If you are not getting the results you want from continuous improvement, let me share with you some simple ideas that can change this.
These ideas are quick to deploy, cost just a little bit of time and can make a difference today.
Find a friend
Working with someone else to improve how your business works makes life so much easier. You can bounce ideas off each other, protect each other’s time and stop the process being lonely.
If you get a small gang together, that all want to see change happen, anything is possible…
Look for quick wins
Instead of setting off on a long, long, journey before you see any results why not knock off some quick wins? Find those improvements that will make a notable difference that can be done in one afternoon.
Change a policy. Create a checklist. Do something quick and useful that helps build your momentum and makes everyone’s life easier.
Start your day with an improvement
If you wait until the end of the working day to make improvements happen, there is a good chance you’ll never get around to it.
Rejig your calendar so you can spend a few minutes at the start of the working day to progress your improvements. If you are short on time (who isn’t?) limit your time. It can be surprising how much you can achieve in ten minutes, if you are undistracted.
Keep your target in your sights
Don’t lose focus with your improvements. It is better to complete one improvement than start ten and watch them all fade away.
Make it clear what your improvement objective is to everyone around you. Put a note on your computer. Talk about it in meetings. Do whatever it takes to keep it in your mind and in your conversations.
And, as the saying goes ‘hit it until you hit it’.
Bitesize chunks
Big, nasty looking improvements make most people procrastinate. If you have one of these types of projects to tackle, split it up into bite size chunks.
Nibble away and watch the results start to happen. This is a great psychological trick that is massively underused (and you may know the approach as being called Kaizen).
Avoid blending problems together
When you get involved with tricky projects, they can look really complicated. Stop and look to see if it is really three different issues wrapped up together.
If it is, pull them apart and treat them as three separate projects. If it isn’t, go back to bitesize chunks.
Don’t wait for perfection
We all want a perfect solution, but if resources are against you (time, money etc…) why not do something that gets you on your way?
If your business process is at a two on the scale (out of ten), you might not have to get to ten in one go. Perhaps a project to get you to a five, then a seven and then a nine. It will depend on what pressures are on you, but often you can improve in steps.
I hope you try out some of the above points and watch your improvement results start to improve. Making change happen doesn’t have to be complicated.
And, if you find these points useful, you’ll get a lot out of my free downloadable guide. You can get your copy here.
Enjoy.
