Process Improvement Maturity Model
Ongoing improvement of processes is vital to the success of any organisation and having a strong in-house capability will enable you to maintain a lead over your competitors. To assist you in measuring and enhancing your process improvement capability, Hitachi Consulting has developed a Process Improvement Maturity Model (PIMM). The model offers a simple yet comprehensive assessment of process improvement capabilities and promotes the definition of distinct levels of maturity (i.e. development) for the set of capabilities. Each level of maturity is supported by layers of detail pertaining to the individual capabilities for that model. A maturity assessment can then be made for each individual capability with regards to both current and target states.
The Process Improvement Maturity Model (PIMM)
The PIMM is both intuitive and easily communicated. It provides organisations with a greater degree of understanding and control over the design and implementation of change whilst also facilitating the engagement and motivation of the people involved. However, the intrinsic qualities of the maturity model are not enough on their own to guarantee success: the application of the approach needs to be sound with a healthy dose of honesty applied at all stages.
Hitachi Consulting recommends the following approach to ensure success when implementing the PIMM.
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Establish the Need - why are you doing this and what exactly will you achieve?
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Understand your ‘Current Capability' - be honest, where exactly are you starting from?
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Define your ‘Desired Capability' - what improvement do you actually need?
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Bridge the ‘Capability Gap' - design and implement the required capability enhancement
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Review and Audit - ensure all eyes stay on the ball.
Hitachi Consulting has been successful in taking the maturity model concept and applying it to improve a wide range of client capabilities. The guiding principles have been explained here using the PIMM as an example. However maturity models have been developed for numerous areas of an organisation's capability from system engineering to people management, and from process management to change management. Each is based on the same five stage framework and relates back to the original Capability Maturity Model's (CMM) language. The CMM was used to assess software development capability, simplifying tendering exercises for government projects. Organisations have found that the model provides a framework that is easy to understand, use and communicate to others. The CMM approach offers a simple yet comprehensive assessment of capabilities in a way that other improvement frameworks cannot.