Process Optimization Management:
3.1 Measure Phase — Part 1

3 min readMar 1, 2021

Yesterday we talked about the define phase in Lean Six Sigma. As the result we will have a set of documents which answer following questions:

- Does the A.I. project will financially benefit my company

- Will the A.I. Project make a certain process faster, better or cheaper?

- What do customers, employees and my business will consider a successful A.I. project. Which are the clear needs of each of the three groups

- Define Process Metrics / KPI for customers, employees and company

- Defince Success Metrics for the A.I. project — What values exactly have to be reached to make it a success or failure.

As Lean Six Sigma is data and math oriented, we try to put our project or problem in an equation:

X1 + X2 + X3 +… Xn = Y.

Each X resembles a cause for the problem and Y is the Effect.

Imagine your customer satisfaction is low, which is problematic for you. And you want to use Machine Learning to help fixing it.

While the Define Phase sets the frame for solving a specific problem, the Measure and Analyse Phase try to answer the question: “What causes my problem?”.

In your equation “Customer dissatisfaction” would be your Y. The reasons for a low customer satisfaction on the other hand would be resembled by Xs. Reasons could be “phone system always breaks down, when customers call”, “headsets are of bad quality”, “Customer agents are un-trained”, “Sold products are of low quality”…In the end, this would look something like this:

Bad ServiceTec + Untrained Customeragents + Low-quality products = Customer Dissatisfaction.

That already looks like something, your A.I. outsourcing partner could start to understand, doesn't it? Of course, in a later stage you need to know exactly how to measure each X and define it in a data collection plan, but this equation already condensed the complete complexity of your company’s processes into a nice equation, which you can easily show to external partners for easy and quick understanding.

But before we reach this lovely equation, you will have to walk down a thorny path. And that is covered within the Measure and Analyse Phase.

The main purpose of the Measure Phase is to find all relevant causes for your perceived problem. For that reasons the Measure Phase is equipped with a set of tools and structured meetings which can be used to engage all relevant stakeholders in your company to “discuss and extract” potential relevant causes.

In the next chapter, Measure Phase part 2, we will discuss a few of the major important tools of the Measure Phase.

If you are interested in A.I. leadership education or want to start your A.I. journey, just contact me at ansgar_linkedin@goldblum-consulting.com