Delegation and abdication are two words that often get confused when it comes to effective management.  When a process has been improved, there is always an ongoing need to manage the process (delegation). Just walking away and hoping everything is fine is fatal (abdication!) Why is this distinction so important?

When you are starting out on a Continuous Improvement adventure there is always a risk... that our view of the world doesn't include the best that we could have. Knowing what 'good' looks like is invaluable when we are charting our course of action.

When I was driving to my client yesterday I was listening to an interesting debate on the radio about GPs being paid to diagnose dementia ( you can read more here ). The reasoning behind this is to increase the number of people on a 'dementia register'. This is good example of how measuring a specific feature of a business / organisation can affect the outcome. In this case they have added an incentive too. So, how would this relate to your business?

Do you use checklists in your business? I do, many of my clients do, and many other businesses do. They use them for one very good reason; they help to drive up productivity .

When you are changing a process you need to get 'buy in' from the people who are key to operating the process. What do you do when everyone is 'too busy'?

Planning is an interesting subject to me, hopefully it is to you too. Having a different perspective over different time periods, and having a (reasonably) firm grasp of what needs to happen when is a basic feature of good management.

When will running around, trying to go faster than the day before through sheer physical exertion, stop being the strategy of choice for many businesses? You know the common phrase 'running around like a headless chicken', don't you? We joke about it, but it can waste a huge chunk of time from our working weeks. When I first start working with a business this is often the approach that we are trying to overcome.

A lot of my clients resist formalising their business routines, at first. I can understand this, it certainly isn't a sexy subject and there are usually larger, pressing, issues also at hand. However, if you do a bit of root cause analysis you can soon trace back some of the bigger issues in your business to these smaller tasks that possibly aren't being handled in the right way...

After numerous successful MRP / ERP improvement projects I have now pulled together the most widely applicable parts and created a rapid audit 'download'. This quick to use tool can help you to find out what the gaps are with your MRP system, in terms of it being used effectively day to day. To mark the release of this product you can save 50% off the normal selling price by using the discount code MRP  when prompted at the checkout. This code is valid until the 5th of October 2014. To view this product visit: http://www.improvingbusinesses.com/mrp-systems-improvement Giles Johnston ...optimising MRP systems and re-engineering business processes

Have you launched a new process recently? The training and support that is required around a new process is often underestimated. I know that I have seen several examples of this in the past month alone.

How many people are there in your business that don't ask for help? Most times this is a good sign, people know what they need to do and they get on with it.

'But why do I need SOPs?' is a question I often get asked. If you are working with Standard Operating Procedures then you will most likely hear this question too.

When everything is going well, and your business problems aren't biting at your heels, continuous improvement might not seem like something that is essential. When the situation is reversed, when you are being bitten, it can seem like having done some form of improvement would have made sense.