Businesses can often get lost. The amount of information that they handle can be quite phenomenal and this can lead to a lot of confusion.   Sometimes the people within the business get lost and start doing things that they weren’t employed to do in the first place. So, how do we regain our focus? The simplest approach is to describe what we’re meant to do in a single sentence. This short string of words will clearly define the value that we are expected to bring to the organisation.  The same can also be said for departments and even businesses. This is not trying to re-invent the mission statement of a business, just trying to refocus on what is important so that effective action can take place. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

One of the thoughts that I have on a regular basis is about the structures of businesses when it comes to effective change in the workplace. Some businesses seem to get more focussed on the techniques being used than the fundamentals of running an effective business. Lean is a great example of this. Lean has some amazing tools and methods for driving out waste in an organisation, but it relies upon people to make it happen. So lean cannot do the change on its own – it needs the leadership and support of the management to make it work. Six sigma is the same – it is a toolkit to be embraced by the organisation as it goes through its change. The best metaphor I saw recently about this referred to Gordon Ramsay. The statement said “you have same kitchen implements as a leading chef in your kitchen at home – but this doesn’t make you into Gordon Ramsay.” The leadership and management of the organisation is what brings lean (and other improvement tools) to life. Smartspeed Consulting Limited

There was an interesting section in one of the IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology) magazines the other week – talking about improving employee engagement. This is one of the most discussed topics I come across when working with companies who need to get their teams onboard to make a change happen. They listed four points. Employees are engaged by: 1 – Leaders who inspire confidence in the future. 2 – Managers who respect and appreciate their employees. 3 – Exciting work that employees know how to do. 4 – Employers who display a genuine responsibility to employees and communities. An interesting check list I think you’ll agree. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

In any organisation we are faced with the ongoing need to deliver change. Improving the way we operate and deliver our services is expected from all concerned – our superiors, our customers and our owners. Many times the change doesn't work as planned. Things go wrong, we get delayed and people don't do what we expect. Smart companies understand this and use a form of constant correction and reinforcement to manage their changes. The tool that is most common is the PDCA approach (Plan, Do, Check, Act). This makes us ask the questions – 'have I gotten the result?' and 'how close was I?' The difficulty with this simple approach is that most people don't do it on a consistent basis. There are several ways to bring this kind of management into the work we do. The most straightforward would be to build the review steps into your project plans, use scheduling software to remind you to ask the questions, or to use the opportunity of 'failure' to be a

From time to time – if we look back at what we are doing – we may see that disciplines have slipped. From the team meeting to the sales order process the need for discipline is necessary, but how do we regain it in a simple way? Talking with our teams to ‘redesign’ the activity is probably one of the easiest ways to bring discipline back into the fold. The pure awareness of what the purpose is can get the discipline back in place. Speaking with influential individuals about the activity and asking what they can do to help is another simple way to get things back on track. This method is more discreet and possibly could take less time to organise. There are many ways to regain discipline, but few reasons to be disciplined.  Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

Do you ever have those moments on projects when you see that some team members don't hit the deadlines for projects? In my observations this is mainly when the people offending have 'day jobs' as well as their project roles. The type of deadline missing that I am talking about is when not enough understanding is present - so inaction takes place. The missing of the deadline is not down to a lack of time, but a lack of understanding about what needs to happen. One way to improve this situation is to get the team member to affirm the request back to you when you have just given the instruction. Their grasp of what is required and your requirements should either be really clear, or fuzzy and difficult for the team member to articulate. If it is the latter then this is the ideal chance to clarify what is needed and then to develop a methodology together. So many projects get delayed and drawn out because people don't quite understand what they need to do. Help

When a project is running into difficulties there is an opportunity to look for the obstacles that are present. This might seem a really obvious comment to make, but many times the speed of the project, or the urgency of the situation appear to force us into an autopilot mode. The idea of removing obstacles might remind you of secondary school chemistry when the topic of catalysts was discussed. Those substances that help to reduce the amount of energy needed for a reaction to occur. They reduce the effort – isn’t this what is needed when a project runs into difficulty? What are the problems on your project? What are the issues that once removed (or resolved) could let you get on with doing what needs to be done? This might not affect all of your current work, but at least worth keeping in your back pocket for when problems do arise. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk