When you make an improvement in your business, how do you finish it? Do you have a checklist of tasks you carry out, or do you claim that you're done? Many businesses take the latter approach. The question is, when is your task really finished? Having a close down approach to your improvements is key to sustainable benefits. If you recall PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act), this is very much an 'Act' issue. You've planned your improvement, you've delivered it and checked the results. Unless you need to improve the change, tying it into your business is critical. The risk, if you don't do this, is that you lose the improvement. People are busy. Minds are busy. Trying to remember the new method of working is at risk (I find that many changes disappear within two weeks). This is the case when the new method isn't a daily task! What can you do to help tie in your improvement to your 'business as usual'? Two practical options are: Develop a fo