Deming series (2) -- How to Develop measurement capabilities

 

Problem:

A company may have many measurements (such as progress, workload, and defects) to do a good job in software development, products, services, or sales ). However, many measurements are inadequate and helpful for improving product quality, productivity, or customer satisfaction. How can we set measurement and analysis targets so that they are consistent with the identified information requirements and business objectives?

Let's take two examples from Dai Ming's theory about Operation definition to reveal the answer to the above question.

Example 1 imagine we were at a large seminar. The question was: "How many people are there in this room ?"

(If you look around, you will see hundreds of people, but some are standing up, some are sitting, some are going out from the door, and some are entering the venue)

One by one? You will spend a lot of time and may encounter great difficulties. Do we need exact numbers or just estimates?

We have a question: "Why do we ask this question? Is it to register the participants, to reserve lunch, or to arrange seats ?"

The answer depends on the purpose of the question. For different purposes, we have different methods to calculate or obtain the number of people.

Example 2

One label shows: 50% wool

What does this mean?

The following figure shows a blanket containing 50% wool and 50% cotton.

Do you want to buy the blanket above?

What kind of blanket are you looking forward?

Lessons learned

To identify a metric, we must find a measurement target (or goal ). In addition, the same principles can be applied in other environments-such as project plans, software tests, acceptance activities, or commercial contracts.

Deming series (2) -- How to Develop measurement capabilities