I'm pleased to announce that two more of my books have now made it into paperback format: Effective SOPs and Office Productivity . Office Productivity was written to translate some of the great practices that come out of business process re-engineering and lean manufacturing activities into an administration setting. Many of my clients are outside of the manufacturing sector and this book is a compilation of the methods I have used with them to boost their productivity.

The photo you can see below is a simple, inexpensive and effective visual management solution for one of my client's previously ongoing business issues - their heating system switching itself off (because it has run out of fuel!). Simple visual management system example A heating system might not be your most gripping business issue, but the point of this post is the big issue behind visual management systems... Visual management approaches don't work if the staff of a business don't look at the information being presented. The above window is only effective if the people who can refill the hopper regularly look at it in order to make a decision. If everyone walks past the window and does nothing then the window is pointless. Clearly having a window is better than having no window (they used to have open the hatch to look in). But not looking at the window makes having a window redundant. So, let's extend this point past this example: Visual operator ma

Two more of my books are now available in paperback: On Time Delivery: A True Lean Manufacturing Story This short book is a chronicle of my time as a Production Manager in an under performing factory . The book recounts the steps (good and bad) that I took to take the OTIF performance from 22% to 98% in just a few months (as well as the lead time dropping from 20 weeks down to just under 4). The book includes learning points and a reflection of what I would do differently next time. You can get your copy by clicking here . Sunrise Meetings: Create Effective Routines To Make Your Business Run Like Clockwork Sunrise Meetings are those short, effective, daily meetings that really jump start how your business operates. If you find yourself in a position where there is too much fire-fighting and not enough results then this book can help you to organise your business through a more formal approach to operating your business processes . Like many of my books, this is a

I bet that you can think of three changes you want to make in your business, that would drive up your levels of productivity, as you read this. How easy are these changes to make? Are they new ideas, or are they items you are struggling with?

Many businesses that I visit seem have either one, or two, people that seem to have an inordinate amount of information held in their heads. These people are often referred to as ‘Oracles’, or similar and they are often the go to person when trouble hits the business. Move your business away from the re-active superheroes with Losing the Cape. Available on Amazon. When I started my working life I was, understandably, in awe of these individuals. How did they know so much? How did they get so good? I was impressed with their abilities and what they were able to do when it was crunch time.

My first book in three years has finally arrived - Losing the Cape ! Do you have super heroes in your business? Losing the Cape  is on the hunt for the super heroes incidents that shouldn't exist, the ones that they have to leap into action for because of poor management and badly executed processes. This is your time to shine and root out the real problems that are lurking in your business, the issues that are masked by people leaping into action. The issues that zap your productivity and ability to run your business as you would want. We all need our heroes, for when the time is right. But, for the majority of situations, they have to leap into action because something simpler, and in our control, is broken. The book is split into two halves. Part one looks at what the cape is and why it exists. Part two offers a range of strategies and methods to help you quickly and practically remove the need to wear capes in your business. Good news  - as part of the launch of L

I was sent a link the other day to an article on the Guardian website about universities improving their student retention rates (so that the students actually complete their courses) – you can read the article here ( https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/jun/13/universities-student-retention-priority ). There were a few highlights made in the article, these included: Being clear on expectations. Having a timetable for communication. Sharing ideas. Don’t you think that these ideas could translate directly into your business? Could you improve the clarity of the outcomes, process metrics and the management activities that your managers are held accountable against? Could you formalise your communications through regular management meetings that contain a combination of standard agenda items, KPIs and process ‘ checks and balances ’? Could you find better ways to share ideas and accelerate your continuous improvement endeavours? Principles nev