When you are faced with a list of continuous improvement opportunities there is a good deal of sense in prioritising them.
One of the simplest ways is to rank them in terms of:
- Ease
- Cost
- Impact
If you get really into this you can score and prioritise them based on their total score (similar to the FMEA approach).
There is of course another factor that might be worth considering. Motivation. Sometimes the ideas are good, but the people who need to buy in to the ideas just aren't interested. This brings in the 'open door' factor.
Sometimes pushing on an open door is the right thing to do. Find those projects that the individuals who you need to get involved want to do. Hopefully they will be near to the top of your list too, and the aim is to get them interested in the 'right' improvements next.
Sometimes it makes sense to go with the flow...
Giles Johnston
Author of 'Business Process Re-Engineering', a practical plan to improve business performance.