1. Quality Tools

2. Decision Tree When to use it Use it when making important or complex decisions, to identify the course of action that will give the best value according to a selected set of rules Use it when decision-making, to identify the effects of risks. Use it when making plans, to identify the effects of actions and possible alternative courses of action. Use it when there are chains of decisions, to determine the best decision at each point. Use it only when data is available, or can reasonably be determined, on costs and probabilities of different outcomes.

3. How to understand it It evaluates possible actions and subsequent events in order to gain a numerical value by which the best action can be selected. It selects the strategy for determining the real present value of the potential payoffs. It can deal with more than just one set of actions and subsequent events. The value of Decission Tree is very much affected by the accuracy of the data being used.

4. How to do it 1.Identify the objective of the decision-making process. 2.Identify constraints on the decision making. 3.List the set of possible actions to be considered as ways of achieving the objectives. 4.List the possible events that may follow on from each of the actions identified in step 3. Limit this to a few events which constitute all possibilities. Events may be dependent or independent, as follows: –Dependent events are a direct consequence of performing an individual action, and are thus different for each action. –Independent events do not depend on the actions, and are just as likely to happen whatever action is taken. 5.For each action (step 3) and event (step 4), determine a value that describes the gain that will be achieved if this combination occurs: the payoff. 6.The basic Decision Tree can now be drawn. 7.Decide how to select the best actions by using a defined strategy to determine the 'real' value of the payoffs identified in step 5. 8.If the strategy calls for it determine the probability of each action/event combination. It can be very difficult and expensive to get accurate figures, and decisions may need to be made on the value of accuracy. 9.Calculate the value of each action, using the strategy selected in step 7. 10.Select one of the values from step 9, again using the defined strategy of step 7. 11.If required, the tree may be extended with another set of decisions, using steps 3 to 10. 12.Carry out the selected actions and check the events and payoff occur as expected. If they do not, identify causes for another round of process improvement.

5. Practical variations When the complete Decision Tree is large, break it into separate sub-trees. This makes it easier to calculate and understand. Use a Prioritization Matrix both to select the possible actions to consider and to identify the subsequent events. Sometimes multiple events occur between actions. These can be handled by rippling back the calculation, as illustrated. Use the Decision Tree with the Activity Network, to plan for alternative project actions.

6. Brainstorming When to use it 1.Use it when new ideas are required, to generate a large list of possibilities. 2.Use it when a solution to a problem cannot be logically deduced. 3.Use it when information about a problem is confused and spread across several people, to gather the information in one place. 4.The creative synergy of a Brainstorming session is also useful in helping a team bind together.

7. How to understand it Brainstorming bypasses the blocks and enables the mind to reach its full creative potential by suspending judgment, removing the fear of failure and encouraging the use of divergent thinking to achieve a long list of ideas. True divergent thinking differs from conventional thinking, in that the list will contain illogical and unconventional ideas as well as logical and obvious ones. Reduce these ideas to one or more which will be used Brainstorming works well in groups, because of the effects of synergy. The size of the group is important. The creative activity of brainstorming uses 'right brained' thinking in the same way as the Affinity Diagram. It is useful for a person who is not involved in the creative session to act as facilitator. A separate recorder may also be employed to write down the ideas, allowing the facilitator to maintain this focus on the group. Strictly speaking, Brainstorming is only for creating a list of new ideas. In practice, it tends to be also used for the collection of less creative opinions, and often also includes a voting session to select items for further action.

8. How to do it Start with a clear, open and unambiguous statement of the problem that you want to address. Appoint a facilitator to organize and run the Brainstorming meeting. Form a group of between five and eight people who may contribute to the problem. Lay out the meeting room with participants facing one wall, on which is a whiteboard or flipchart. Thus they face the problem, not one another. In the meeting, the facilitator focuses the group by describing the four rules of Brainstorming –No criticism or debate. Absolutely no negative talk allowed. Focus on the problem, not each other. Suspend judgment until later. –The sky is the limit. The wilder the ideas the better. Crazy ideas often lead to useful ideas. –Quantity rather than quality. The more ideas you have, the more chance of a useful one appearing. –Mutate and combine. –Start generating ideas, making sure that everyone can contribute. –As the ideas are suggested, the recorder writes each one down on the whiteboard or flipchart, so that they are all in full view of the participants. When there are no more ideas to add, discuss the listed ideas, looking to identify the better ideas rather than eliminating those which are not so good If there is no clear agreement on the best idea, or if there is any chance of participants being reticent, identify a voting system to decide The facilitator confirms that this is a group decision, and that all support the final choice.

9. Practical variations Include someone in the team who is known for being creative, but who is completely naive about the problem. Remove the thinking constraints of the normal work environment by moving the Brainstorming session to a less conventional situation. Leave the final list pinned to a wall or sent as a copy to team members so they can look at it in odd moments. Start with a session to come up with ways of restating the problem, looking at it from different angles. Write the ideas on cards or adhesive memo notes, to enable the ideas to be subsequently organized using other techniques, such as the Affinity diagram or Relations Diagram. Use a standard checklist to prompt for more questions Identify blocks that may have to be overcome by reversing the problem statement. After an idea has been selected, brainstorm again to identify possible snags and problems by asking, 'How can this idea fail?' Write ideas in an unclear fashion, then ask people who did not create the idea to interpret it. The originator may then say what they were thinking.