Module One: Identifying Business Excellence and Innovation Opportunities

To be truly effective, business excellence and innovation programs must focus on the issues that have the greatest impact on the organization’s strategy, and that provide the best return on investment. Thus, the ability to identify strategically significant opportunities for improvement and innovation is a critical skill for business excellence and innovation experts.

Module Description:

This two-day module (in week 1) guides you through a step-by-step approach to identifying key processes – those that will benefit the most from focused improvement and innovation. You also learn how to identify critical “pain points” that are ripe for improvement, and how to uncover unfulfilled “jobs” that can be addressed through innovative thinking.

Key Topics:

• How business excellence and innovation experts can contribute to a culture of innovative problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• How to identify pain points and “jobs to be done” that align with organizational strategy and key business metrics, using tools such as the Value Quotient method.
• How to view pain points and unmet needs from the customer’s point of view, using techniques such as Voice of the Customer and ethnography.
• How to differentiate between customer expectations (outcome versus performance and perception).
• How to identify the larger process or system that is enabling a pain point or unmet need using the SIPOC tool.
• How to select the methodology that will provide the improvement or innovation you seek.
• How to scope the improvement or innovation using tools such as Heuristic Redefinition.
• How to properly define a project to set expectations and provide a baseline for tracking benefits.
• How to gain support from key stakeholders who will be affected by the improvement or innovation using change management best practices such as stakeholder analysis, dealing with resistance and effective communication.