Business success starts with the basics

Many business improvement projects are embarked upon when some of the basics in a business are not being catered for. These projects are unlikley to work. The basics have to be in place first - the frills come second.

When we ignore the fundamentals of a business little cracks appear in the business. Over time these cracks get bigger and bigger until something significant happens. For those of you who are into root cause problem solving you will know that this occurs only too often. However, if we fix the basics, we can prevent the occurrence of a 'show stopper'.

When projects are designed to improve the finer aspects of how a business works it is always a good opportunity to make sure that all of the basics are in place already. I'm sure that you have heard countless 'house' analogies about weak foundations. Are there things in your business that aren't quite right that need to be tackled head on? By all means do the other tweaks later on.

Are there patterns of mistakes repeating in your business. Are there projects that aren't being started or completed? Are there disciplines that are no longer in place? When you find something small (or large) that isn't working don't ignore it. Work out what is causing the issue in the first place and do something about it.

Basics, basics, basics. Making sure that your business' basics are in place and are being maintained to an agreed standard is essential. Once you have the stability in your business then the other projects that can add further performance can be looked into. Take an inventory of your business and the basics that it needs to be built upon, and correct the issues that need correcting.

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Kamishibai Boards

Available to purchase here. Some tools are incredibly simple to use, and also deliver some amazing results. Kamishibai boards are a great example and are superb when you want some visual control over routine tasks. By the way Kamishibai is pronounced "come-e-she-bye" in case you were wondering! As simple as you could want it, a Kamishibai board is a T-card system that has red cards glued to green cards (so that each T-card has a red side and a green side). The red cards are for the incomplete tasks, where as the green cards symbolise that the work has been done. See the photo below of a board in use. On the red side of the card you write the name of the task that needs to be completed, and if appropriate you can include details of how the task is to be completed. This is not expected to replace standard operating procedures, but can be a good opportunity for an aide memoire. The boards can be organised for daily, weekly and even monthly cycles. They are g

Kamishibai Boards: A Visual Management Tool to Improve Discipline and Workplace Habits

If you need to increase your effectiveness in the workplace and need a visual tool to help with day to day task management then this short guide is for you. Giles Johnston, a business improvement consultant for small to medium sized businesses, takes you through the steps needed to implement a low / no cost solution to your day to day management problems - a 'Kamishibai' board. A Kamishibai board can help to improve discipline within the workplace and ensure that the working days / weeks / months are more effective. Common within businesses that use 'lean' methods to improve efficiency and performance (and very effective to use when implementing 5S), a Kamishibai board can be used in its own right, in any kind of business, whether you are going through a lean transformation or not. Click here to view on Amazon.com. Smartspeed Consulting Limited Taking the frustration out of on time delivery.

What is 5S and how does it help to improve the performance of my business?

Many businesses have heard of 5S; it is a simple workplace organisation system that is designed to make workplaces more effective and more efficient, as well as safer. Many businesses also try and fail at implementing 5S . It might be simple, but as you will know, anything that involves changing the behaviours of your staff isn’t always straightforward. If you haven’t heard of 5S before there are five basic steps, all beginning with ‘S’. They are: Sort – clearing out the clutter and re-distributing other people’s belongings. Set in order – optimising the workplace so that everything you need frequently is close at hand. Shine – cleaning the workplace to an appropriate level. Standards – defining what good looks like and how you will keep it that way. Sustain – forming the habits to retain the benefits of an organised and disciplined workplace. So, how does 5S improve the performance of your business? From a safety perspective, fewer accidents means less downtime.

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