There are a lot of things that sound good, and may be very good for a short term, but overall, they don’t last.
We noticed this on our recent trip to the State Fair. We found deep-fried brownies, deep-fried Pepsi, and even deep-fried Kool Aid – about anything you can imagine had been deep-fried.
Each of these stations had a few novel-seekers in line. However the longest lines were at the more tried-and-true vendors, such as tenderloin sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches. How can you go wrong with those?
Similar to fair food, many businesses adopt business plans that are the deep-fried flavor of month syndrome. They may sound good on paper, but they really do not have any lasting value.
It is imperative that Continuous Improvement (CI) programs be founded on principles to ensure their sustainability.
These principles include executive/managerial support, employee education and involvement, and the right goals. Without each of these three components, a CI program is assured to fail.
First, it is important that a company’s leadership team supports the CI program. Often significant changes are required in business practices. Without management support, these cannot occur. It is also important that management provide ways to support their CI teams by eliminating road blocks and helping to gain buy-in from hesitant stakeholders.
Second, it’s important that employees understand the basics of a CI program and truly be involved in it. It can’t be just a few people orchestrating an improvement plan that ultimately will affect everyone.
The third and most key ingredient is the setting of proper goals. Too many times, employees see a CI program as a methodology for reducing the workforce and/or slashing budgets. This should never be the goal of a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project or program. LSS is designed to reduce waste and eliminate errors. By combining these two aspects in its goal-setting, the company can be much more productive and therefore save money.
How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive workplace.
Recent Comments