The 3 Ds of Change Management

The 3 Ds of Change Management

Lean Six Sigma Projects involve implementing solutions which to a greater or lesser degree involve people. Resistance to Change is part of human nature with some people more accepting of the need for change and the continuous challenging of the status quo than others.

So how do we convince people to come on board the Lean Six Sigma Journey and go along with our Project Objectives in the Define Phase and the New Process in the Improve Phase of the DMAIC Methodology? Easier said than done, Grasshopper!

Well one technique used is known as the 3Ds – Data, Demonstration, and Demand.

Data

Some people are convinced by Data – this would involve showing them a credible business case and baseline data in the Define Phase e.g. our current process is not capable and has an defect rate of 4.5% (158/3500 units) for Q4 of 2012. The cost of this is €56,000 if annualised.

Demonstration

Other people fall into the doubting Thomas category and have to see to believe – in this case we use Demonstration and could simply let the physical defects accumulate for a lengthy time in the quarantine cage and let people see with their own eyes the magnitude of the problem.

Demand

Demand normally comes from the customer or marketplace but could also come from the Regulatory Body or Corporate Management – this could be a memo saying that unless the process performance improves there is a risk that we might lose the contract or we might not get the new business or we might get fined or have our operations suspended.

Irrespective of which or all of the 3Ds you use, Change Management is all about the People and convincing them to do something different on a Monday morning versus what they were doing the previous Monday!!

(Note: DMAIC is Define Measure Analyse Improve Control)