Tag Archives: change

Good Procedures – a business requirement.

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Procedures can be formal or informal, simple or complex but whichever you use they are there to minimise the guesswork and irregularity in the business.  The format of which should be standard throughout the company as far as possible (there are many templates on the web to build from), they should also be effective and efficient! I have worked with companies that are overburdened with procedures and those that literally rely on the information and experience of individuals.

Overburdensome procedures take away the ability to move quickly, to adapt to change before competitors.  This scenario is usually found in larger organisations (& Government) and colloquially called “bureaucracy”.

Whereas a lack of documented procedures can often facilitate a faster response, the problem that lies herein is that the improvements and changes are again not documented.  Thus there is confusion over the “correct” procedure to follow.  Plus, as is often the case without procedures, results and KPIs are not accurate and may even be guesses, if they are presented at all.

Either way, change is required with benefits found in both scenarios. Redesigning procedures can be seen as being easier due to the fact that they have already been written and only need “tweaking”, while in other situations documenting procedures from scratch can also be seen as being easier as there is a clean slate to work with.

The issue here is often not the need to redesign or design procedures; it is the perception of change. There are companies that state they are looking for change, to make the improvements they know they need to take their company to the next level. I just wonder how many people have found a company’s statements on change are not always congruent with their actions.

Some companies I have worked with see change as part of their business, continual improvement itself being a process that happens everyday. These are the companies that have realised change can bring a level of uncertainty or a period of moving backwards before improvement (but careful planning and testing will reduce any negative effect).  Yet there are others that talk about change but can only manage partial implementation, sometimes abandoning improvements that have been made. I have found there is also a correlation to particular industries as well.

I would welcome comments on companies that have good procedures and how they design/change them.

Next instalment – Failure to change

Missing opportunities?

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It is always interesting and sometimes surprising to find the number and quality of opportunities to be found in companies that continue to go unnoticed. I suppose a large part of being able to see opportunities is to see things with different eyes (or glasses). I have found that people that are new to a company are a great resource that is often not tapped into.

These people whether new employees, contractors or consultants – or even for that matter, visitors, will often ask some basic questions or have ideas that seem “silly” or not realistic. But it is just these questions and ideas that should be recorded and reviewed, before an arbitrary answer is given, such as “It’s just not possible, you don’t understand our industry/market/equipment/culture/etc,”

Seeing issues and other opportunities without the incumbrance of “history” gives weight to the benefit of these ideas. If effort is taken to turn these ideas into reality, or find the final reason why they won’t work will put your company ahead of the competition, they too – more than likely – will have the same blind spots or issues. Does your company have a full and clear induction program for new employees? I don’t mean those that state “this is where you sit and these are the OH&S practices we follow”, but one that covers all their requirements as well as asking them to document after one week and again after one month what they see as issues or opportunities. In fact, it may also be to your benefit to ask visitors the same thing!

Don’t be caught out, don’t let your competitors get the jump on you. Working on these, often, obvious questions will put you in the position of being forced to review the situation actively. Use the “5x why” method (drill down 5 times, don’t just ask 5 questions at the same level.) Yes, it is agreed, everyone has an opinion but learn how to manage these and put them to good use – plus the fact that just by listening you encourage other ideas (and respect). It becomes a win win for all.

Cheers Mark