The Smartspeed Performance Improvement Blog

Every business wants to perform at its best, but too often, day-to-day challenges get in the way—missed deadlines, unclear processes, and improvement ideas that never see the light of day. That’s why we created Continuously : a platform designed to help you drive business performance with practical, proven tools for continuous improvement. Why Business Performance Stalls It’s rarely a lack of ambition or effort. More often, performance issues come from inconsistent systems, lack of visibility, and reactive problem-solving. When teams are stuck in a cycle of firefighting, it’s hard to focus on growth, profitability, or customer satisfaction. Continuously helps you break that cycle and build a business that delivers consistent results. How Continuously Drives Performance Clear Process Mapping: Visualise your workflows, find bottlenecks, and optimise operations for smoother, faster results. Structured Problem Solving: Capture issues as they arise, dig into the root causes, and implement...

Great news! My new book, Effective RAG Trackers , is now available on Amazon. If you're struggling to keep your business processes on track, or tired of meetings that don't lead to meaningful action, this practical guide will help you turn things around—fast. Available from Amazon and all major online stores The Challenge Every Manager Faces Let me ask you something: Have you ever felt like you're working harder than ever, yet important processes still slip through the cracks? You're not alone. Most managers experience the same frustration. Despite spreadsheets, status meetings, and constant follow-ups, team accountability fades. Deadlines get missed. And you're left wondering why nothing seems to stick. A Proven Solution That Works Effective RAG Trackers introduces you to a simple visual management system that delivers immediate clarity on process performance. Using the proven Red-Amber-Green approach, you'll gain the visibility and accountability you need to ...

I have just launched my continuous improvement course,  Making It Happen . This short online course covers over 30 ideas and methods to help you generate, manage and benefit from continuous improvement projects. Originally I wrote the course to provide content that didn't really work well in book format. But, as I started writing the lessons I started thinking about the people I have worked with over the years. Most of the people I had worked with directly had managed to get noticed because of the results they were generating and got promoted. So, the focus changed. Making It Happen is aimed at people that want to get promoted because of their skills and results. A side benefit is having a slightly easier and more controlled day. But, if either of these two things resonate with you then I urge you to check it out. You can find more details about the course at https://continuousimprovementmadeeasy.com/ In short: 30+ lessons. Walkthrough videos for all lessons and downloadable t...

I was standing in a workshop a few weeks ago, discussing how we could improve the flow of materials and increase the productivity of the workshop. It was a tough crowd. They seemed to think how they were working was fine, just the way it is. It isn't fine. Over half of their time was spent material handling, in a manner that was unsafe. We knew what we were going to do to resolve the material handing issue. The conversation in question was around the workstation design and setup. They didn't seem keen to engage. Then I ask them a question, after I had set the scene: Imagine that we are standing with a customer, we've just entered the workshop, and they say 'wow!'. They don't see the mess and dis-organisation that we have today. They say 'wow!'. What would they see in order to say 'wow!'? That's the question. What would make your customer say 'wow!'? It gets the mind whirring, coming up with ideas. Put a few of those ideas into action ...

Did you know that I have a free continuous improvement course ? If you are looking for some quick and easy ideas to get more out of your time and effort, when it comes to improvement projects, then check out The CI Primer . It comes in nine short lessons and covers: A fast way to generate improvement opportunities. A ranking method to ensure you work on the best improvement at any point in time. Methods to control the rate of change. A team working method that gets results, even when work is crazy busy. Ideas to improve your personal productivity. As I said, the course is free to join and there are no hidden fees. To get started, visit: https://continuousimprovementmadeeasy.com/funnel/the-ci-primer/signup/ Enjoy, Giles About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ...

What do you do, once you have defined what results you want in your business? After you have told your team, how do you keep track of what you want? Something I write about from time to time is 'abdication versus delegation'. So, once you have told your team what your expectations are, how do you check that you are getting what you want? Leaving them to it and never checking in falls under abdication, not delegation. There are a few good ways to do this that jump to mind. Here are some of them. KPIs Developing simple, but meaningful, KPIs ( Key Performance Indicators ) is a brilliant way to do this. Just like the dashboard in your car, you should be able to tell whether you are getting the results you want or not at a glance. If the KPIs truly are useful, you'll be able to make decisions on the back of the information. RAG tracking The traffic light system of Red, Amber and Green (RAG) is another really useful way to track results produced. Determine what each status means ...

This is a challenge for most businesses. Can you 'get away' with only having one KPI? The short answer is 'yes', if you respect the letter K. As I am sure you know, KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator .  Key, as in critical or super important. This means that the one 'killer metric' has to be meaningful. Really meaningful. A good KPI will cascade into other areas. Supporting data / metrics can be dug into when required. If the primary KPI is off track, you'll need the other data for context and to help with decision making. But, if the KPIs is not off track, what else do you need to know. Thinking like this is an antidote to too much data. I see businesses with reams of information. Each measure is defined as a KPI, but how can it truly be? The reality of this situation is that this approach could lead to one KPI per business team / function. Most metrics can be translated back to into a financial measure, ultimately profit. This is a hard nosed meta me...

The CI Primer course is now online and access is free! The course is made up of nine modules, designed to help you: Get more out of your working day. Identify improvement opportunities. Manage the change process without getting overwhelmed. To access the course, simply head over to Continuous Improvement Made Easy and follow the signup instructions. That's it! I hope you enjoy the course, Giles About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

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...

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 ...

A few years ago I wrote a book called What Does Good Look Like? I was fed up with seeing businesses fail to move ahead with their improvement goals. They were quick to criticise their staff and slow to explain precisely what they wanted to experience. This book is an antidote to that situation. You can see the introductory video here: If this situation rings a bell with you, you can purchase a copy of the book here: Amazon Apple Books Kobo About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

I was talking to a very frustrated owner earlier this week. They needed to make improvements fast but were getting nowhere. I gave them the following six pointers: Be brutally honest about what needs to improve. Prioritise the improvements, so you get the best results for the least effort. Select the #1 item only. Chop the improvement up into really small, manageable, tasks. Talk about the improvement tasks everyday. Keep going until you get results. Go back to point 2 and repeat (or 1, if you are at the end of the list!). It doesn't have to be any more difficult than this. Point 1 is essential so that you improve things that matter . Point 2 is to get you the greatest returns faster . Point 3 avoids procrastination and builds momentum. Point 4 is critical for keeping the team focused on making change happen. Point 5 makes sure you don't stop prematurely. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the change process, try this simple approach. Giles Avoid repeated business mistakes - av...

This might sound like a stupid question, but do you? How would you tell? Here are some clues, see how many you can recognise: You have a team the spends part of their time working on continuous improvement projects . You have a clear list of continuous improvement projects. You have a priority on said list of projects. People in your business talk about improvement projects on a regular basis. They talk about continuous improvement without prompting! New ideas are captured systematically. New ideas are generated through both formal business activities and informally through suggestions from the team. Progress would be visible. Data from business key performance indicators generate new opportunities for improvement. You celebrate, and promote, the successes from your improvements. This list isn't exhaustive, of course. But, what this list should do is help let you know if you are a business that looks and feels like you embrace continuous improvement. If you aren't doing at leas...

I had to raise a support ticket on behalf of a consulting client today. I typed in the issue that was being faced. My client seemed happy. Then, I carried on typing and put in what I wanted from the person at the other end. I didn't tell them how to do their job but I told them the result I was seeking. "Why are you telling them that?" my client asked. "I want them to give me what I want" I replied. "We don't normally do that" I was informed. "How does that work out for you?" I enquired. Blank look. The IT support company phoned us, surprised at the ticket they received. "That's the best ticket we've had in ages" they gushed. Long story short, the IT improvement was made shortly thereafter, with no further changes required. It was only a small thing, to add the extra couple of details, but it made big difference to the outcome. This is the precise reason that I wrote the book What Does Good Look Like? I saw the same issu...

My latest book has just been released. It's called The Reverse Fishbone and looks at how we can get the most out the fishbone analysis tool when we use it for goal setting. It's a great way to engage your team with improvement objectives and is superb when defining the winning recipe for your business. The book is free on the Kindle platform from today until Sunday. About the author: Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes and embracing Kaizen. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

Last weekend I visited a local visitor attraction. The time was approximately 2pm and I was greeted by a sign that read: Last admission 2:15pm; car park closes 3:00pm. If this was the case, I wasn't going to have much of a visit. When the I reached the top of the queue and met the car park attendant, I asked for confirmation of the closing time. Apparently it was 5:00pm. From a little more discussion, it turned out that the sign was for an event the previous weekend, where they had shortened the opening hours. I jokingly offered to remove the sign, which was politely refused. When I left, the sign was still there. So, apart from the question about how many people didn't bother to find out if the site was open longer, what is the take away from this little story? Why I wrote Effective Root Cause Analysis At every level in the organisation it is possible to take responsibility. I see all too often people passing responsibility on. This can happen up and down the chain of command....

When you start generating improvement opportunities, it can be tempting to flit between activities. For many people, the starting of continuous improvement activities is exciting. Planning out improvements, thinking about what could be. This can be motivating and, for some people, more interesting than doing the work to deliver the improvement. During the delivery of the improvement there will undoubtedly be: Frustration Learning Friction Experimentation Bouts of looking foolish Backtracking Winning I see too many organisations that dabble with improvements. Great ideas, poor execution. Persisting with an improvement, until it is done, is a strategy that most of us can benefit from. After all, if you don't deliver the improvement, you won't get the results. If you find that you have lots of loose ends in your business, then I recommend you reflect on this post and decide how you want to do things differently going forward. If you want some additional strategies to help you del...

You know that phrase about there being no such thing as a stupid question... Well, do you have a collection of these 'stupid questions' in your business that you use? What do I mean when I say 'use'? Some of the stupid questions we have heard in our business can also be perfect to launch continuous improvement thinking from. What are the questions you have in your business that your team have learned not to ask anymore? Here are some I have heard recently, in hushed conversations... How can we achieve double our current profit margins? Why do we have to do all of these steps in our process? What happens if we embrace our mistakes? Why don't we get rid of our bad customers? How do we deliver our products in half the time? I think all of those questions could be used to stimulate some interesting conversations... if you can get past the look of incredulity on your colleagues faces. What stupid questions could you ask in your business, to provoke some alternative ideas...