I had a really pleasing conversation yesterday with a client's member of staff. A process that had been in the business for years (that was poorly adhered to anyway) was proving to be cumbersome for the job that it was designed for. Despite the process having been in place long before I appeared in their business it had become perceived as something that I had created. It wasn't causing a problem to the business, and it had never made it (thus far) to the top of my list of priorities for my client. The member of staff approached me cautiously and asked a few questions about the process.

If you haven't read my book 'Kamishibai Boards' yet, it is free to download for the Amazon Kindle (and the free reading app) today and tomorrow (29th and 30th of July 2015). Here's the link -  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0073FWAC6 Giles Johnston Author of Business Process Re-Engineering

I've just got back from holiday with my family and enjoyed a simple example of visual management in practice whilst away. We went on a boat trip where there were a few options on what route / trip you could take. When we got on the boat my family got a blue sticker attached to our t-shirts.

I had a really good meeting with a client the other day about their ' Sunrise Meeting ', a short daily meeting to help drive productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. They looked at me sheepishly and told me that they had changed it. 'Great!' I replied.

There are many good books on project management available. Sometimes we take the time to read them, and sometimes (even better) we learn how to improve our effectiveness at delivering projects. But what about the learning you get from your experience?

There was an online article published yesterday about a drop in UK productivity (you can see it here:  http://ukbusiness-today.co.uk/news/uk-productivity-subdued ). This reminded me of a project I have just recently finished where productivity was at the core of the work carried out. The team I was working with were all hard working. They were skilled at their jobs, but they had come to live with many inadequacies that robbed them of the high levels of productivity that they were capable of.

Sometimes the best improvements are the simplest ones, the ones that are often sitting under our noses. Simple ideas get implemented. Simple ideas stick.

I had a really interesting conversation at the end of a workshop yesterday. The person I got talking to was concerned that although they now knew how to implement the changes they were unsure as to when they would be able to do the work - it just seemed like too much. The basic application of the Takt Time approach, that follows, was how we ended the conversation.

Recently I have been working with a client to help them bring a project back on schedule. The conversations that took place at the start of the project were interesting; we reviewed the targets that were set for the production rates within the project.

Another day, and another conversation about production losses. Why are they ignored so often? I do wonder if there is a lack of wanting to face the truth about the inefficiency of businesses that makes this the case.

It can be really tempting to ease up when you see some progress being made on an improvement project. I see it time and time again; some progress is made, people feel good and momentum ceases.

My popular e-book ' Kamishibai Boards ' is free on Amazon between 9th June 2015 and 11th June 2015. It shares a step by step process to implement a simple visual management approach that can help businesses to form effective workplace habits. To view the book's details please visit:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0073FWAC6 Giles Johnston Author of Business Process Re-Engineering

I was engaged in a really interesting conversation this week about ERP systems and the need for training. We discussed the training gap that was evident and then got talking about the other things you need in a business in order for ERP to 'fly'...