QI Macros Blog by Jay Arthur

Improvement Insights Blog

Latest "QI Macros" Posts

Speed Learning for Minimally Invasive Training

How can you help people learn Lean Six Sigma quickly and easily? It’s a simple three step process that will slash the learning curve for everyone.

“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].

“In a recent video I talked to you about the whole idea of “minimally invasive training.” How do we teach people in an hour everything they need to know to start solving problems? To do that you have to think about all the advances that we know about in speed learning.

“If I’m teaching Lean what do I do? First I tell them a story of how I’ve used post-it notes to reduce cycle time by 50%, 60%, 80%, 90% in something.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma.

4/11/19 QI Macros Webinar

Over 30 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent versions of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)



If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the “Find Tool” search feature or the automated Value Stream Map), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

3/11/19 QI Macros Webinar

Almost 60 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent versions of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)



If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the “Find Tool” search feature or the automated Value Stream Map), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

Trendlines Are Rarely Improvements

At the 2018 Magnet Nursing conference in Denver, I saw many improvement posters using line or bar charts with an added trend line to show improvement. Unfortunately, few of the trends were valid. Here’s why:

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Statistics.

2/13/19 QI Macros Webinar

Almost 80 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent versions of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)



If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the “Find Tool” search feature or the automated Value Stream Map), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

Is Quality Improvement “Over Your Head?” “Beyond You?”

At a recent Magnet Nursing conference, I heard this phrase many times: Quality Improvement is “over my head.” These are smart people with advanced degrees! What’s going on?

Agile Lean Six Sigma is within your grasp. https://www.qimacros.com/pdf/Agile-Process-Innovation.pdf

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Six Sigma.

1/8/19 QI Macros Webinar

Almost 50 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent versions of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)



If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the “Find Tool” search feature or the automated Value Stream Map), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

IHI Quality Tool Usage in Poster Presentations

QI Macros exhibited at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) conference in Orlando this week. There were over 500 improvement posters. Like prior years, I used a checksheet to collect data about the tools used. Once again, the results are disappointing. Quality tools–control charts, Pareto charts, and Fishbone diagrams–are still a small percentage of tools used, unchanged since I started collecting data in 2015. Bar and line charts still dominate posters; I call them Dumb and Dumber charts.

The quest for Zero Harm using high-reliability methods and tools (i.e., Lean Six Sigma, control charts, Pareto charts, histograms, etc.) is gaining momentum.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Six Sigma.

12/6/18 QI Macros Webinar

Almost 150 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in the October 2018 version of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)



If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the “Find Tool” search feature or the automated Value Stream Map), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

20th vs 21st Century Quality

Too many quality professionals are clinging to the way things have always been done. There’s some sort of taboo about doing things quickly and easily. What are the differences between 20th and 21st Century Quality? Watch and find out:

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Statistics.