Many businesses claim to have an ongoing “Continuous Improvement” (CI) program. And to be fair, many do. For others, it’s a false label, aimed at giving you the warm and fuzzies. Keep in mind, that mould is also warm and fuzzy.

Some industries (think: NASA, or the medical industries) must have a CI program, as the cost for slipping is failure and possibly fatal. They have staff whose sole responsibility is to review processes, components, supply chain links, materials, regulations and any other piece that contributes to the end result and makes it better. To be honest, for someone like NASA, cost is often not a concern. Most of us do not have such a luxury. But it remains an important component to strategic growth, regardless.

For most of us, our competition is waiting in the wings for us to slip. If you thwart them, then changing things up, in an effort to create improvement keeps them guessing, and instead of one-upping you, they are stuck trying to catch up. Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.

But an effective CI will vary depending on what your company does/offers. It should be scheduled annually, bi-annually, quarterly, monthly or ongoing as felt needed. And the timing can change depending on changing factors (economy, competition, breakthroughs in manufacturing, materials, etc).

Making changes as a result of your CI program gives you fodder for advertising. NEW! IMPROVED! are well-worn claims, but if you quickly can back them up with hard facts and images, people pay attention. And even if sometimes you don’t make an improvement, it can be impressive to state that you made 4 or 9 or 22 improvements last month or last year.

A CI initiative is not as easy as it sounds. You must pick a certain aspect of your business (sales, marketing, production, distribution, packaging, internal comm, the list is almost endless) and make that one item the focus for that period (week, month, quarter, year, season - whichever applies).

The person responsible (in a small business, this is most often the owner/founder) disengages from every other aspect of the business for the observation period. No phone calls, no meetings, no scrolling. Watch, listen and take notes, maybe videos or pictures for in-depth study later.

There is an incredible chance you will see something to improve. Quicker material handling, improved safety, better procedures, reduced consumables, saved space, easier scaling, faster turnaround. Ask your team, if necessary, if they agree. Ask your team, if necessary, to help devise a solution. Put it in practice and solicit feedback, measure the benefits. Move onto the next improvement.

Make the above a regular habit, and the competition will struggle to keep up. Don’t do the above, and you will struggle.

Don Parsons - Different By Design

(403) 741-4920   (mobile)

don.parsons@telus.net

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