Literally hundreds of books have been written on process
improvement. the links in the sidebar on the left will take
you to succinct discussions on Wikipedia. For more in-depth
knowledge, spend some time at isixsigma.com, which contains
a wealth of information.
If you like to read, pick up a copy of Lean Six Sigma for
Service, by Michael George, which
To maintain product impartiality, the informational links
provided are either to Wikipedia or to professional
practitioner sites, such as iSixSigma.
There is no need for you to become a process improvement
specialist. If there are elements of your bank that are not
performing up to par, consider whether it is a people issue
or possibly a process issue, where things are being done
"because we've always done it that way," or if the problem
possibly rests with the technology being employed.
At TSG Consulting, we view technology only as a process
enabler. Generally, people dislike learning new technology,
particularly if it will not bring a significant improvement
in their daily tasks. The old military saying about "keep
it simple" is nowhere more important than in designing
processes and selecting the required technology.
Definitions
At a basic level, process improvement is simply a series of
actions taken to select, analyze and improve key existing
processes within
an organization
to meet new or existing goals
and objectives. There are many methodologies for improving internal
processes. Some, such as Lean Manufacturing, focus on
identifying and removing unnecessary steps. Others,
like Six Sigma, focus on improving quality through
reducing variance.
The Next Step
We look forward to assisting you improve the performance of
your bank.
Sincerely,
Robert Hess
Principal and CEO