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Understanding and Planning for Quality
When our goal is to understand processes, certain conceptional tools can be a great help to teams and individuals. In fact, the first step any improvement team must take is to develop a shared understanding of how the process is operating, or if the process is yet to be implemented, how it should operate.
Operational Definitions
The first tool we must master is the "operational definition". Simply put, this is a plain-English explanation, that describes what something is (qualitatively), and how it is measured (quantitatively). Operational definitions describe exactly what we will be measuring, and exactly how we will measure it. Operational definitions are used to guide study, collect and evaluate data, and to clarify theory. Good ones produce consistent results, no matter who is "measuring", and are the product of consensus developed through cross-functional teamwork. To develop an operational definition, teams begin by envisioning the problems they will have collecting data, and the "biases" that may improperly influence the data (like individual judgement). It is best to involve from the beginning all those who will participate in the data collection process (or at least a cross-section of them). When a definition is agreed to, run controlled tests to verify that indeed all those people who use the definition, gather the same data as everyone else. Refine the definition if necessary and retest. An example follows:
Operational Definition: "Acceptable # of Chocolate chips per cookie"
The average number of Chocolate chips per cookie, at least three-quarters visible on the top of the cookie, in a sample of exactly ten whole cookies, taken randomly from the packaging line every quarter-hour.
If this definition fails to produce consistent results, the team using it may decide to reword it, or perhaps to develop a tool or device that aids in data collection. A simple card which shows the minimum acceptable size of the chocolate chips may prove to be a great help. Such "target cards" are invaluable when a part of your operational definition includes a colour sample or range, or some other aesthetic or qualitative variable, and you need to grade or quantify what you are measuring.
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