The eight process improvement methodologies you need to know

Even the slickest businesses have awkward workarounds. Processes and tasks that made sense five years ago, but now make employees wonder why they’re still doing them.

This is where process improvement methodologies come in.

Rather than asking employees to work faster, process improvement looks at how work gets done. The goal is to identify inefficiencies, remove unnecessary steps, improve quality and create business processes that make life easier for both employees and customers.

There are plenty of process improvement methodologies designed to help organizations achieve this. Some favour small, incremental improvements. Others use data to hunt down process defects, while more radical approaches advocate a complete overhaul of the way a company operates.

Below, we explore eight of the most important improvement methodologies, what distinguishes them and when each one is most useful.

What are process improvement methodologies?

Process improvement methodologies are structured frameworks for analyzing and improving processes within an organization.

At their simplest, they provide a systematic approach to answering three questions:

• How does this process work now?
• What is stopping it from working better?
• What changes would improve it?

Depending on the methodology, 'better' could mean completing work more quickly, eliminating waste, reducing errors, improving customer satisfaction, using fewer resources or creating more consistent outcomes.

The terms ‘business process improvement’, ‘business process management’ and ‘continuous process improvement’ are sometimes used interchangeably, but they aren't quite the same thing. Business process management generally refers to the broader discipline of managing and optimizing processes throughout their lifecycle. Business process improvement is more specifically concerned with changing existing business processes to improve their performance.

The various business process improvement methodologies covered below provide different ways of actually achieving that change.

Before undertaking process improvement initiatives, businesses will generally establish a picture of their current processes. Process mapping, value stream analysis, customer feedback, employee interviews, performance metrics and key performance indicators can all help reveal where problems are occurring.

From there, it is a matter of choosing the right process improvement methodology for the problem at hand.

1. Lean

Lean is perhaps the methodology most closely associated with the idea that less can be more.

Originating in lean manufacturing and heavily influenced by the Toyota Production System, Lean focuses on maximizing value for the customer while minimizing waste. Rather than viewing every activity within a company as inherently necessary, Lean asks whether each step actually contributes something valuable.

If it doesn't, why is it there?

Waste might take the form of excessive inventory, unnecessary movement, waiting, overproduction, defects or employees spending their time on activities that don't add value. In an office, for example, that could include manually transferring information between applications, waiting days for a straightforward approval or producing reports nobody reads.

Tools such as stream mapping — more commonly called value stream mapping — allow teams to visualize how work and information move through a process and identify bottlenecks or unnecessary stages.

Lean therefore isn't simply about cutting costs. Done properly, it can streamline processes, shorten turnaround times, enhance efficiency and allow employees to spend more time on genuinely valuable work.

Although its roots are in manufacturing, Lean principles now appear everywhere from healthcare and supply chain management to finance and software development.

2. Six Sigma

Where Lean concentrates heavily on waste, Six Sigma concentrates on variation, errors and defects.

The methodology uses data and statistical analysis to understand why a process produces inconsistent results and then address the root causes. Its name derives from the statistical concept of sigma levels, with a highly capable sigma process producing extremely few defects.

One of the best-known frameworks within the Six Sigma process is DMAIC:

Define the problem and desired outcome. Measure current process performance. Analyze the data to determine the causes of problems. Improve the process by addressing those causes. Control the improved process so that the gains are maintained.

Techniques such as statistical process control can then help organizations monitor variation and determine whether processes remain stable.

Six Sigma is particularly useful where process quality is measurable and errors are costly. Manufacturing is an obvious example, but it can also be applied to areas such as billing errors, delivery times, customer service and healthcare.

Because it relies heavily on measurement and analysis, Six Sigma tends to work best when organizations have reliable data and clearly defined outcomes.

3. Lean Six Sigma

Lean and Six Sigma are frequently combined into a single methodology known, unsurprisingly, as Lean Six Sigma.

The logic is straightforward. A process can be wasteful without producing many defects, and it can produce defects even if it contains relatively little waste. Combining the two allows organizations to address both problems.

Lean Six Sigma therefore takes Lean's focus on eliminating waste and combines it with Six Sigma's emphasis on reducing variation and improving quality.

Imagine a company processing customer applications. Lean analysis might discover that applications sit untouched for two days while awaiting an unnecessary approval. Six Sigma analysis might separately reveal that 8% of completed applications contain incorrect information. Fixing only one problem would leave the other untouched.

For organizations pursuing broad quality improvement, Lean Six Sigma can provide a more comprehensive toolkit than either methodology alone. The downside is complexity: implementing it properly can require specialist knowledge, training and experienced process engineers or improvement leaders.

4. Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total quality management takes a broader view of improvement.

Rather than treating quality as the responsibility of a particular department, total quality management TQM regards it as something everyone within the organization contributes to.

The approach emphasizes continuous improvement, strong leadership, customer focus, evidence-based decision-making and participation across the workforce. Quality isn't something inspected at the end of production; it should be built into the organization's everyday operations.

That makes employee engagement especially important. Employees working directly with a process often understand its shortcomings better than senior management does. Giving those employees meaningful involvement in improvement efforts can uncover problems that aren't visible from a spreadsheet.

TQM can also involve developing clear standard operating procedures, measuring results and continually incorporating customer feedback.

The ultimate objective is not simply to repair individual inefficient processes, but to create a culture in which continuous improvement and enhanced quality objectives influence everyday decision-making.

5. Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese term commonly translated as "change for the better" and is closely associated with continuous improvement.

Its defining characteristic is the emphasis on small, ongoing changes rather than dramatic transformation.

Instead of waiting until a process becomes catastrophically inefficient and then redesigning it from scratch, Kaizen encourages employees to continually look for modest ways to improve efficiency, quality and working conditions.

That might mean reorganizing a workspace to reduce unnecessary movement, changing the order of two steps, creating a clearer template or finding a way to automate repetitive tasks.

None of those changes sounds revolutionary. That's the point.

A successful continuous improvement model recognizes that hundreds of small improvements can collectively produce substantial results. It can also make change less disruptive because employees become accustomed to routinely questioning and improving existing processes.

Kaizen typically follows an iterative improvement process: identify an opportunity, test a change, evaluate the results, standardize what works and then look for the next opportunity.

It is particularly effective when organizations want continuous improvement to become an everyday habit rather than an occasional corporate project.

6. PDCA

The PDCA cycle — Plan, Do, Check, Act — provides one of the simplest frameworks for iterative process improvement.

During Plan, the organization identifies a problem or opportunity, investigates its causes and develops a potential solution.

During Do, that solution is implemented, preferably initially on a manageable scale.

During Check, the organization measures what happened. Did the change actually improve productivity, reduce errors, shorten processing time or otherwise deliver the intended result?

Finally, during Act, successful changes are standardized and expanded. If the experiment did not work as expected, the lessons feed into another cycle.

That last point is crucial. PDCA isn't supposed to end after "Act." Teams return to planning and begin another round, making it an inherently continuous improvement model.

PDCA's simplicity also makes it highly adaptable. It can be used to revise standard operating procedures, improve customer service, redesign existing workflows or test new processes without committing immediately to organization-wide change.

For companies that want a practical framework without adopting a highly technical methodology, PDCA can be an excellent starting point.

7. Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

Most of the process improvement methods we've discussed so far assume that an existing process is broadly worth preserving.

Business process reengineering does not.

BPR asks whether an organization would be better off fundamentally redesigning a process rather than repeatedly attempting to repair it. It is consequently much more radical than Kaizen or PDCA.

Suppose an organization has a purchasing process involving paper forms, manual data entry, several layers of approval and information moving between disconnected systems. Incremental optimization might shave a few minutes from individual stages. BPR could instead ask why the company needs that process at all.

The resulting redesign might digitize requests, automatically route approvals, integrate purchasing and accounting systems, and automate repetitive tasks that previously required manual work.

BPR is therefore useful when existing processes have become so outdated that incremental improvement offers diminishing returns.

The potential rewards are significant. A redesigned process can reduce costs, streamline workflows, dramatically enhance efficiency and create a competitive advantage.

But the risks are larger too. A complete overhaul can disrupt business operations, require substantial investment and encounter employee resistance. The implementation process therefore needs careful planning, communication and project management.

8. Theory of Constraints (TOC)

The theory of constraints approaches process improvement from a different angle: find the biggest thing holding the system back and concentrate your attention there.

Every system, according to TOC, has at least one constraint limiting its overall performance. Improving parts of the process that aren't constrained may achieve very little because the bottleneck still determines total output.

Imagine a production line where four stages can each process 100 units per hour, but one stage can handle only 60. Making another stage 20% faster won't significantly increase overall output. Improving the bottleneck might.

TOC therefore encourages organizations to identify the constraint, make the best possible use of it, align other activities around it, increase its capacity where necessary and then repeat the process once a new constraint emerges.

The same principle applies outside manufacturing. A slow approval stage can constrain a marketing team. Limited specialist capacity can delay software development. A manual administrative process can restrict otherwise efficient business operations.

TOC is especially valuable when a business knows its overall performance needs to improve but isn't sure where its improvement initiatives will have the greatest impact.

How do you choose the right process improvement methodology?

There isn't one universally superior methodology.

When it comes choosing your process improvement methodology, the best choice depends on what is actually wrong with the process.

If excessive waste is the main problem, Lean may provide the clearest path forward. If variation and defects are causing trouble, Six Sigma may be more appropriate. Kaizen and PDCA suit organizations seeking frequent incremental improvements, while BPR makes more sense when current processes are fundamentally unfit for purpose.

TOC is particularly useful when one bottleneck is limiting the entire system, while TQM can support organizations that want quality and continuous improvement embedded throughout their culture.

The approaches don't have to be mutually exclusive, either. Businesses routinely combine process improvement techniques from several frameworks.

Whatever approach you choose, begin by understanding reality rather than assumptions. Map how work currently happens, talk to the people performing it, establish relevant performance metrics and define the outcome you're trying to achieve.

The best methodology won't help much if you are solving the wrong problem.

What does successful process improvement look like?

Successful business process improvement isn't simply about making a flowchart look cleaner. Changes need to produce measurable improvements in the way an organization operates.

Depending on the process, that might mean faster delivery, higher customer satisfaction, fewer errors, reduced costs, better employee experiences or completing the same amount of work with fewer resources.

It also means measuring results after changes are introduced. Relevant key performance indicators allow teams to compare previous and new process performance rather than assuming that a redesigned workflow is better.

Just as importantly, organizations should avoid treating improvement as something that ends once a project is completed. Markets change. Technology changes. Customers change. What looks like an efficient process today can gradually become one of tomorrow's inefficient processes.

The most effective organizations consequently treat improving business processes as an ongoing capability.

Whether that means the statistical rigour of Six Sigma, the small improvements of Kaizen, the strategic and systematic approach of TQM or the radical redesign associated with BPR, each framework offers a different way to think critically about how work gets done.

Ultimately, these methodologies share the same fundamental idea: processes shouldn't exist simply because 'that's how we've always done it.'

By standardizing processes where consistency matters, removing unnecessary work, using technology intelligently and continually questioning existing workflows, process improvement can help organizations improve efficiency, enhance quality, reduce costs and build a genuine competitive advantage.

And that is what makes these methodologies worth knowing: they aren't just theoretical management frameworks. They are practical tools for enabling organizations to do better work.