Jory MacKay on August 20, 2025 6 process improvement methodologies to help your company grow
At the atomic level, a company is a collection of processes that come together to produce products, services, and customer interactions. But as staff change roles and technology evolves, processes can quickly become out of date, leaving you unable to unlock additional growth.
A process improvement methodology is a structured approach to analyze, visualize, and improve the way your business operates.
Done right, process improvement methodologies are great for identifying waste, inefficiency, and bottlenecks.
Jump to a section:
If you’re a founder or leader who feels that parts of your business are stuck (or could be improved), this article is for you. We’ll dive into process improvement methodologies, including the most common frameworks, when to use each one, and how to put them into action.
What is process improvement? Why should you care about it?
A process improvement methodology is a structured approach used to analyze, visualize, and improve business processes. When implemented successfully, process improvement methodologies make operations more efficient, reduce waste and bottlenecks, improve quality, and increase customer satisfaction.
Process improvement methodologies can be used in almost any aspect of business, regardless of sector, industry, or organization design. For example:
| Industry | How to use process improvement methodologies |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | Identify steps and tasks that can be completed by machines, rather than humans, to increase speed and quality. |
| IT | Identify areas where AI can be used to speed up processing times, uncover new data insights, or support decision-making. |
| Customer service | Used to smooth high-demand periods and reduce customer wait times. |
No matter your industry, sector, or organization, there are huge efficiencies to be gained by using a process improvement methodology. Here are some of the best benefits on offer:
- Increased productivity. At its core, process improvement is a way to remove repeated inefficiencies and help your team (and entire organization) operate at a much higher productivity level. Many internal processes get bloated with unclear decision-making and other organizational “busy work” that slows teams down and kills motivation.
- Faster shipping time. For organizations that ship products — both physical and digital — process improvement methodologies are great at identifying efficiencies that hamper speed. This keeps customers happy and helps you stay ahead of your competition.
- Cost reductions. Organizations that are more productive, efficient, and fast cost less to run. Focusing on process improvements is a great way to cut costs in your business.
- Company-wide alignment. When processes are inefficient and teams work in silos, they aren’t aligned. Process improvement methodologies are great at identifying ways teams can work better together, simplifying hand-offs, improving collaboration, and boosting alignment.
- Compliance. When processes are more efficient, it creates transparency and consistency, which minimizes risk and makes it easier to spot and rectify non-compliance.
- Quality. Especially in areas such as manufacturing and construction, when processes are slick and efficient, it helps improve quality and consistency. This improves customer satisfaction and reduces waste.
- Employee satisfaction. We’ve all worked in companies that are slow and inefficient. By making processes more efficient and easy-to-operate, you’ll improve the employee experience, making them more engaged and satisfied in their work.
How to identify business processes that could be improved
It can be tricky to understand exactly which processes need improvement. After all, once you’ve used a process for long enough, that’s just the “way it’s done”.
To overcome this, we’d recommend baking process review into your regular tasks, focusing on these types of activities:
- Process mapping. All processes should be written down, and the best and most visual way to do this is by creating a process map. Just writing the process down makes it easier to visualize areas of inefficiency and get everyone on the same page as to what requires fixing. We’ll dive into process mapping a little more later on.
- Root cause analysis. If your business is facing a problem, a root cause analysis (RCA) is a great way to dive into what’s causing it. In many instances, an RCA technique, such as 5 Whys or Fishbone, uncovers process inefficiencies waiting to be tackled.
- Performance metric analysis. All businesses track some sort of metric, and when a key data point is lagging, it often indicates something is wrong, and a broken business process could be to blame.
- Employee interviews. Your employees are living and breathing your processes every single day, making them best placed to identify processes that aren’t working. Whether it’s a dedicated interview or simply embedding process feedback into engagement surveys, asking employees is a great way to identify process improvement opportunities.
- Sprint retrospectives. If you’re operating an Agile project management framework, such as Scrum, retrospectives provide a regular opportunity to identify processes that need work. Add this step as a standard agenda item to your next retrospective to prompt regular focus on process improvement.
- Identifying bottlenecks. The biggest warning sign of a broken process is a bottleneck, whether that’s relating to admin tasks, launching products, or manufacturing. Whenever you experience bottlenecks, put some focus into breaking down processes to identify areas of improvement.
Organizations that are more productive, efficient, and fast cost less to run. Focusing on process improvements is a great way to cut costs in your business.
Pro tip: You can’t focus on every process improvement at once. Instead, keep a running “process improvement backlog” in your project management tool and regularly prioritize issues based on where you see the most upside. Planio is the perfect tool for managing your backlog and giving visibility to process improvements across teams and stakeholders.
6 business process improvement methodologies you can start using today
If you’re just getting started with process improvement, the good news is that there’s a range of methodologies to choose from, based on your needs, sector, or organization.
Let’s break down each one to understand how they work and which ones are best suited for different process inefficiencies.
1. Six Sigma
Originally founded within Motorola in the 1980s, Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology that focuses on identifying and eliminating process deficiencies through deep statistical analysis.
It’s one of, if not the most popular process improvement methodologies, with a range of karate-inspired qualifications allowing you to become a “Green Belt” or “Black Belt” in process improvement!
Documents & Visualizations:
Six Sigma is known for its DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process, which offers a structured approach to understanding and improving any sort of process - so long as you can gather good data on it. Alongside this, Six Sigma helps analyze and improve processes by creating:
- Fishbone diagrams
- Statistical reports
- Root cause analysis (RCA) breakdowns
- Control charts
Example in practice:
A manufacturing company might use Six Sigma to reduce defects and improve efficiency on their assembly line. To achieve this, they’d define the problem, then collect and measure data on every stage of production. This would help identify where most defects occur and then help them plan to eliminate the root causes over time.
Best use case:
Six Sigma is great for processes where you can capture a high volume of data, using statistical analysis to target a specific issue. It’s perfect for quality control, too, which makes it popular in manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services.
2. Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)
Stemming from the Japanese word “Kaizen,” continuous improvement methodologies focus on making small, incremental changes that add up to great efficiencies over time.
While there are now many Continuous Improvement (CI) variations, CI is a people-focused methodology, promoting collaboration and creative thinking to identify ‘waste’ and small improvements in any type of process.
Documents & Visualizations:
- Most CI methodologies start with detailed process mapping, using the visual outputs to create suggestion logs and waste lists that can be tackled incrementally over time.
- Once those improvements are defined, they may be explored deeper using other methodologies such as 5 Why’s or a Root Cause Analysis.
Example in practice:
A customer service team might adopt continuous improvement by mapping their processes and then holding weekly 15-minute sessions where team members suggest small improvements.
For example, one week, someone might create a new email template that saves 30 seconds per response. These small changes add up over time to create a bigger efficiency gain.
Best use case:
Continuous improvement can work for any type of process or organization but is most effective when you have an engaged team who are motivated to get better. It’s particularly effective in companies with stable, ongoing processes where small improvements can have cumulative effects.
3. Lean
Made famous by Toyota in the late 1950s, Lean is another common process improvement methodology that focuses on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.
As part of the Lean process, users identify eight types of waste (including overproduction, waiting, transportation, and defects) and use tools to eliminate them over time.
Documents & Visualizations:
- Most Lean projects focus on creating value stream maps, which identify how every step of a process does/doesn’t add value to the end customer.
- If any step doesn’t add sufficient value, it’s identified as waste, and teams work to eliminate it.
Example in practice:
A software development team could use Lean to map their current development process and identify how each step contributes to a successful customer launch. They might discover that developers spend time developing features that customers don’t actually use, and would then restructure their planning process to include more user research and thus, remove this waste.
Best use case:
While Lean can be used across most organizations and processes, it’s best at optimizing repetitive processes that directly build products or services. In these areas, it helps reduce cycle times and improve flow between teams.
4. Just-In-Time (JIT)
Just-In-Time (JIT) is another methodology from the Toyota school of efficiency that focuses on optimizing processes to deliver exactly what they need to, when they need to.
JIT is predominantly focused on eliminating inventory overstocking, but the same principles can apply to non-physical assets, people resources, cash, and customer service too.
Documents & Visualizations:
- For most organizations, JIT starts by gaining a clear understanding of demand, creating demand forecasts, supplier scorecards, and inventory/resource turnover analysis.
- From there, organizations can improve processes to ensure the optimal amount of resources are in place, while also identifying areas of waste to optimize further.
Example in practice:
A retail clothing company could use JIT to closely monitor sales data to understand where demand peaks occur. Then, by coordinating with suppliers and internal teams, they could optimize when stock is delivered to reduce storage costs, warehouse staff costs, and minimize the risk of unsold inventory.
Best use case:
JIT works best for organizations with predictable demand and reliable suppliers. It’s particularly effective in manufacturing, retail, and distribution, where inventory costs and logistics costs are significant.
5. Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a holistic approach to improvement that emerged in the 1950s.
Rather than focusing on individual processes, the goal of TQM is to create education, awareness, and a culture where quality and efficiency are everyone’s responsibility, and customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal.
Documents & Visualizations:
- The first step of TQM is to train employees on the processes and procedures that matter for their role. Then, by providing the enabling tools they need, everyone can constantly look for ways to improve quality and outcomes.
- This often includes quality manuals, process maps, satisfaction surveys, and customer feedback reports, that can all be used to identify ways to improve over time.
Example in practice:
A hospital may use TQM by training all staff members, from doctors to maintenance workers, in quality improvement techniques.
They would then form cross-functional teams to address patient safety issues, implement regular patient feedback systems, and create processes for reporting and resolving quality concerns. Everyone becomes responsible for identifying and solving problems that affect patient care quality.
Best use case:
TQM works best in service-oriented organizations where customer satisfaction is critical, such as healthcare, education, and professional services. In these organizations, processes might not be as rigid, so efficiency is gained by changing the cultural mindset, rather than forcing data-led analysis.
6. Theory of Constraints
Popularised by Eliyahu Goldratt in the 1980s, the Theory of Constraints (TOC) is based on the simple principle that every system has at least one constraint that’s holding it back.
The methodology focuses on identifying and systematically improving these constraints to increase overall performance over time.
Documents & Visualizations:
- TOC projects always create a constraint analysis report, which may be built from domain-specific reports such as resource plans, accounting logs, or customer feedback.
- Key tools include the five focusing steps methodology, throughput accounting, buffer management, and critical chain project management.
Example in practice:
A software development team could use TOC to speed up their users’ e-commerce purchase-flow speed. By analyzing website traffic, user trends, and feedback, they identify that load times are consistently slow, bogging users down as they move through the checkout. So, they plan to increase server capacity to solve the issue.
Best use case:
TOC is great for organizations that manage throughput, such as manufacturing plants, service centers, e-commerce sites, and project-based companies. It works best when there are obvious bottlenecks and a willingness to focus resources on individual constraint areas rather than trying to optimize everything at once.
How to properly implement a process improvement initiative
Regardless of which process improvement methodology you pick, making a change requires careful planning and consideration.
Here’s a step-by-step to ensure you make the change in the right way that boosts your chances of success:
- Define objectives. Like any good change project, it’s best to start by identifying your objectives. While it’s easy to just say “make the process better,” having a tangible goal (such as to increase customer satisfaction or reduce costs) aligns everyone on the purpose of the exercise. Here’s some guidance on how to write great project objectives.
- Map your current process. Most process improvement projects start by mapping out your current processes. This sets you up for success, making it clear and easy to communicate how things are now, and how they’ll change in the future. Our guide on process mapping is a great resource to help you get started.
- Get team and stakeholder buy-in. Your “as-is” process maps are great at getting buy-in from your team and stakeholders on what’s broken and build excitement and energy around fixing it. Don’t miss this step, as it sets the foundation for your change later down the line! Brush up on your stakeholder management skills here to help you land this.
- Choose your methodology. Whether it’s looking for waste with Lean, collaborating on small changes using CI, or taking a data-driven approach with Six Sigma, choose the methodology that’s best for your business.
- Create a plan for change. From the outputs of your methodology, you’ll have lots of ideas to make process improvements. This is where Planio can really help. With features for task management, document storage, collaboration, and planning, you have everything you need (all in one place) to plan and manage your process change. You can even visualize it all in a handy Kanban board.
- Implement the changes. With everything planned out, it’s time to implement your change. Remember this is likely to include technical changes, communications, and re-training, so take your time to ensure the change lands correctly. If you need some extra help, we’ve got a free project implementation plan template to keep you on track!
- Monitor and adjust as needed. All process improvements go in cycles. Take the time to monitor the impact of your change and make any adjustments you need to to boost value. Remember, you won’t solve everything the first time, so keep plugging away to continuously improve the way your business works.
Process improvement removes repeated inefficiencies and helps your team (and entire organization) operate at a much higher productivity level.
The bottom line: Companies are constantly evolving
Stepping back to focus on process improvement is hard when you’re battling the competition and changing consumer behaviors. But, leave it for too long, and you’ll soon find your business has turned stale.
The good news is that there’s a range of lightweight and data-driven process improvement methodologies that can help uncover and eliminate waste to keep you at your most efficient and help you grow!
Whether you choose Lean, TQM, Six Sigma, or any other methodology, Planio is the perfect tool to help you plan, implement, and monitor process changes big and small.
Want to try Planio out with your team? Get a free 30-day Planio trial (no credit card needed!)
