Visible Continuous Improvement Plans

Years ago I was criticised for having numerous pieces of paper all over a wall in my office. This was when I worked as a Production Manager in a factory failing to hit its output targets*. Apparently it looked a little messy....

I needed to take action to change my factory's situation and one lonely Friday afternoon (when everyone else had gone home) I listed out the changes I needed to make. These formed the mini-projects that were all over my wall.

Production was busy. Frankly it was chaotic and I chose to pin my mini improvement plans to my wall so that they were 'in my face'. Every time I walked into my office there were my plans. I certainly didn't forget about them.

How many times have you crafted a much needed improvement plan but never gotten around to implementing the changes?

There are many strategies we can take to improve how we deliver our projects and the idea of having the plans in bite sized chunks and highly visible is just one.

I used this approach to constantly nibble away at my projects and over a period of a couple of months our performance was transformed. We actually started winning new business on the back of this performance alone.

After the first few mini-projects were implemented I started to buy myself a little bit of time each week. This allowed me to tackle more in-depth issues and the more involved mini-plans. It was certainly an upward spiral.

So, I love technology and I'm a big believer in being neat and organised. I am also a big believer in using the right tools for the right job. In this case a pen, paper and a wall were the right approach for me.

What's the right approach for you?

Giles Johnston
* To read the full story (and get hold of the action points) please click here.

Comments

The Kaizen Checklist is here!

Do you want to get better results from your Kaizen programme? Improve your business results quickly with my downloadable kit (including guidebook, workbook and templates) for only $39. Are you looking for a sustainable way to identify and implement improvements across your business? Practical improvement strategies The Kaizen Checklist is a downloadable kit that you can use with your management team to develop a system that suits your business and allow you to quickly implement Kaizen effectively at your place of work. This works great if you use it as the centre piece of your own internal workshop. The kit includes a 40 page guidebook, a workbook, four appendices and three templates. All parts of this kit are designed to get you up and running as fast as possible. If you are unfamiliar with Kaizen, let me stress that this is a simple improvement philosophy that is so much more than just ‘a Japanese word for continuous improvement’. I’ll cover what it...

How to get started with continuous improvement

We all know that continuous improvement is a strategy that is essential for business. It involves constantly seeking ways to improve processes, products, or services in order to achieve better results and outcomes. However, for many people, the thought of starting on the path of continuous improvement can be daunting. The fear of doing it incorrectly or not knowing where to start can be overwhelming. The key to successful continuous improvement is to start small and gradually build upon your successes. Here are some tips to help you get started if you are unsure of how to begin: 1. Identify areas for improvement: The first step in continuous improvement is to identify the areas that need improvement. This can be done by looking at the processes, products, or services that are not performing as well as they could be. It is important to involve all stakeholders in this process to gain a comprehensive understanding of the areas that need attention. 2. Set specifi...

Nail the number one improvement project

Over the past few weeks I have intervened in my client's continuous improvement programmes . I did this for one good reason: They weren't getting results. They caught the improvement bug, like so many organisations do. They got caught in the trap of wanting to change everything now! As I said, this happens to most of us from time to time. You start with some small improvements and you then identify more improvements you could get your teeth into. The next thing you know, you are trying to run ten improvement projects as well as deliver your day job. I know from bitter experience that this usually leads to having lots of loose ends rather than tangible increases in performance. So, what can you do about this? I know that with careful experimenting and resource management, you could find your sweet spot and figure out how many projects you can handle at once. Or, you can take the quick route and pare back your list until you have one priority. The one project that will give you t...

The Smartspeed Performance Improvement Blog