I was recently presented with a client's list of improvements for 2024. It was a good list, there were plenty of meaningful items on there. They had a problem, however. They didn't know where to start. If you have read my books , or my blog posts, you'll know that I am a big advocate of proper prioritisation of improvements. Our PDCA Complete continuous improvement platform has a built in prioritisation tool (the BCS scoring system ). I really do think it is important that you know what you should be working on first. So, back to my client's list. Before we even had to prioritise anything, a clean up of the list was in order. There were items that were: Strategic in nature. Waiting for a director to make a decision and set policy. Outstanding tasks, that just needed mopping up. Urgent items that needed doing now but weren't projects. Once the team got clear about what was what, prioritising the strategic projects was straightforward. If you have a similar situation...

When you find yourself in a tricky situation, and you aren't sure how to improve the situation, try mimicry. We know people that have their act together. We know people that have great ideas. We know people that keep their cool under pressure. So, when you are next struggling for inspiration, use your 'continuous improvement role model'. What would they do? How would they approach the improvement? Who would they call upon for help? Use these prompts to borrow their insights and come up with a new way to approach the problem. If you are looking for more ways to generate continuous improvement ideas for your business, and manage them through to fruition, then check out my book Effective Continuous Improvement . Available from Amazon and iTunes 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 ...

How many times have you seen someone struggle at work because they haven't carried out proper 'preparation' for their work? I see it all the time. The funny thing is that the people that tend to have these problems say they don't have time to carry out the preparation. So, how do they have time to fix the problem they have just caused? Many times it is the employer that has to pick up the cost, which is frustrating for so many reasons. What kinds of tasks would benefit from better preparation? The list could be massive, but let me share with you a few of the regular issues I see: Not ordering materials in a timely fashion. Not speaking to colleagues to organise schedules, to complete projects. Not reading reports prior to circulation. Not reading the full specification prior to jumping head first into a contract. Not asking 'who would this impact' before changing job roles in a business. Do you experience the same kinds of things? So, what preparation could you...

Every time a change is introduced, or a system tweaked, there is the chance for a stumble. This stumble might be a mistake, an inefficient or ineffective method, or complete confusion. Or something similar! In short, teething pains are to be expected. But, the point I want to make is, don't throw the towel in. This experience is normal, and a key part of the continuous improvement cycle (aka PDCA cycle). The whole point of the PDCA cycle is to: Plan a change / improvement . Do some work, to make progress with the plan. Check what the results are and evaluate them. Act differently to get a different result and then start the cycle again. Many businesses give up when an improvement doesn't work on the first attempt. Often there is little persistence and rarely an embracing of the PDCA cycle. If this is something you have seen in your business in the past, let me offer a few words of support: Set appropriate expectations for your improvement projects, don't expect the finished...

Several phone calls this month have ended up with people realising that the headache they have is down to a lack of routine in their business . The small things that haven't been addressed in the run up to Christmas are now crises. The boring tasks that didn't get done earlier last month have now caused problems for the production department this month. The jobs that a recently departed staff member didn't hand over have now paused a project temporarily. Being clear about what needs to be done, by whom and when is a simple management task. Doing it however... most businesses don't! Don't be the same as the masses. Figure out your routines and find a way to make them stick . Available from Amazon 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? ' ....

Are the responsibilities clear within your business? Do your team know what their responsibilities are and what they need to do when? This topic crops up time and time again. It's also something that is easy to overlook. Getting this right means that you can have fewer arguments. When it is clear who is meant to do what, the hiding places diminish. The excuses and finger pointing reduce. It is also a great thing to maintain, as it makes it easier to replace people when they leave your organisation. It is a truth that the roles that people undertake often creep and expand over time. If you don't keep a track of this, you end up with gaps and loose ends when people leave. How can you keep a track of this? Two obvious options jump to mind: Keep all of your job descriptions up to date. Create a spreadsheet / table of  tasks versus person responsible. Make either of these items a routine and that's it, in short. Keep the responsibilities clear, find better ways to execute the r...

A common issue that stifles continuous improvement , one that I have already witnessed in 2024, is perfection. I can understand how this comes about. In the workplace it is common for people to be yelled at for making mistakes. Over time, this becomes normal and we associate not achieving perfection with being told off. When it comes to continuous improvement we have an issue here. Very rarely will an improvement be perfect the first time around. Usually it will need to be refined and tweaked a few times in order to work as intended. But, as we embark on a new year, we have the opportunity to change our approach to continuous improvement. We can replace perfection with effectiveness. We can make something better and do it again and again. We can iterate our way to high levels of performance; we don't have to be perfect on day one. Trying to be perfect on day one stifles us. It can overwhelm us. So, if this rings a bell with you, perhaps you can change your attitude to improvement t...

It is an interesting challenge; how many continuous improvement projects can you handle at once? A better question is "how many projects should you handle at once?" I see many businesses struggling with their continuous improvement projects, especially after a Christmas break. Energies have returned. Focus is restored. A long list of things that need to be done refreshed. The problem that I observe is that many projects get started and few get finished. I use the word problem for three reasons: If you don't complete the projects you are unlikely to reap the rewards. Incomplete projects cause confusion amongst team members. Having a list of projects started, but not finished, can be demoralising after a while. There are conflicting demands on our time. We often have a day job to do. If you combine this with incomplete project definitions then you have a recipe for wasting a lot of time and resource. Available from Amazon So, what is a practical way to approach this dilem...

One of the challenges with continuous improvement is prioritisation. I sit with teams that want to do everything today. There might be twenty opportunities on their list and every single one of them becomes a goal for the business.  When it comes to scheduling these, each one is considered in isolation. The end dates for the goals are often within the next three months. Reality shows that this is often impractical. When it comes time to review the progress against these goals, morale can drop. The team realise that they are behind schedule. It doesn't feel great and catching up can be difficult when you already have a full work load.  If this rings a bell with you, try this simple strategy. Just pick one . Yes, it can be that simple. One primary improvement goal at a time. What about crises I hear you ask. Well, they'll be jumped on when they arrive. You don't need to plan for crises. Hopefully your improvement activities will dampen both the frequency and severity of the c...

One of the ideas I really like is Parkinson's Law. If you don't know this by name, you'll most likely know it as this phrase: "Work expands to fill the time available" What does this mean for our continuous improvement projects ? In short, it means that if you are struggling to make progress with your projects, start your day with them. How does this work? As a psychological principle, this means that you can pause your normal day to day work for a short period and get your head down with your improvement activities. You'll behave differently with the rest of your working day, effectively (and naturally) raising your productivity. Of course, there are some practicalities about using this. You probably can't spend 90% of your day on your improvements and still expect to get your usual work done. You need to be practical about this, you'll know how much time you can spend without jeopardising your work. If in doubt, start small. Something like ten minute...

I get a lot of people tell me how serious they are about continuous improvement. It sounds like the right thing to say, doesn't it? And... there is a really simple way to determine how serious your business is about continuous improvement. Count the following: How many hours per week you and your team spend working on improvement activities? How many £ have you added to your bottom line because of your improvements? There are no right or wrong answers, but you'll know exactly whether you are serious about continuous improvement. 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? ' .   Available from Amazon

A question that I get asked a lot is: "How do I make progress if I just don't have the time?" It's a good question. Usually the person asking the questions has a lot on their plate and an ambition to implement lots of change all at once. My answer is to start paring back the number of projects you have on the go. Start to prioritise. Choose what will give you the biggest impact, for the least amount of effort, in the shortest time. If you park a few projects and you still aren't getting results, keep reducing the number, until you get to one project. This should be the single most important project you have in your list of opportunities. This is a project that will make a real difference. Available from Amazon Divert your attention and resources at this project until it is done. Get help from your team, your colleagues, your customers and suppliers... get help to get it done. And, if you have chosen wisely you'll start to gain some time back, so you can start...

My new book is free to download (Kindle version) this weekend . Specifically, it is free from the 13th of January 2023 to the 17th January 2023. I wrote it for business managers and owners that are fed up of being stuck in Groundhog Day! I wanted to challenge the thinking of this group about how routines are defined and used within their organisation. Most organisations have underdeveloped routines. They usually apply routines solely to the lower levels of an organisation. But what about the Board? What about the senior management team? Routines don't have to be rigid. You don't have to lose flexibility, creativity or talent. But, you can do something to stop you getting in your own way! If this rings a bell with you, then get hold of your free copy this weekend. Alternatively, if  Kindle isn't your thing, you can purchase a copy of the paperback from the same page . I hope that you get some good ideas from this short book (it has taken me three goes to condense the informa...

We all know that we need to write things down. Available from Amazon This could be meeting actions, objectives, ideas for the future... or the knowledge we have in our heads. Let me focus on the last point, knowledge. For many organisations, this means capturing our experience so that others can use it. If you find your business growing then this is critical. You can't use telepathy! Often referred to as Standard Operating Procedures (or, SOPs), defining the one best way to do something is a great way to share knowledge in your organisation. But, why do so many people not bother to do this? Here are a few of the common issues I hear on my travels: They think it will take too long to write. They are worried that they'll get it wrong. Why bother? No one will read them. I've not done this before. Let's review. You don't have to spend hours writing SOPs. Even a few bullet points will move you in the right direction. If you are worried about getting the information wron...

I have recently finished working with a team that were struggling. They were struggling to meet their production schedules. They were struggling to respond to customer enquiries on time. They were burnt out and frazzled. After some prodding and poking it became clear what their issues were. In particular, it became obvious that expectations of the team weren't clear or defined. Defining what you expect from teams is a standard management approach. The problem with most teams is that leadership describe the standards in vague terms . So, what happens if you get the standards crystal clear? You should expect to see the team produce the right outputs. They should produce the outputs at the right time. And, they should produce them in an agreed way. Be clear with your teams. Ask the question: What does good look like? If you want to get some more ideas on how to define effective standards and visions, get your copy of my book today . What does good look like? is a practical guide to h...

It is funny how conversations with senior teams can turn frosty... when you get around to the topic of results. This is also the case when reviewing improvement objectives, when a similar result hasn't been produced before. Mostly the plans are great. They take time to produce and many people enjoy the planning process. When rubber hits the road, however, many teams seem to want to shy away. Does this happen with your team? A challenge for any leader in this situation is to make getting back on track with your improvement objectives a normal process. Not to hide the real position away, but to be honest about where you are and then do something about it. The RAG approach (Red, Amber, Green) in visual management is a good tool to use here. It can make the process of being honest an easier one. Whilst you need to come up with your own definitions of red, amber and green, a good starting point is: Red - completely off track and needs major support. Amber - slipping off track, but shoul...

As I write this post, I hope that you have already got plans in place for 2021 with regards to your process improvement projects. Even if your plans do not run in line with the calendar year, it can be worth taking the time now to reflect briefly on your plans to make sure that they are still inline with where you want to go. It is also, unfortunately, a task that many people don't get around to. Reviewing and revising business plans and continuous improvement plans can seem like a huge task. As you know, huge tasks often fall by the wayside as the day to day activities (and possibly crises!) take over. Kaizen, the art of using small steps, can help us here. Instead of firing off the 'fight or flight' response in the brain, consider having a five minute review of your plans. Don't commit to anything more than this. When you do carry out this quick review, if you feel inclined to make some changes and alter / improve your plans then feel free. This is the art of Kaizen, ...

If you have read my other blog posts, or books, you will know that I continuously refer to a specific challenge within continuous improvement . The challenge is what happens after you have improved all of the really obvious improvements. I refer to this as being the difference between moving from 'bad to OK' compared to moving from 'OK to amazing'. The first part of the journey is relatively straightforward. You see something that isn't right and you fix it. Simple. So, what happens when you move past this point and you can't see as many things to improve? You need a different focus, you have to start looking somewhere else for your improvement inspiration. Create a powerful vision for your business. Available from Amazon and iTunes The other day I was talking to one my my client's member of staff about this very issue. The person in question was relatively new to the business and had made a big impact to the running and organisation of their manufacturing ...

Do you feel under pressure when you have to make changes happen in your business? It can be scary when we try something that we have never done before. I remember thinking to myself 'how on Earth am I going to figure this out?' on many occasions. I think the last time was a few weeks ago! Years on from becoming reasonable at the art of change I am still faced with the same dilemma. It is scary and it is clear to me why so many people shy away from making change happen. It is natural to get stuck in this oscillation. On one hand you need to make change happen; the business needs the improvement benefits. On the other hand you don't want to screw up... Last week I was talking to a young engineer that I am mentoring. He was paralysed. Changes were not happening at all. There was always some early promise with his projects and then, as completion (and judgement day) loomed, progress would evaporate. The engineer asked me for my views on this  during a recent conversati...

If you haven’t created your improvement action plan for 2020 yet then I have something for you. I have just completed my latest project – The CI Focus Tool . This Android App is now available on Google Play and provides a simple method for generating as many effective improvement ideas as you need. This is the same basic method that I describe in my book Effective Continuous Improvement  and is now available as a simple to use app. In essence it is a brainstorming focus tool. Press the focus button and you will be presented with a random continuous improvement focus. Brainstorm ideas around this focus with your team (whilst the timer is running) and there you go – a number of great ideas for you to prioritise and implement. The reason that this works so well is because of the focus. When your business runs out of its immediate problems to fix you need a different strategy. Very focused brainstorming helps you break past this problem and configuring the app to me...