How to Use the Histogram as a Quality Improvement Tool

The histogram is a popular tool with many applications, and it’s commonly seen in various environments. It’s not directly related to lean or Six Sigma, although it’s quite frequently used in those areas too, and understanding the implications of its proper use is one of the best things you could do as a leader to improve the performance of your company.

Quality improvement is something that can specifically benefit from the use of histograms if you’re clever about it, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to put them to proper use in this area. You just have to understand the implications of the histogram as a tool, what kinds of problems it’s supposed to address, and on the other side, the types of problems where using it is not the most appropriate solution.

Benefits of the Histogram for Quality Improvement

There are several ways the histogram can prove useful to you when seeking quality improvement in your organization, whether it’s on a smaller scale or on a larger one. First, they can help you visualize data in a comprehensible manner that can communicate complex ideas across the board. This will ensure that everyone in the organization will understand the implications of certain actions, not just higher-ranking individuals with a lot of experience in data analysis.

That’s why histograms are so commonly used in corporate presentations and other similar contexts, and there’s a good reason to adopt them yourself if you still haven’t.

A histogram can also show you how well data is centered around a certain pivot point, and in cases where this is important for your operations, it can reveal a lot about the way you should be running the company. Sometimes data symmetry will not be that important to your business, but in other cases it will be the main point you’re trying to tackle.

Combining Histograms with Other Analysis Tools

Another great benefit of histograms for quality improvement is that they can be easily combined with other tools for data analysis, revealing some interesting points that would normally slip by undetected. The simplicity of the histogram makes it great for applying it in new environments, and it’s often not that hard to combine the data you get from certain sources with the representation mode of a histogram, allowing you to generate an even more interesting overview of certain types of data.

A good histogram can also reveal a lot about some types of data that are normally difficult to visualize using other methods, but you need to make sure that you’re not overusing it, especially when it comes to presenting multiple data points simultaneously. This is a common problem with using histograms, and extending them too much in a certain direction can often prove problematic in the long run.

Customizing Histograms for Your Own Specific Needs

Last but definitely not least, a histogram can help improve the quality of your operations a lot through its flexibility alone. A great aspect of histograms is that they can easily be adapted to various purposes and applications, and you don’t necessarily have to stick with one common mode of use if you see other ways a histogram can benefit your analysis.

Talk to different people within the organization and get their input on your current use of histograms, and you might get some surprising insights here and there. Just remember that you should consider all opinions equally here, as someone at a lower level of the organization might see things differently than someone ranked more highly, and in some cases certain pieces of information might be missing for those below.