When I am working with clients I often hear them talking about potential improvement ideas.
But, when I ask them where they keep their improvement ideas they can't show me!
What compounds this issue is that I sometimes also hear them discussing problems and the corresponding improvements during the course of a grumble in the office. These ideas are not recognised and so they don't get implemented!
So, should you find yourself in this position please remember this:
- Decide on how you want to capture your ideas / opportunities.
- Capture the opportunities.
- Evaluate and prioritise the opportunities.
- Break down the selected priorities into tangible action plans.
- Use the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) approach to making sure you get the results.
- Repeat.
...please don't let your improvement opportunities slip through your fingers!
Giles Johnston
Author of Business Process Re-Engineering
P.S. If you want some more ideas and methods on how to manage your continuous improvement efforts check out my book, available on Kindle, iPad and other readers.
