Central to Continuous Improvement is the PDCA (Plan - Do - Check - Act) cycle. I talk about this a lot as I believe it is rare for every improvement that we attempt to work perfectly the first time. One part of using this approach effectively is the ability to modify your questions when you aren't getting the answers that you need.

Do you get frustrated by this one? You go to a meeting and find out that people who are meant to have completed their actions haven't done so.

Kamishibai boards are one of the most popular searched for items on this blog. So, with that in mind, I couldn't leave Kev's kamishibai board out! Kev is a Team Leader at one of my clients and he has taken the idea of the red / green visual management approach to help communicate the state of the TPM of their forklift trucks. The wall above is in a very visible location in the factory grounds so that anyone can see the status. I love it, simple but effective. Kev, I salute you! Giles Johnston ...fixing MRP systems and re-engineering business processes

No one knows all of the answers. Continuous Improvement can sometimes seem like a lonely place to be when you are making a decision on how to improve a process. That's exactly the time when it's good to 'find a friend'.

One of the key features of an effective SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is the ability to capture each step along the way. I worked with a great team yesterday and this was one of the things we discussed after attempting to write some SOPs.

One of my clients said the other week 'it's just about creating some good habits, isn't it?' He was talking about the outcome of the work we were doing together and largely he is right. Businesses are driven by habits, or routines. The ability to spot them, develop them and then do them is critical for effective day to day management.

I was helping a team last week come up with their action plan to improve part of their MRP system . During the creation of the action plan two names were put into the 'responsible' column. After a bit of negotiation they changed it to read only one person's initials. This is something that I see time and time again, but often seems to cause more confusion than is beneficial for the business.