Maturity Model (Cultural Spectrum)

1. Maturity Model (Cultural Spectrum) • These slides provide an understanding of one of the maturity models used in systematic management – the cultural spectrum. • The slides are largely self-explanatory, and can be used as part of a session for review and reflection, and for developing plans to make further progress on systematic management. • Please do not attempt to use these slides as part of a presentation until you have read and fully understood the relevant sections of the website, and you are clear on the points you wish to make with them

2. Knowledge and desire to ensure “delight” Systematic focus on customer satisfaction Clear desire to satisfy customers Customer awareness is evident Largely task rather than role focus A clearly designed value set is evident C’hensive standards rigorously prosecuted Standards exist and are actively pursued A direction is evident but goals are unclear Value set, if any, largely depends on individuals Developm’t designed into work patterns System of growth thru’ challenge & coaching Clear effort to involve, support and encourage Effortlargely a result of observed deficiencies No serious attempt to address developm’t All process deliberately designed to “perform” Key/critical processes have been “designed” Processes have been mapped & developed Some clear document’g and control of process Concept of processes is not evident All activity consciously analysed & modelled Rigorous prediction & trending invoke PSD Measured deviations are clearly analysed Perform’ce objectively monitored & recorded No objective perform’ce monitors Systematic improvem’t of overall “fitness” “Fitness” is understood & steadily improved Clear strategy for improving perfom’ce Improv’ts take place on an ad-hoc basis There is no clear planned improvem’t THE CULTURAL SPECTRUM The cultural spectrum provides a simple means for groups to discuss and explore their aspirations and their perceptions for each aspect of the management framework The following pages give an overview of the spectrum, and how it should be used.

3. USING THE SPECTRUM The cultural spectrum is intended to reflect the various stages of development a team might pass through on their way to fully implementing the six aspects of the management framework. The statement nearest the bottom of each column is intended to reflect the least progress toward implementing the framework, and the statement nearest the top - the most progress. Individuals can think through their own views of what their team should be achieving, and what they see as the current position. By sharing these views, the team can discuss and explore the different viewpoints that exist and the reasons behind them. Through this they can develop a consensus on the teams aspirations and its current strengths and deficiencies. The team can then begin to reach a common agreement on the nature of the gaps, and begin to plan how it will address them. The following pages provide further definition of what is meant by each step in the spectrum, and finishes with a form which the team can use to explore and document its own intentions with regard to the spectrum.        Aspiration Current Perception

4. Knowledge and desire to ensure “delight” Systematic focus on customer satisfaction Clear desire to satisfy customers Customer awareness is evident Largely task rather than role focus PURPOSE Ensuring the needs and issues of all your Customers are clearly defined and understood, and that your people are systematically finding new ways to serve them better. What is meant by the statements ... • Knowledge and desire to ensure delight: The team have moved beyond the concept of merely satisfying the customer to one of delighting them. This means that they know so much about the customers and their issues that they anticipate & support the customer in ways the customer hadn’t even though of. • Systematic focus on Customer Satisfaction: The team have developed a systematic approach to ensure that all their customers are satisfied. They see the weakness in relying on individual efforts, and have established targets and measures of customer satisfaction which result in regular process re-design. • Clear desire to satisfy Customers: All the individuals of the team now understand that success in their role is about the difference that they make to their Customers. They have taken this to heart, and have taken steps to seek customer feedback and to respond to that feedback by changing their approach. • Customer awareness is evident: Team members are aware of the concept of customers, and can identify who their customers actually are. They can now relate what they do to the reason ‘why’ they do it, and the difference that good or poor quality (in product or service) makes to the customer. • Largely task rather than role focus: Team members may be aware of who receives the work that they do, but they do not yet see them to be valid judges of the quality of that work. People tend to conform to what they have been instructed and to do the tasks they have been set, with little reference to the impact these may have on the customer.

5. A clearly designed value set is evident C’hensive standards rigorously prosecuted Standards exist and are actively pursued A direction is evident but goals are unclear Value set, if any, largely depends on individuals PHILOSOPHY Establishing a common value set, and building real commitment to clear targets for the improvement of your process’ performance. What is meant by the statements ... • A clearly designed value set is evident: The team has developed a very clear picture of what it is trying to achieve, and has determined the behaviours it requires to make this happen. It has redesigned the way management operates to ensure that these behaviours are rewarded, and the converse are penalised. • Comprehensive standards rigorously prosecuted: The team has standards of performance, based on business direction, for all aspects of its work. Progress and performance against these are regularly monitored and observed deficiencies are a clear focus of attention until they have been addressed. • Standards exist and are actively pursued: The team develops standards of performance, based on the business direction, for the main aspects of its work. These standards are well understood within the team, and there is clear evidence that most people are adjusting their approach to achieve them. • A direction is evident but goals are unclear: Business direction is now clear, and the team now understands what it is trying to do to support this. It may even have determined the actions it needs to undertake, but it has not as yet translated this into clear standards of performance or S.M.A.R.T. objectives. • Value set, if any, largely depends on individuals: There is little evidence that the overall goals of the business have been objectively translated into local initiatives and direction. Where local initiatives exist they are more likely to be a result of local management objectives than a clear, coherent business direction.

6. Developm’t designed into work patterns System of growth thru’ challenge & coaching Clear effort to involve, support and encourage Effortlargely a result of observed deficiencies No serious attempt to address developm’t PEOPLE Developing your people’s abilities and attitudes in a planned and productive manner, through a clearly defined programme of challenges, experiences, team involvement, and training. What is meant by the statements ... • Development designed into work patterns: The team has recognised it has a responsibility to develop both its current performance and its future potential. Work patterns have therefore been designed to focus as much on the ongoing development of competence, as on the use of that competence in ‘delivery’. • System of growth through challenge and coaching: Development of both teams and individuals is planned and systematic. Roles and projects are regularly allocated slightly beyond the team or individuals current competence in order to drive a practical coaching programme and continuous development. • Clear effort to involve support and encourage: Individual development of team members is an ongoing consideration. Annual appraisals are supplemented by regular and frequent review sessions, which commonly result in the development of individual skills through the provision of planned support. • Effort largely a result of observed deficiencies: Individual development tends to be focused in formal training courses planned in response to the appraisal process. Some one-to-one support does take place, but only in cases where a problem is evident or someone is new to the task. • No serious attempt to address development: The team does little to identify and act upon individual development needs. New tasks and situations are allocated on a largely ‘sink or swim’ basis. Appraisals (where they are carried out) tend to focus on evaluation, & resulting training actions are often forgotten.

7. All process deliberately designed to “perform” Key/critical processes have been “designed” Processes have been mapped & developed Some clear document’g and control of process Concept of processes is not evident PROCESS Ensuring all the processes which effect performance are responsibly developed and designed , using methods which aid collective involvement and disciplined thinking. What is meant by the statements ... • All processes deliberately designed to ‘perform’: There is a regular cycle of re-evaluating the performance of all processes, & redesigning them to achieve their potential. Design tools are clearly in evidence and there is frequent exper-imentation with new concepts and ideas for improving process performance. • Key/critical processes have been ‘designed’: The team identify their key/critical processes in serving their customers, and explicitly evaluate the performance of these processes against customer needs and through bench-marking. They consciously re-design these processes to fulfil their potential. • Processes have been mapped and developed: Some key processes have now been ‘mapped’ to graphically illustrate the process flow. This has led to some development of the process through addressing obvious inefficiencies and through the use of a problem solving discipline in tackling known issues. • Some clear documenting and control of processes: There is some clear documenting and control of processes, probably through written procedures and inspection routines. This may have arisen as part of adhering to a quality management system such as that required by ISO 9000 registration. • Concept of processes is not evident: The team is largely unaware of the concept of processes in their day-to-day work. Tasks are often seen in isolation and there is little consideration of the need to develop sequences of tasks to improve or control overall performance.

8. All activity consciously analysed & modelled Rigorous prediction & trending invoke PSD Measured deviations are clearly analysed Perform’ce objectively monitored & recorded No objective perform’ce monitors PREDICT Ensuring process performance is measured objectively using trends and gap analysis to drive a disciplined approach to solving current or potential performance issues. What is meant by the statements ... • All activity consciously analysed and modelled: All aspects of the teams activity is now measured, and the results fed into a data model to compare actual against predicted process performance. The model is used to identify scope for further process design to improve performance or reduce variance. • Rigorous prediction and trending invoke PSD: Measurement is seen as the key mechanism for driving organisational learning. Performance trends are plotted against predictions based on forecast impacts of new developments. A rigorous problem solving discipline (PSD) is used to reconcile deficiencies. • Measured deviations are clearly analysed: Performance monitoring is an integral part of the teams regular management cycle. Observed deficiencies, where performance falls short of what was expected, are a focus for the team attention, and are analysed to avoid future recurrence. • Performance objectively monitored and recorded: Teams have defined the main parameters which determine their success in serving the business and its customers. They have developed the means for measuring their performance against these, and regularly report current performance and trends. • No objective performance monitors: Except, perhaps, for financial data, there is no regular monitoring of the teams overall performance in fulfilling their role. Financial budgets may be set and adhered to, but individual and team review is largely anecdotal and focussed on events rather than performance.

9. Systematic improvem’t of overall “fitness” “Fitness” is understood & steadily improved Clear strategy for improving perfom’ce Improv’ts take place on an ad-hoc basis There is no clear planned improvem’t PERFECT Developing plans to monitor and improve all of the foregoing, and to achieve attainment of the higher levels of the cultural spectrum. What is meant by the statements ... • Systematic improvement of overall ‘fitness’: The ‘fitness’ aspects which develop future team & process competence are now developed systematically as processes in their own right. The performance of these ‘fitness’ processes are measured against clear targets and improved through re-design & the PSD. • ‘Fitness’ is understood and steadily improved: The team has fully grasped the concept that future performance is based on current practice in the ‘fitness’ aspects which develop the team and process competence (e.g. management & training). They have begun to develop their performance in these areas. • Clear strategy for improving performance: The team has now defined a long term strategy for developing it’s processes and performance, and improving it’s service to the business and its customers. The strategy anticipates future needs & developments, & sets in place an improvement programme to meet it. • Improvements take place on an ad-hoc basis: Firefighting has given way to ‘prevention’. Improvements now takes place in the absence of an immediate problem but they tend to reflect current local issues based on current practice. They are not seen as part of a coherent strategy for continuous improvement. • There is no clear planned improvement: There is no specific plan for improving performance. Improvement only takes place where problems have reached a level which is unacceptable to the team or its customers. The focus is clearly on fire-fighting, with little in the way of follow up to prevent future fires.

10.  Aspiration Current Perception ANALYSIS Encourage members of the team to first complete this form individually so that they develop their own arguments for their thinking. These can then be reconciled into a team view by discussion and consensus. • The preferred approach to self-analysis using the spectrum is to work through it column by column. Within each column reflect on the bottom-most statement first and then work up the column until you find the statement that in some way exceeds what you consider to be your view. • Them move back to the statement below it and reconsider whether this statement is the closest available to reflecting either your aspiration or your perception, and mark it accordingly. • In arriving at a team view extremes of viewpoint should be explored first, in order to ensure all arguments are heard.

11. THE CULTURAL SPECTRUMSyndicate Brief • Individually: • Consider each of the columns of the cultural spectrum and circle the level at which your process team needs to operate to achieve lasting benefit from the QFD, • Reconsider each of the columns and mark with a tick where you think your process team currently is. • In your process teams: • Mark on one chart all the views of the process team members with regard to where the process needs to be. • Discuss the extremes and explore the reasons people have for their views. Continue asking for other views for and against, until all the arguments have been heard • Agree that all the arguments for each of the levels have been heard, and then check that the team will abide by the consensus of the vote • Re-score the levels, & take the most popular as the team-perception • Repeat for each column & then for the scores on current perception • Look at where there are differences between the required level and current perception and think of what the team should do to begin to close the gap - establish these as actions.