Arizona's experience in continuous improvement.

Over the past 15 years, Arizona has been on a performance roller coaster of highs and lows regarding Food Stamp Program accuracy. In 1996, the Food and Nutrition Service levied a hefty penalty for substandard performance during the prior three years. In 1999 and 2003, Arizona earned bonus funding for being among the top performing states. In 2007 the FNS, for the second time, penalized Arizona for being one of the poorest-performing states during the preceding two-year period.

While we were exploring ways to improve our performance, our agency was undertaking ways to enhance our organization. The Department of Economic Security had developed a business model, which identified:(1) who we are at our core - our vision, mission, goals and values, (2) the foundational strategies and (3) strategies to strengthen the agency. One of the strategies to strengthen DES is to ensure a quality workforce. This includes ensuring that we are hiring the right people for the right positions, aligning training, development and performance expectations with our organization's values and enhancing training and supports for supervisors.

Through analysis, we determined that our staff recruitment, development and retention were deficient and needed improvement. We determined that the key positions of first-level supervisor and manager had the greatest impact on performance, yet were the least supported in training and development.

In 2007, we contracted with APHSA to deliver consultative services through direct work with 11 office management teams. In July 2007, we kicked off the program with a full-day workshop. The concept of "Learning by Doing" as a method of continuous improvement was introduced to the management teams at the first five participating offices. A number of management personnel attended. This workshop provided a forum for identifying and understanding agency and office priorities, which established the groundwork for the individual team activities.

In the ensuing months, each local office team worked on areas they had identified as most in need of improvement. The consultant facilitated these teams through five steps for continuous improvement:

* Define the areas for improvement in operational terms;

* Assess the current and desired state, and identify root causes for any related gaps;

* Plan the solution or remedial action;

* Implement the plan and

* Monitor the progress and outcomes, adjusting plans as necessary.

The "DAPIM" model provided a systematic approach within which team members learned continuous improvement by solving problems they had identified. Many times throughout the process, as teams employed the DAPIM principles, a tool was introduced from the consultant's tool kit or emerged from the team's own work as a solution to a particular problem. This is where more traditional training fits into the DAPIM approach, ensuring immediate application in the real world.

A key aspect of the DAPIM method is to initially identify and work toward "quick wins" that can be achieved within a month. Experiencing early success serves to reinforce the approach and motivate team members to continue working toward mid - to long-range solutions that may be more complex. For continuous improvement, the analogy of turning a heavy flywheel was given to describe the difficulty and effort necessary to make the first turn. Once momentum is established, the second and subsequent turns of the flywheel become increasingly easy.

The consultant's work with the first five teams was completed in October 2007 with all five teams reporting successful results. Most important, participants have learned the DAPIM continuous improvement methodology and continue to add strategies to their tool box. Finally, each of the teams enhanced their level of trust with one another and with upper management by having open and constructive discussions, often about difficult and revealing subjects.

We began Phase II of the plan to improve our supervisor and management development by considering the question of sustainability and how to replicate this "Learning by Doing' approach. Also, after receiving executive leadership support at the agency level, plans are being made to incorporate the "Learning by Doing" approach in other areas of staff development. Plans are under way to develop a curriculum for instruction on how to become a continuous improvement facilitator, thus further building our capacity to implement this program in all of our 100-plus sites.

Marco Liu is the program administrator of the Office of Administrative Services in the Arizona Family Assistance Administration.