The Smartspeed Performance Improvement Blog

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...

When I start working with a new consulting client I'm often asked how to keep a team on track to deliver the results the business needs. Without fail, my first response is " Organise a sunrise meeting " If you don't have one of these in your business, I'd consider implementing one. What's a sunrise meeting? In short, a sunrise meeting is a process driven meeting. You split up your business process into a series of checkpoints. Each checkpoint has an owner. Each checkpoint has a question that provides a yes/no answer. The agenda is short and there isn't any AOB (Any Other Business). Actions are agreed swiftly if the answer is the wrong one. A quick note on questions It makes like easier if you write the questions so that every question should end with a yes. For example: Did all of yesterday's material order arrive on time - yes! Are there any outstanding material orders from yesterday - no... When they are all set to 'yes', it is easier to carr...

One of the best management tools I use with my clients is a routine. Interestingly, when it comes time to implement, people sometimes wrinkle their nose... "Would a routine make sense?"      "Yes" "When can we implement it?"      "Oh, you mean for me?" Some people think of a routine as being something you give to a child. The reason we do this, however, is because they work. They save using our memory. They allow us to spend our thinking time on important things. It frees up our minds, so we don't have to 'remember to remember'. Small tasks get done more frequently, preventing crises. New staff members get inducted faster and become productive quicker, because they have something to work with. There are lots of reasons why we should define formal routines and put them into practice. But, what if you (or your team) feel that they are childish? I guess it depends if you want a tried and tested way to get results for your business. This ...