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What happens in each phase of DMAIC?
Define the problem and what success looks like, Measure the current process to get a baseline, Analyze the data for root causes, Improve by testing and implementing fixes, and Control by standardising and monitoring so the problem stays fixed. Chapter 4 of the book illustrates all five phases through an onboarding project.
DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Chapter 4 of the book walks through the five phases, and the onboarding case study in the same chapter shows each one earning its place.
- Define: state the problem, the goal and the scope. In the book's case: new hires at a growing financial services firm waited an average of ten business days for a laptop and system access, and no single department owned the whole process.
- Measure: collect data on the process as it is, step by step, so the argument is about facts. Mapping every step and timing each one exposed the real enemy: handoffs, where requests sat in queues for days.
- Analyze: dig into why the measured bottlenecks happen. Here the causes included manual forms, unclear communication between departments and no shared sense of urgency.
- Improve: design and implement the fix against the analysed causes. The team replaced the manual forms with one automated workflow triggered when an offer letter was signed, creating tickets for IT and Security automatically and giving everyone sight of the status.
- Control: put measures in place so the gain holds: the new standard process, visible status, and monitoring that catches drift before it becomes the new normal.
The result the book reports is the reason for the rigour: average onboarding time fell from ten business days to under 48 hours, and new-hire satisfaction with the experience, measured as an employee Net Promoter Score, rose by 40 points. Notice what the phases prevented: jumping to a fix for the loudest department, or buying technology before anyone knew where the delay actually lived.
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Related questions
- What is DMAIC, and when should I use it?
- DMAIC or PDCA: which cycle should I use?
- What do I do when a new tool flops with my team?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 4 (Solution Creation and Implementation).