issues that often arise in process reengineering projects. One of such issues is the personality of the various principals and personnel. Our ability to address concerns and frame the issue from the perspectives of the stakeholders and principals was vital to the success of the project. In developing the project charter, we paid attention to these factors, and ensured a clear roadmap for the project.

Six Sigma is a five (interlocking) step framework, and we will discuss the framework itself in more detail later. The five steps include Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. We adopted the five step process. Lean Enterprise requires a closer look that support