How do i assess whether a new process at work is effective?

Question

I have put in place a new team process for a care team and I want to assess over time if it is making a difference to the effectiveness of the team. The possible outcome meaures are things like critical incidents, sickness, worker satisfaction, service user satisfaction. Can anyone give me technical statistical advice of the study design, stats to use etc.

Answer 1

through case study&polls!

Answer 2

compare its results to the old process

Answer 3

This is one of my specialty areas that I consult on; it is beyond the scope of this answer.

Basically, stick with 4-7 measurements for the first few months.  Out of those, choose 2 that have the most opportunity for improvement and focus on those.

You can use techniques like cycle time reduction or Six Sigma, that have published books, to help you determine how to track things.  It is good that you are including both internal measures and external measures - you can have great stats but if your users aren't happy, you aren't doing well.  You will want to create graphs such as a scatter chart, that shows the distribution of deviances; a bar chart that shows where problems occur in categories; and a control chart that shows if problems are within acceptable limits caused by common causes; or outside of the limits.

You should also put in place a methodology to test how well the process is being followed; your stats will not mean much if everyone is doing their own thing.  Again, there are books that will train you on process validation; the pharmaceutical industry is a big user of this type of methodology.  This methodology will consist of random samples of work; they are audited to see how well the team process is followed.