In our lives, continuous improvement is something that most of us do without really thinking about it. Let’s be honest we
are always looking for ways to make our lives a little easier or to save up for the next treat or holiday. So why, when it comes to business, are so many hesitant to explore the exciting world of continuous improvement and start their own journey to unlock the benefits that more efficient processes can have on their operations?
Fear of the unknown, internal resistance to change and leadership challenges can stop even the most willing business from embarking on their improvement journey. But what if there was a way to make getting started with continuous improvement easier for your organisation?
Here are our top tips to help you get started.
1. Understand the concept of Continuous Improvement
Continuous Improvement is not just a term given to a quick idea to save a bit of time or cash. It’s a strategical plan that should be embedded in your business supported by your long term targets and vision. The clue is in the title, it’s a continuous cycle that allows you to constantly improve your processes. Saving you time, and costs as your business continues to develop and grow to the needs of your customers
2. Identify your current challenges
When approached by businesses looking for some help or support, it’s often noted that challenges they face tend to be complex and made up of several distinct factors. So a way we help remove the noise and identify the challenges any organisation faces is to ask one simple question. “What is the problem you are trying to solve?”
It’s a simple but powerful question that really makes you think about the actual challenges and problems being experienced. This then allows you to focus your efforts in the right areas to deliver both improvements and results.
3. Overcome resistance to change
The old saying “nothing is permanent but change” has never been more true in the rapidly evolving world around us. Because change on any scale can be a difficult period for all involved, and there will always be those who prefer the old way or are nostalgic for the good old days.
Having a robust approach to change within your organisation is the fundamental way to overcome any resistance. We take the approach of doing improvements WITH organisations rather than TO them. As this will help you install a positive culture of improvement and change within your business.
4. Tools and methods
There are many different continuous improvement methodologies and even more tools that can be used to help you through your improvement activity. Even we can see how people can feel overwhelmed and unsure of the best approach to take, which ultimately leads to confusion. This means it’s highly likely that no meaningful action is taken.
Any tool or method should be selected for its purpose, and that it is fit for the situation at hand. You wouldn’t use a hammer to tighten a screw, or a screwdriver to paint a wall! So the same principle needs to apply to the approach you take to tackling the problems within your own business. So, always select the right tool for the job.
5. Learn from failure
Do not fear or hide failure within your organisation. These are the key pieces of information that can help springboard you from failure to success. If something is going wrong with your process, it can be a painful experience. And depending on the impact and severity of this failure, it’s not something that you would want to repeat regularly.
These points, when something goes wrong, are your improvement opportunities. They can lead to improved performance, cost reduction, less wasted time and an improved service for your customers.
6. Sustain improvement and motivation
Aligning your continuous improvement plan to your business strategy and vision allows any improvement culture to thrive and grow. It ensures that all members of the organisation, from the very top in the board room, through to the team members providing a service to your customer, understand the role they play in moving the business forward.
Being able to relate back any benefits of a piece of improvement activity to the team involved and the impact they have made, is a great way to ensure that motivation for future activity is maintained. Any previous negative preconceptions around continuous improvement are then left in the old world, along with inefficient processes and those resistant to change.
7. Celebrate success
This is the final aspect to consider when looking to start any continuous improvement activity in your business. So, how you will celebrate your successes?
Because people make your business what it is! And throughout your improvement activity you will find that it is the people closest to the problem that will ultimately help you solve it and potentially support the development of any solution. Celebrating success can be as simple as taking the time to thank someone for their hard work, or as big as giving them a meaningful gift.
No matter how you choose to celebrate with your team when they achieve success, by taking the time to recognise this, you are playing your part as a leader to continue to develop your organisation’s continuous improvement culture.
So, there are our top tips to consider if you are currently unsure whether to start your continuous improvement journey.
Continuous improvement is our JAM, and we really want to help support businesses through this important stage of their journey.
If you could benefit from a helping hand or are curious to find out more about what Continuous Improvement can do for your business, then get in touch.
Email us at enquiries@redjam.co.uk or head on over to LinkedIn where you can learn more about what we do.