The following is a list of questions that you can use to understand a business process and assess the readiness of your organization to undertake a kaizen event.
- Who owns the process?
- Are processes documented?
- Does the documented process follow the actual process?
- Is the process repeatable?
- Are their existing work standards and practices?
- Are the work standards and practices being followed?
- Are the work standards and practices adequate to perform the work properly?
- Is the work area well organized?
- Are there any metrics?
- How are the metrics used?
- How often are the metrics recorded?
- Do the metrics tell employees how they are doing at any point in time?
- What is the organization’s attitude toward change?
- Who is involved in the process?
- Whom does the process impact?
- Who supplies the process?
- Are the inputs to the process properly documented and specified?
- Who is the customer of the process?
- What are the outputs of the process?
- Are the customer’s requirements properly documented and specified?
- Can you identify any of the 7 wastes in the existing process?