Discussion: Non-value-added Steps.

Discussion: Non-value-added Steps.

NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Discussion: Non-value-added Steps.

The five whys represent one technique to drive the team toward identifying value-added versus non-value-added steps. The process redesign facilitator will query the group about why a specific task is done or done in a particular way through a series of questions asking “why?” The goal is to uncover tasks that came about due to workarounds or for other unsubstantiated reasons. Tasks that are considered non–value added and are not necessary for the purpose of compliance or regulatory reasons should be eliminated from the future-state process. The team’s purpose in redesigning workflow is to eliminate steps in a process that do not add value to the end state or that create waste by their very nature.

Waste

A key underpinning of the Lean philosophy is the removal of waste activities from workflow. Waste is classified as unnecessary activities or an excess of products to perform tasks. The seven categories listed here are the most widely recognized forms of waste:

· Overproduction: pace is faster than necessary to support the process

Waiting

· Transport

· Inappropriate processing: over-processing

· Unnecessary inventory: excess stock

· Unnecessary motion: bending, lifting, moving, and so on

· Defects: reproduction

Variation

The nature of the work situation for the nurse is one of frequent interruptions causing the workflow to be disrupted and increasing the chance of error ( Yuan et al., 2013 ). Variation in workflow is considered the enemy of all good processes and, therefore, should be eliminated when possible. Variation occurs when workers perform the same function in different ways. It usually arises because of flaws in the way a process was originally designed, lack of knowledge about the process, or inability to execute a process as originally designed due to disruption or disturbances in the workflow. Examining the process as it exists today will help with identifying variation. A brief statement about