I chatted with a production team the other day about ways in which we could improve their performance . They had recently overcome some major operational issues but still weren't in a place that they needed to be. We overcame the awkwardness of the conversation by talking about the overall ambitions of the business and the relevance to them and then got talking about general performance improvement. Available from Amazon and iTunes At first the conversation was really stilted because, for them, where do you start? This is a challenge for all management and leadership to overcome, helping your teams to see the opportunities for improvement and then helping them to help themselves get past this sticking point into action. In this particular conversation I split up the ambitions of the business into multiple areas. Each area was small enough to have a meaningful discussion around it that naturally generated a range of improvement opportunities for the team. Breaking big pictur

Have you tried the Concern - Cause - Countermeasure approach with your team? You might also know it as CCC or 3Cs, either way it is a brilliant tool to help you engage your teams and manage continuous improvement opportunities. I help many of my clients to use this tool and it really does help to make the improvement conversation flow. I have just uploaded a template and instructions, to help you get the most out of the CCC approach, to my main website here -  http://www.systemsandprocesses.co.uk/process-improvement-download-toolkits/ccc-worksheet/ If you are looking for a quick way to engage your teams, focus on a specific improvement topic, or drive general improvements within a function of your business it really is a great tool. And, as with most of these things, the way that you apply it is key to getting great results. The short (only 3 pages) instructions can help you to do this. As it is part of the Kit 'n' Go range on my website the whole download is only

Continual improvement only happens when you actually do something. So, why do we generally spend so much time talking about change rather than doing something about it? Available on Kindle , iBooks and in paperback Whilst there are a whole range of reasons as to why we opt for debate rather than action, most of them boil down to people being afraid of change itself. With that in mind, here are three quick and simple ways to get change to start taking effect if it has stalled in your business. Use experiments Remember when you were at school and you performed experiments? You didn’t know what the outcome was going to be and that was OK . When we undertake continual improvement activities it is highly likely that we don’t exactly know the right formula for a successful change. So, we can use the same idea (it is an experiment) and learn from our results. We don’t have to be iron cast with our changes and by sharing this lack of expectation with our team can help to do just

Isn't that a question to get you thinking? I speak to lots of people that get stuck in this dynamic. They know what is right and they stick to their guns, but (occasionally) at the cost of not getting the results they wanted. Getting results often means that you have to do things that you think that someone else should do, or in a way that isn't 'perfect' in your eyes in order to see the results that you want. Have you been guilty of being stuck in this mode from time to time? Getting results doesn't mean that you have to do someone else's work, rather that you put your pride to one side and perform tasks that you could consider as being beneath you for a short period of time. A perfect example of this was when I recently had to get some stickers cut to size and no one wanted to undertake the task on the team I was working with; they all turned their noses up at the idea. However, the stickers had to be resized to prove that the imaging system on the

Do your reporting lines help you to become more productive? It is question that appears to be rarely asked. Reporting lines exist for most businesses, but to directly increase productivity? Organisation hierarchies are often thought through with a great deal of care. What isn't considered as thoroughly is how the objectives of the management team are cascaded and how the reporting of critical information is handled.  A Simple Feedback Loop The sketch below depicts this consideration: In this model the manager clearly articulates the objective, goal or target that they need their team member(s) to achieve. The objective should help the business to increase its performance - including its effectiveness and productivity. The team member communicates the relevant information to the manager at agreed intervals to the level of detail that has been agreed. Formal reporting can take a number of forms, including: Written reports Meetings One to one catch ups Visua

When it comes to delivering on time, how much of your focus is on the early business process steps? I find that many businesses might fixate on on time delivery to their customers (rightly so, of course) but don't look at what is going on at the stages before the final step. Here are some ideas to whet your appetite when it comes to improving OTIF (On Time In Full) for your organisation. Recognising and discussing the domino effect Each step in your process feeds the next step. A failure to deliver on time at one of the upstream activities can snowball and really push out your deliveries. Being aware of this phenomenon and having an ongoing discussion about this in your business is a good first step. If your team aren't willing to discuss this issue then it is unlikely to get resolved. Make internal OTIF part of your normal conversation and change will be much easier later on. Develop KPIs that support on time delivery Most of us have KPIs (Key Performanc

I have the great fortune to work with a wide range of up and coming continuous improvement professionals. Some of them I get to mentor and some I only get to spend time with on projects. I have noticed a distinction within these groups; some progress a lot faster than others. The individuals that progress their development faster than the other group aren’t necessarily better skilled, or have some other talent, but they do one thing the other group don’t: They figure out what works and do more of it and what doesn’t work and do less of that. Not exactly rocket science, but something that I strongly advocate to those that I mentor. These individuals reflect on what they are doing and what they have done and spot the lessons lying underneath the activity. The lessons themselves are unlikely to be the results of the activities, but more what was learned about carrying out the activities. Lessons often include: How to plan more effectively. How to communicate more effectively.

I love the phrase 'what gets measured gets managed', it is so apt. There is a downside to this phrase, however, and I saw it in action again last week. One of my clients had a real issue with one of their business processes, it was under performing and causing a tangible knock on effect for the rest of the business. Available from Amazon and iTunes They had already looked at their process, developed a metric to help measure the performance and, as the saying goes, it got managed. At the same time this team took their eye off the ball with another one of their key processes and that started to go downhill. We put a measure in place for the other process, established a degree of formality around their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - of which there were now two - and balanced out the management of the processes. So, what is the lesson here? Make sure that the team are measuring all of their key processes before the change is about to start. In this case t

It's discount time again! If you would like to improve your OTIF (On Time In Full) delivery performance quickly then check out The OTIF Impro vement Course . Available as an immediate download, you will be able to review and implement my tried and tested management framework quickly. Templates, examples and step-by-step instructions are included with my course - all available immediately after purchase. The best bit is (apart from the results) is that the course can be completed and implemented quickly. Back to the discount... if you use the link below you will be able to purchase the course for $20, instead of the regular price of $47. To find out more about the course - click here . Remember to use discount code OTIF20 at the checkout, or use the link below to get your discount. 0,The OTIF Delivery Course Here's to your new level of delivery performance, Giles About the author Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping busin

A manager at one of my clients came up to me at the end of a meeting. I had been talking about some of the factors that was stopping us from delivering on time and one of them was not making decisions in a timely fashion. Many of the people in the meeting put up some of their arguments about why they had so little time and email came up repeatedly. So, I asked them a qualifying question: "How quickly do you need to respond to your emails?" They largely looked at each other, rather than responding. I continued by asking them whether they were processing their emails in a systematic fashion, or being distracted by their email program (with their 'helpful' pop ups telling you that you have new messages). I got a mixed response to my question and observation, but a couple of them got the point I was making: email is a tool and you get to choose how to use it. In Lean manufacturing there is the reference to 'just in case' manufacturing; product being m

If you know me personally you will be aware that I am not a huge football fan... but I do love a World Cup. As with most things that I watch, or participate in, I like to learn something from the experience. Tonight, whilst watching the Uruguay vs Portugal match I was comparing the set pieces that the teams have prepared with the idea of scenario planning in business. For many businesses scenario planning is something that is in the domain of strategic work and is for executives only. This isn't accurate of course and applying the idea of scenario planning to your operational activities is a great way to drive up your operational performance when the going gets tough. In football their scenario plans (or, set pieces) are carefully considered. When a certain situation faces a team they can then choose to enact one of their set pieces, hopefully increasing their chances of success. The key point is that these set pieces have been thought about in advance. In business, mo

Most of my working life revolves around developing new processes and embedding systems for my clients. Sometimes, however, I find that these requests for new ways of working are masking a deeper issue - a lack of discipline amongst the senior management team and staff. Have you experienced this in your place of work? The logical extreme of this conversation is to automate your processes and take the human component out of the equation. But, if you want people in your business (as they are usually the source of good ideas and innovation, as well as problems...), how do you develop the right kinds of habits and discipline into your daily operations? There are lots of good ways to consider, including: Developing an effective business routine . Linking performance to appropriate KPIs . Driving behaviour through short team meetings, with fixed agendas . Describing 'what good looks like' and sharing this vision with your team. Leading by example and rewarding discipli

I had a great time tonight watching my daughter and her peers at the ice skating competition. Some of the skating was great, some was less so, but every single skater performed which was brilliant to witness. Every skater, no matter their performance, got several rounds of applause and it was deserved in every case. Everyone wanted to see them win and communicated this with them through their applause. This got me thinking. I often ask my clients if they set their teams up to win, usually reflecting on a current performance objective or continuous improvement goal . In many cases the conversation raises a few opportunities that my client can look at that can increase the chances of their teams winning at the challenges before them. Considering this same topic, with the skaters I saw tonight they: Had been given / made time to learn and practice. Were supported by someone that could mentor and guide them. Their objective was crystal clear to them. A clear plan was in plac