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.

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