Skip to main content

Posts

A 3 step plan to increase the hit rate for management actions

Someone tried to derail my day yesterday. They hadn't prepared their information in a timely manner and then tried to cancel our meeting just moments before it was meant to start. I won't go into how I originally rearranged my day for this meeting, or the fact that we still managed to have the meeting, despite a good chunk of data being missing. But, amongst all this frustration, there was a clear learning point for the person in question (I hope that they got the point!). The point was that not only was the task not done, the person who had to do it was oblivious to the fact they had the task to deliver in the first place. I mean, they would have known about it when the task was originally agreed, but since then it has floated away into the ether... So, let me share with the three step plan for increasing the hit rate with these kinds of actions. You can use this if you find yourself struggling, or if you find members of your team accepting tasks and then just not delivering.

What are your improvement 'guiding principles'?

If you have read my other blog posts, or books, you will know that I continuously refer to a specific challenge within continuous improvement . The challenge is what happens after you have improved all of the really obvious improvements. I refer to this as being the difference between moving from 'bad to OK' compared to moving from 'OK to amazing'. The first part of the journey is relatively straightforward. You see something that isn't right and you fix it. Simple. So, what happens when you move past this point and you can't see as many things to improve? You need a different focus, you have to start looking somewhere else for your improvement inspiration. Create a powerful vision for your business. Available from Amazon and iTunes The other day I was talking to one my my client's member of staff about this very issue. The person in question was relatively new to the business and had made a big impact to the running and organisation of their manufacturing

What does a good project look like to you?

Last week I was faced with another client project that is falling over. Not a problem, been here before with other clients. But, I don't want to go back to this with the same client... I bet they don't either. Before I rolled up my sleeves and started helping them out, I paused. I asked the owner of the business one question: "What does a good project look like, to you?" Together we drew out a shopping list of things that would form a great project, from delivering it on time to ensuring that they got the outcomes that they were planning for. I like simple questions like this. They force you to think and from here better results are possible. If I just fix something for a client then there is a good chance that the same problem will re-appear in the following months. This is exactly the "teach a person to fish..." approach. So, what does a good project look like for you? How would it be specified? What communication would you have around the project? How oft

Pocket CCC is free this week

The ' C oncern - Cause - Countermeasure ' approach is a really practical and effective method to identify and deploy change. One of the difficulties in using this method is remembering what you are concerned about in the first place. I developed the simple Pocket CCC app (for Android) to get around this. The simple interface means that you can be up and running in just moments; capturing concerns and identifying improvement actions. See a concern? Capture it on your smartphone there and then. If you would like a free copy of my Pocket CCC Android app then check out Google Pla y this week: Available from Google Play The promotion ends this Sunday (14th June 2020). Giles About the author Giles Johnston is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in helping businesses to grow and improve through better business processes. Giles is also the author of Effective Root Cause Analysis and ' What Does Good Look Like? ' .

The Kaizen Checklist is here!

Do you want to get better results from your Kaizen programme? Improve your business results quickly with my downloadable kit (including guidebook, workbook and templates) for only $39. Are you looking for a sustainable way to identify and implement improvements across your business? Practical improvement strategies The Kaizen Checklist is a downloadable kit that you can use with your management team to develop a system that suits your business and allow you to quickly implement Kaizen effectively at your place of work. This works great if you use it as the centre piece of your own internal workshop. The kit includes a 40 page guidebook, a workbook, four appendices and three templates. All parts of this kit are designed to get you up and running as fast as possible. If you are unfamiliar with Kaizen, let me stress that this is a simple improvement philosophy that is so much more than just  ‘a Japanese word for continuous improvement’. I’ll cover what it rea

Take the pressure off! Using the Y-curve with your Kaizen improvements

Do you feel under pressure when you have to make changes happen in your business? It can be scary when we try something that we have never done before. I remember thinking to myself 'how on Earth am I going to figure this out?' on many occasions. I think the last time was a few weeks ago! Years on from becoming reasonable at the art of change I am still faced with the same dilemma. It is scary and it is clear to me why so many people shy away from making change happen. It is natural to get stuck in this oscillation. On one hand you need to make change happen; the business needs the improvement benefits. On the other hand you don't want to screw up... Last week I was talking to a young engineer that I am mentoring. He was paralysed. Changes were not happening at all. There was always some early promise with his projects and then, as completion (and judgement day) loomed, progress would evaporate. The engineer asked me for my views on this  during a recent conversati

Do you need a burst of improvement ideas for your business?

If you haven’t created your improvement action plan for 2020 yet then I have something for you. I have just completed my latest project – The CI Focus Tool . This Android App is now available on Google Play and provides a simple method for generating as many effective improvement ideas as you need. This is the same basic method that I describe in my book Effective Continuous Improvement  and is now available as a simple to use app. In essence it is a brainstorming focus tool. Press the focus button and you will be presented with a random continuous improvement focus. Brainstorm ideas around this focus with your team (whilst the timer is running) and there you go – a number of great ideas for you to prioritise and implement. The reason that this works so well is because of the focus. When your business runs out of its immediate problems to fix you need a different strategy. Very focused brainstorming helps you break past this problem and configuring the app to meet t