Check whether the actions moved the indicator
Put side by side what was done and what happened to the indicator, to know whether the actions worked or the plan must change.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- 0.7 h a monthper team; today it takes 0.8 to 1.8 h a month
- Elmira today
- Helps
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Who does it today
- Engineer, Senior
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
The actions get done, and the indicator does not move.
Matching the actions with the indicator takes an afternoon, so it does not get done.
What did not work is repeated in the next plan.
Doing the actions is not the same as reaching the goal. Every month, someone has to look at whether the indicator moved after the actions that were closed, separate what worked from what did not and decide whether to keep the plan or change it. It is rarely done, because matching the actions’ dates with the indicator’s series takes an afternoon, and so teams keep doing actions that move nothing.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- Slides
- BI dashboard
- Project tool
Each step, today and with Elmira.
On WhatsApp, Elmira puts side by side the actions closed under a goal and how its indicator moved; whether it worked is yours to decide, and what was learned goes into the debriefing.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Gather each goal’s closed actions and their dates | Spreadsheet, Project tool20 min – 40 min | |
| See how the indicator moved before and after | Spreadsheet, BI dashboard20 min – 45 min | |
| Decide whether it worked, and whether to keep or change the plan | In-person meeting, Expert | Your call |
| Write down what was learned | Paper and whiteboard, Slides10 min – 20 min | Obeyaka (web) |
The conversation
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Elmira, did this month’s actions move Packaging’s waste?
Between October 1 and 15, 4 actions of “Cut Packaging’s waste” were closed; the last one, replacing the sealer’s blades. The waste went down from 4.6% in week 40 to 3.9% in week 42, and the goal is still at risk.
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
It is going the right way. I will write it down as a learning in the debriefing.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of actions and follow-up
- Gather progress from the floorProgress arrives by word of mouth, late or never.
- Record the plan’s actionsThe agreements stay in the notebook of whoever took notes.
- Tell each owner about the action assigned to themWhoever missed the meeting does not know they have an action.