When you hear that information is not available and that it won't be discussed you can be fairly sure that there is something going wrong within a business. Whatever the reason is for not wanting to discuss the facts the outcome is clear. You cannot make decisions properly without the facts. Many times you can see this lack of engagement through the minimisation that takes place. Comments are made that make the situation look less important than it really is and the necessary fact finding never takes place. Keep your eyes and ears open for times when facts are being ignored or played down, there could be a significant opportunity lurking behind the scenes. Smartspeed Consulting Limited Deliver on Time with Smartspeed

Businesses run on routines. Every day there will be some kind of activity that needs to take place like clockwork. If the routine task does not take place it will probably not be the end of the world, but if the task is never done the quality of the service, or the standards in the business may well drop. If routines of work are important then why do we struggle to keep them in place? One answer for this question is that we don't create formal rotas / schedules of activity that are clearly visible and located in a public place within the business. It does require discipline to maintain routine activities - especially when we become really busy. With a rota we are more able to remember what we need to do in order for the business to run smoothly, professionally and efficiently. If you need more help than just a rota then you may want to try implementing an end of week checklist for your own personal use, or put a reminder on your phone / email calendar. As the habit forms an

On our travels we see many projects getting behind schedule due to the people involved not the 'taking the rough with the smooth'. By this we mean that during the course of the project there may well be some elements that are highly enjoyable and some that are boring or difficult. If all of the tasks listed for a project are required to complete the project then all of them will need to be completed. By actively managing the parts of the project which appear, or are expected, to be in the difficult / confusing / tedious camp then you will have a better chance of others completing all of the tasks in a timely manner. If it is you who is struggling with these tasks then it might be worth considering the advice given by Brian Tracy in his book 'Eat that frog'. Basically, start your working day with the most unpleasant, difficult (and most important) task. Once this is done you don't have to think about that task again. Try it and see what it does for your proje

It's interesting to watch and take note of what happens when people rush their jobs. Things get missed off. Parts of the job that normally get done, and can be done from memory, don't get done. Depending on where you work this may or may not be critical. For a surgeon this may be life and death (or a fire fighter, or a pilot for example), for everyone else this could at least mean a poor customer experience for our clients, or the reworking of a job at a later date. Two improvements spring to mind with this problem in mind. 1 - using checklists can make life a lot easier (so when you are pushed for time you don't need to rely on your mind!). 2 - appropriate time should be given to a task and scheduled accordingly (or deferred if possible - should there not be enough time). Business does go quickly - but reworking the same problems time and time again is even slower. Look at the areas where you find mistakes occuring. If they are due to people rushing the job the

One of the simplest things we can do if we want to improve our business is to stop and think. Just stopping to reflect upon what we are doing can give one of the greatest impacts we can have within our own business. When we take a look at what we are doing we are able to see activities and arrangements that don't lend themselves to being the best possible way. These areas for improvement become more obvious when we take the time to stop what we are doing and take a step back from the (hectic) day-to-day. 'Does it work?' is a great question to ask when we step back - does it work well? By taking the time out to ask this question you will most likely find opportunities to improve leaping towards you. This is not hard - it just takes the discipline to periodically stop and think about what we are doing. Smartspeed Consulting Limited BESPOKE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT | LEAN TRAINING | OPERATIONS TROUBLESHOOTING www.smartspeed.co.uk

One item of conversation that crops up time and time again is that of wanting a boost in productivity. Projects get delayed and don't seem to move, let alone the piles of paperwork on your desk that seem to build up from normal working; these all detract from our ability to be productive. Well, there is a simple approach to improving productivity. It can give a one time boost, or can be used on an ongoing basis to maintain higher levels of productivity. It's quite simple and all to do with 'keeping your house in order'. Write a list of everything that you think you need to do to get all of your tasks / projects back on track. Resolve to sort out this list and focus on clearing as many items as possible. In fact don't stop until you do clear the list. When you have finished you will be in a position to tackle new jobs and hence become truly productive. The list that was holding you back was stuff that should have been done already and therefore a case of obliga

Many people spend their days working without truly appreciating what their job really entails. I'm sure that you have seen other people work really hard at what they are given (or have chosen) to do, and yet aren't producing results of any real merit. Most jobs are designed for a purpose - to add value to a specific process or client, they are there to make the process or client experience better. If you are familiar with Parkinson's Law (that effort expands to fit the time available) you will see the countless unnecessary tasks that fill the days of many working people. Jobs that do not fit with the value that the organisation is trying to generate, and do not help anyone to deliver meaningful results. Not understanding current work content and how this generates value to the end client is crucial if we are to spend our days doing something that is useful, profitable and enjoyable. Does your day-to-day work deliver the results? Smartspeed Consulting Limited &#