Process Improvement Guidebook

This book is a guide for the work of Process Improvement Teams. It is based on the 10-Step model for Process Improvement developed by Linkage, Inc. If you haven't had experience with the Linkage model, this book is enough to get you started and, with determination, enable you to make lasting improvements to work processes. The basic model has been designed for the improvement of existing work processes. With with minor adaptation it is equally useful for the development of new processes. To do this, rather than starting the model with the selection of an issue, substitute selection of the goal or vision. Second, characterize the desired process, instead of characterizing an existing process. In the third and fourth steps of the model, define and analyze the “need,” rather than an existing “problem. Steps 5-10, concerning the solution and implementation, are applied just as they are defined in the model.

Two other volumes published by Linkage, Inc.—the Team Book and the Tool Book—supplement the information in this Process Improvement Handbook. Together, they offer a complete package for organizations committed to Continuous Improvement (CI) concepts.