The Development Phase is the final stage of the Quality Improvement Framework, a quality improvement framework that guides professionals in recognizing areas for improvement and acting upon them systematically. This phase makes up a crucial part of any quality management or improvement initiative and follows the implementation of the recommended changes from the Implementation Stage.

In the Optimize Phase, teams of professionals will focus on developing and implementing answers to the problems that were identified during the Identify Phase. These answers must meet specific criteria and must carry a high probability of giving the required results. These requirements may include guidelines for budgets, timelines, and input information. Effective solutions are proactive and directed at both the problems that are symptomatic and those that gave origin to these symptoms.

The first step in this phase is to identify and select solutions to tackle the problems at hand. Numerous tools can help with this, such as decision matrices. Once key solutions are chosen, the team must assess and refine their potential effects. This entails closely examining the influence of the changes within both current operational and economic systems. Also, anticipate eventual systemic effects and in their relations with existing rules.

Detailed plans will be made for implementing these solutions into actual practice. Here too, a detailed assessment of present limitations as well as potential challenges must occur in this step to protect against unfavorable changes from occurring during the process of deployment.

Key considerations such as communication plans - how certain that stakeholders will be made aware and obtain actual involvement with the recent changes - need also to be addressed carefully. Both collaboration regarding expectations placed on particular persons or components of the site environment, as well as reporting of outcomes achieved, should be comprehensively integrated.

Lastly, Lean Manufacturing consultant with the assistance of information originating in the Analysis Phase, ongoing assessments of process changes, operational information and cost information should be checked. While they must undergo more frequent and profound oversight throughout the first few months, a deeper 'probing depth' is considered to be established soon after.