newsletter archive.
(Previously published under the title Extreme Profits
under ISSN 1925-8941)
Open, narrow, close, must and want
When organizations know the root cause of their problems, they will go through three phases to generate and select appropriate solutions. The phases are…
Phases of implementation, sustain and improve
When implementing improvement ideas, phasing the implementation prior to full-scale deployment helps reduce risk and ensures an effective implementation process.
Implementing a project the right way requires working through three phases: design, pilot, and implementation. Each phase builds on the previous one, ensuring that important elements are not missed in full-scale implementation.
Planning for action, change - not as alarming as it sounds
When an organization discovers its problem's root cause, it is faced with the task of discovering the best solution. And the best solution may not always be the most obvious one. This is where action planning can help.
Action planning involves many minds to generate the best possible way forward. And engaging minds from all levels of the organization-from the boiler room to the boardroom-usually provides the best overall ideas for solutions.
Prescription: diagnosis, people side of diagnosis
How do you know if your organization has a problem? The answer is: When there's a difference between the organization's current state, its desired future, someone notices the difference, and the difference is unable to be defined. This is where diagnosis can help.
Critical success factors, let’s talk
Implementing efficiency and productivity improvement in organizations is a strategy and a management philosophy. It is not just a process to drive out costs.
One of the best ways to implement efficiency and productivity improvement is to adopt a Lean Six Sigma philosophy-it is a way to ensure that the organization is doing the right things at the right time and in the right way.
Flippant about stress, making stress work for you
Being stressed has become a cliche. No one seems to be taking it seriously anymore. It has become symbiotic with life.
In "It's not sex. It's not drinking. It's stress and it's soaring," research shows that six in ten workers in major global economies are experiencing increased workplace stress and 80% of workers feel stress on the job. Nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and 42% say their co-workers need such help. While these stats may shock us, what we're not seeing is the effect of stress beyond these numbers.
The “eye sparkle” factor, mastery precedes passion
Bestselling author, Tom Peters, suggests that employers should only hire people who have an "engaging infectious sparkle." In other words, employers may do better to hire people with a positive, engaging attitude even if they have less experience, rather than hiring highly experienced individuals without a demonstrated passion for the job.
EQ improves productivity, all learning has an emotional base
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions; not only one's own, but others' emotions, as well. Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others disagree. Regardless, emotional intelligence is absolutely necessary for productivity. If you don't have solid EQ, you don't have good productivity.
Do you need a coach? Coaching culture
In a 2001 study, Manchester Inc. surveyed executives that received coaching. The respondents were from large (mostly Fortune 1000) companies who received "change oriented" coaching aimed at improving certain behaviors or skills or "growth oriented" coaching designed to sharpen overall job performance.
Waiting away your time, idling for action
When was the last time you had to wait for something or someone? Do you remember how long you waited? If you waited for more than five minutes, you probably felt frustrated. If you waited for more than ten minutes, you may even have started getting angry about the wait. And what about those instances when you waited for hours for a service technician to show up?
While many of us have waited for products or services at least once in our lives, you may be surprised to know that there is a huge cost in waiting.
The hidden cost of rework, workplace faults
One of the biggest problems in business processes is rework. Anything that has to be re-done, re-built, re-packaged, re-anything is a waste. If the service or product is not done right the first time, the individual (and the organization) experiences rework, resulting in more time, materials, and cost to the final service or product. If you work by the hour, reworking your deliverable may look like you're getting paid a lot to produce very little. And you'd be correct.
Too much is bad for business, balancing act
Office processes are often neglected, yet account for more than half the lead-time in many companies and can account for more than 25 percent of the cost of goods sold. In offices, an absence of measurement for processing activities or a lack of appreciation for the impact and benefits of lead-time reduction contribute to waste. Of these wastes, overproduction is significant.
Extra! Extra! Money, money
Are you the kind of person that cleans your house before the cleaning company arrives? Do you review a binder before (or after) giving it to your colleague for review? And, heck, who doesn't want to check three times to make sure the alarm system is on/off? In the real world, all of this probably happens, but it shouldn't; especially in the work place.
Loco-motion, less is more
Loco: Spanish term for "crazy," "insane," "mad"
Motion: The action or process of moving or being moved
How many times did you have to move today to accomplish one task at your workstation? In how many places did you have to look before you found the information you needed? How many steps did your roundtrip take to/from the photocopier or printer? If you answered, "More than necessary," you need to examine how motion is impacting your work day.
Move it or lose it, time is money
Many years ago, I remember handling a multi-copy "request for service" form that contained an area for four signatures. One of the signatures was required twice, at two different steps in the form's process. This meant that one manager had to see the form twice, at two different times. Now think about this. Here's a form that is initiating a service, but it is being transported between different offices multiple times. You can certainly see the problem with this process, but at the time, not a single manager thought this form or its process was flawed. Nor did they consider how this process was impacting their customer.
What do you know? Profits in RIM
Do you think you know all you need to know to conduct a successful business? If you said, "yes," then you probably know what your customers think about your business. If you said, "no," then you need to find out what your customers are thinking. Organizations that fail to hear the voice of their customers are in a "knowledge disconnect" and this can seriously hurt their bottom line.
Waste not want not, stock piled
When we think of inventory, we typically think of the manufacturing industry, but businesses in any sector have inventory: Food, retail, service, government, not-for-profit, professional associations...name the business and it's a guarantee that the business deals with inventory. Inventory is necessary for business operations, but when supply exceeds demand, problems arise, especially in the organization's bottom line.
Mr. Roboto, show me, don’t tell me
Human "robots" can be found in many "un-Lean" organizations where employees are not utilized to their fullest potential. If your organization has underutilized employees, the organization structure and values may be to blame. You may say, "So what, at least they've got a job." Not so. There's a huge impact on the organization's processes and customer value if underutilized people remain underutilized.
Leaning for customer value, taking care of business
Is the customer always right? Yes. Do customers buy your products or services because you have the best products or services? No. Customers buy your products or services because of their experience with buying your products or services. Let me tell you what I mean by using Starbucks as an example.
Combat counter-productivity, owed to sleep
There is a direct relationship between the amount of time you spend sleeping and your efficiency. It turns out that decreasing sleep by as little as 1.5 hours for just one night reduces daytime alertness by 32 percent.