By Nicolas Veslin
(3 minutes)
NV • The deployment of a new concept or a new visual identity is an important event for a network. The company invests and engages for several years in an identity path that must be a success. Employees and General Management therefore watch the project and its progress very closely.
If you are in charge of such a project, you need to master the problems that are sure to get in your way. Risk analysis, at the very beginning of the project, is then a precious ally.
At IMEI we use the FMEA method which is detailed in this article. I have observed that this collective working method is very powerful. In fact, not only will you anticipate the risks and implement the means to control them, but you will also build the cohesion of your team and thus make your life easier!
The method is simple and inexpensive. IMEI conducts for you these risk analysis work in consulting services or integrates them into its broader missions of Assistance to the Contracting Authority. Intra-company training can also be an interesting solution if you want to deploy the method more widely within your departments.
How to carry out this risk analysis?
Theory. Experience sharing. We tell you everything.
Theory
FMEA stands for Failure Modes and Effects Analysis.
It is an approach that applies today to products, processes or services. Its purpose is to imagine the failures that the system studied will potentially suffer, their consequences and the means to be implemented to limit or eliminate the most critical risks. The method mobilizes participants whose skills, knowledge and points of view are complementary to guarantee the exhaustiveness of the analysis.
To perform a FMEA, we use a rating grid and we evaluate three criteria for each failure: its Severity (S), its Probability (P) and the Detection (D).
The Risk (R) is calculated by : R= S x P x D.
Practical application
Steps :
- Define the working group and the scope of the analysis
- Identify potential failures
- Define preventive and corrective actions
FMEA must be carried out at the very beginning of the project because it is a preventive approach. The first step of a FMEA is to compose the working group and define the scope of analysis. This stage is carried out by the Project Management or the Contracting Authority. The method mobilizes a working group made up of all the project stakeholders.
NV • Depending on the nature of the project and the organization of the network, the group may be composed of the Contracting Authority, the Design Office, the Project Management, a representative of agents or managers of points of sale, the Maintenance department, the Marketing department, the Communication department, the Commercial department, manufacturers and installers.
I often find that the idea of bringing all of these services together in one workgroup seems difficult for my clients. Bad relations, taboos, competition … there are many reasons. The use of an outside consultant is a very good way to facilitate the creation of the team and the effective participation of each group member.
This joint work goes beyond the risk analysis. Indeed, making all the project stakeholders work together makes everyone aware of the difficulties encountered by the other actors and therefore facilitates communication and the exchange of information that will have to be done during the operational phase of the project.
The profit is enormous and the return on investment guaranteed! So use it.
The second step is to identify potential failures, assumed or already encountered during a similar project.
Each step of the process is analyzed. The animator defines with the group the rating scale for Severity, Probability and Detectation and uses an analysis grid. The working group describes the failures, their consequences and quantifies their level of risk (R).
NV • A color code makes it easier to read the document.
The method does not impose a scale, so it is the experience of the animator and the common thinking of the team that calibrate properly the rating scale. For example, we can choose to assign the ratings 1-3-5 for each criterion and put words on what is a 1, a 3 or a 5. We can thus have for Detection: 1 = Systematic detection; 3 = Random detection; 5 = Unable to detect.
The process steps are those described in the workflow and the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of the project. You can find these concepts in the article How to prepare a deployment project – Framework and Master Plan.
Risk analysis may relate to Communication, the establishment and use of Project Management Tools, Means and Human Resources, Employee training, Resistance to change and the social environment of the company.
Finally, the last step is to define the actions to be taken against risks that go beyond the acceptability threshold.
Once again, it is the collective intelligence and experience of the members of the working group that makes it possible to well define these actions.
NV • Depending on the size of the group, the animator can organize reflections and work in pairs. It is then an opportunity for the various players to start a good relationship built on a moment of co-construction of solutions. This step is therefore a moment of both risk analysis and team building.
The FMEA worksheet constitutes the final output and the action plan to be implemented. I advise to review it regularly during project points, to complete it if necessary and of course to follow the implementation of actions.
In conclusion
FMEA is a simple, pragmatic, inexpensive and very powerful method.
It is interesting, both for project preparation and Quality management, but also for team building and Change management. The implementation of FMEA must be led by one or two experienced people. Choosing a consultant can be a good idea to promote freedom of expression and speaking, and to avoid overtones or taboos.
Contact us and call on a FMEA expert or schedule a training.
To go further
Download an example of FMEA worksheet :
editION
The articles published on imei-consulting.com are extracts from L’Université IMEI’s internal training modules, the aim of which is to share knowledge, values, know-how and methods with IMEI employees.
Writter :
Nicolas VESLIN
CEO of IMEI
Specialist in concept deployments since 2003
