The Smartspeed Performance Improvement Blog

Have you experienced the last minute scramble? You are trying to complete a project, or get ready for an audit, and a large proportion of the tasks are completed just before the end. That's the scramble. All those days / weeks / months you originally had available to you didn't count for anything. This kind of experience is known as the hockey stick effect: The red line shows the hockey stick. Last minute productivity. There are good arguments for working this way, allowing the effort to be concentrated so you can do other things beforehand. However, mistakes, stress and delays are more likely in my experience. The green line is your planned activity. Regular activity and output throughout the life of your project / process management. This is easier to manage and takes away the problems listed above for last minute frenetic action. The orange line, however, is a proactive front loaded approach. If you have the capacity, why not pull ahead the activities and ensure decisions ar...

My popular book on creating effective Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is now available on the Perlego platform: https://www.perlego.com/book/5053294/ If you have a subscription for Perlego, you'll now be able to access my book. 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? ' .

Have you used the fishbone tool for root cause problem solving? Good. What about using it in reverse to help with goal setting and improving buy in from your team? Oh... The good news is that my book The Reverse Fishbone is now available on a range of e-book platforms (as well as Amazon ). The book shares ideas on how to get the most from this approach and how you can roll the idea out in your organisation. So, if you are looking for a fast, easy, way to engage your teams with goal setting and creating recipes that generate better results, this book is worth a look . I hope you enjoy it, 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? ' .

My book Every Business Needs a Routine is now available on platforms other than Amazon. The book is aimed at people that want to realise the power of routine and habit. If you find yourself dealing with crises that have arisen from some small task that has been overlooked for too long then this book is for you. Stop firefighting, starting building an effective routine for you and your team. The book is quick to read and explores how you can expand the idea of routines into all levels of a business and even at a personal level. Distribution of the book now includes Apple Books , Kobo , Everand and more. For the full availability, other than Amazon , click here . I hope you enjoy the book. 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? ' .

Many years ago I saw many managers berate their staff for getting things wrong.* The same managers grumbled about the performance of their team and this was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve with their teams. A simple realisation was made... They had told the team what they didn't want but hadn't spent the time to tell them, precisely, what they did want. By making this small shift, about being clear about what the desired outcome was , results started to materialise. This is not rocket science, but it is a useful lesson to keep in your back pocket. If you aren't witnessing the results you want, it might be time to clarify expectations. There might be some reading this that don't think that this should be necessary. Until telepathy is a common business skill, I'm afraid it is going to have to be this way. If you want some ideas on how to move from grumbling and into performance, then check out What Does Good Look Like? It is available from Amazon , Apple ...

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...

When you sit and look at the list of improvement projects you have created, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. If you aren't making progress this feeling increases. If you start to think about your normal day job as well... yes, let's not think about that for the moment. The truth is that results are the only thing that count . Having a long list doesn't count. Making a start on a project doesn't count. Available from Amazon Getting near the end doesn't count.