Business Process Improvement Methodology Toolkit

RAPID Process Improvement Methodology

The RAPID Process Improvement Methodology was developed by the Business Process Improvement Office as a customized way to assess business processes and make recommendations for improvement.

RAPID was developed through extensive research of methodologies employed by peer institutions (e.g., University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Notre Dame, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and other higher education institutions participating in the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation), practical experience coordinating process improvement projects for units throughout the University of Illinois, and training in both Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen methodologies from BMGI.

It is used to manage business process improvement projects and ideally suited for Kaizen events. Kaizen events are intended to be fast-paced, incremental improvement efforts that often include implementation of improvements during the event. Kaizen events and RAPID are not sufficient for projects requiring complete process re-engineering or significant data analysis. They are useful in improving service-based business processes and if structured properly, can do so in a very efficient manner.

The checklist below describes each phase of this methodology so that project facilitators may have a guide for managing their projects.

RAPID Checklist

Other process improvement resources may be useful for learning more about this subject. Recommended titles include:

RAPID Process Improvement Methodology Phases

Select a phase below for details:

R-Review the Problem

The purpose of the Review phase of the RAPID methodology is to ensure that the problem to be solved is well-defined and understood, to ensure that there is sufficient management support for the project, and to define the structure for managing the project going forward.

Methodology Tool	Description	Resources
Communication Plan	The Communication Plan is established early in the project to determine whom to communicate with as well as when and how to communicate with them.	How-To Guide Sample Template
Project Charter	The Charter identifies the scope, objectives, timeline, and stakeholders for the project. It is completed at the beginning of any project.	How-To Guide Template
Project Definition Worksheet		coming soon
Kickoff Meeting Agenda	The kickoff meeting exists for the team to review the approved charter, for the facilitator to provide an overview for how the project will be run, and to ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them.	Sample Template
Project Planning Meeting Agenda	This agenda outlines the initial project planning meeting with the project sponsor(s) to plan the project's kickoff meeting with the project team.	Sample Template
Project Proposal	The Project Proposal clarifies the problem that needs to be addressed, quantifies the impact of the problem on the organization, and identifies individuals, roles, and units that should ideally participate in any project to address the problem. It helps to organize the reasoning behind the project idea and can serve as a communication tool when evaluating and prioritizing projects and associated resources.	How-To Guide Template
SIPOC Map	SIPOC stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers. The SIPOC diagram is useful to provide a high-level overview of a process.	How-To Guide Sample Template
Stakeholder Analysis	This is an optional tool that helps to identify individuals or groups who affect or are affected by the project. It can assist the facilitator to better understand the goals and motivations of the stakeholders.	coming soon

A-Assess the Current State

The purpose of the Assess phase of the RAPID methodology is to define the current process – not just how it is documented, but how it is actually executed. Also, the project team will identify any issues or problems that exist with the process and initiate the brainstorming of solutions for these issues.

Methodology Tool	Description	Resources
5 Why's	The 5 Whys exercise guides team members in discovering root causes of a problem.	How-To Guide Template
Affinity Diagram	The Affinity Diagram helps the team to group facts, opinions, and other relevant points into related categories to uncover themes or to clarify a complex scenario.	How-To Guide Template
Brainstorming Techniques		coming soon
Cause and Effect Diagram (Fishbone Diagram)	The Cause and Effect Diagram helps the project team identify potential causes for a specific problem.	How-To Guide Sample Template (Excel) Template (Word)
Chart Selection Decision Tree		coming soon
Data Collection Plan	A data collection plan helps to ensure that data gathered during an analysis or improvement project is useful and appropriately collected.	How-To Guide Sample Template
Issue/Solution Matrix	This helps organize your brainstormed solutions to ensure that they map to issues that the team discovered.	Template
Pareto Chart	This chart can be used to highlight the issues that are most frequent or most responsible for service defects. It will help the team focus the scope of a project or improvement area to the area of greatest impact, or to determine the area of greatest significance.	How-To Guide
Process Mapping Techniques & Tools		coming soon
Spaghetti Map		coming soon
Waste Walk Worksheet	The Waste Walk Checklist helps to identify any non-value-added activities within a process.	How-To Guide Template

P-Plan For Change

The purpose of the Plan phase of the RAPID methodology is to prioritize and select solutions and plan for process change, making sure to obtain approval from the project sponsor for process changes. A concrete action plan will be formed, including deadlines and action owners.

Methodology Tool	Description	Resources
Solution Prioritization Matrix	This assists project team members to evaluate the multiple recommendations and solutions, scoring them according to a set of objective criteria.	How-To Guide Sample Template
Solution Action Plan	The Solution Action Plan identifies the actions required to implement the selected solutions. It specifies the owner and a tentative timeline for each action.	How-To Guide Sample Template

I-Implement Changes

The purpose of the Implement phase of the RAPID methodology is to execute the action plan and tasks that were established in the previous phase. Project team members will complete the tasks on the plan and the facilitator will follow up to ensure progress is made.

Methodology Tool	Description	Resources
Check-in Meeting Agenda	The facilitator may want to schedule multiple individual or group meetings to check in on the progress being made by the team on the planned action items.	Sample Template
5S Methodology Guide	Use the 5S methodology to improve safety, increase ownership of the workspace or item, improve productivity, and improve maintenance tasks.	Guide

D-Determine Success

The purpose of the Determine phase of the RAPID methodology is to evaluate the outcome of the project. A final report will be prepared that summarizes the activity, decisions, and improvements made during the project.

Methodology Tool	Description	Resources
Lessons Learned Questionnaire	When completed by project team members, a Lessons Learned questionnaire can help the facilitator and team learn from mistakes made during the project as well as successes. This is best to send out at the end of a project for small projects. For larger projects, Lessons Learned questionnaires can be sent at the midway point and at the end of a project, or at the end of each phase of the project.	Sample
Project Follow-up Checklist		coming soon
Project Summary/Final Report	A final report summarizes the project team's activities during each phase of the project, including the tools used and deliverables such as a future-state process map. It should also include the outcome of the project. This can be delivered to the process sponsor, the project owner, and the project team.	Template