When improving a specific process or task, where there is not a specified ‘finish line’, it can sometimes be hard to work out what the project plan will look like. This lack of clarity can stall many projects and create unease within the business. The marketing function, for example, may need to become more effective, but how do we approach this? There could be many different ways to tackle the problem and choosing a specific plan could lead us down an ineffective path. One way to navigate this issue is to choose the next three steps and execute them. By only thinking this far ahead you can re-ignite your motivation and learn from these next steps. After a while of doing this (by replacing completed steps with new ones) you will have gained more knowledge about the situation and be able to come up with a concrete project plan. This technique is great if you are getting stuck with projects that aren’t as well defined as we need them to be, or if there is a lack of information on how

When a change needs to be designed (as it always does) you need to come up with ideas. What if you find the process of creating new ideas difficult? Is there an easy method you could employ to help you do this? Using a continuum could be one such easy option. Taking a range of possibilities and using this to create new opportunities can be a quick way to do this. At one end of our spectrum could be poor performance, in the middle could be normal (or professional) levels of delivery / performance and at the other end could be… well something amazing. Applying this to various parts of your business you can quickly identify the good and the bad characteristics. Then you can consider the amazing features by extending your thinking. New ideas can be formed and then exploited. If you feel that you are getting stuck for ideas then try applying a continuum to your problem. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

Day to day there are many challenges that businesses face. A risk that is present in these situations is that sticking plasters are put over the problems, rather than resolving the problem once and for all. There are several ways to do this, some are easier than others. Have you tried '5 Whys'? A straightforward approach – you don't accept the first answer. You keep on asking questions that start with 'why…' until you find yourself staring at some basic, fundamental business issue. At this point it becomes very easy to resolve the problem (once and for all). As skill develops with the use of this tool you may find that there needs to be some brief exploration of the answers provided in order to ask a question good enough to allow you access to the next level down, as you progress to the root. Don't accept the first answer and keep going until you hit something fundamental. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

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

Many times it is easy to focus on the work that is being carried out. When we are being pushed for an improvement to a specific process in the business it is only natural to look at the points in the business where recognised work is taking place. Between all of the process steps are linkages. These linkages can often make the difference between a really effective business and one that just about gets the job done. Linkages can take on many forms. The handover meetings, the project initiation checklist, the sign off process or an in-tray. All of these items bridge the processes that we consider to be the important parts of the business. Delays, mistakes or absence during these linkages can have big consequences for the business and should not be underestimated. Look at the linkages between the processes in your business and see if they could work better. Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk

Very often businesses see improvement projects as one off exercises. This would seem logical as the name project infers this. The reality is that most people who are involved with projects of this type are being convinced / negotiated with in order for the change to go through. By taking a different approach with improvement and making it an ongoing conversation there is a whole richness of information and support that appears.Many people don't understand the requirements of the change, or what to do with the new way of doing things. By working together through the medium of conversation (relevant conversation about the improvement) the aha moment can appear a lot quicker. If there is no ongoing dialogue the aha moment may never appear of course! Improvement is a process, and whilst there will be discrete stand alone projects the people who will be doing the work will quite likely last longer than the project. By having this ongoing conversation the quality of the change, the speed

Whenever there is a risk that a customer might not be getting the best service possible – consider the system. Many times people look purely at the people who are working with the customer – are they doing the right things? Do they have a good attitude? These are normal questions to ask. It has been stated that the system accounts for 94% of the effects created – the people in the system therefore can only have a limited effect on what happens. Considering the system makes us ask other questions. How can the system allow us to deal with customers swiftly? How can the system allow errors to be made? How does the system please our customers? By considering both the system and the people operating the system you get a more complete picture of how to improve this area of performance. Of course, this isn't an excuse to back down when people are abusing the system/customers! Smartspeed Consulting Limited 'For When Results Matter' www.smartspeed.co.uk