I meet many organisations that have vague continuous improvement goals.
They want to get better.
They want to improve.
They want to increase their productivity.
By how much?
What area of the business?
What team?
When do you want this done by?
How much resource do you have available?
The brain works best when it has a specific target to lock onto. If you are finding a lack of traction with your continuous improvement projects then I urge you to get specific.
You have probably been through enough goal setting / business setting discussions to see this apply elsewhere. It really does work well for you and your teams’ brains too.
If you aren’t getting the progress you were hoping for with your improvements take your top priority improvement and get detailed.
List out the aspects of this improvement using the tried and tested 5W1H headings:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
Use the headings to brainstorm information that can clarify and sharpen the focus of your team. See what happens with the ideas that your team come up with to progress the improvement project.
This is a superb strategy to accelerate improvement. A focused initiative often out performs a vague idea about getting better.
