Now – Often the now relates directly to the SWOT.  What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are either impacting on progress or at least need to be accounted for. 

This sets the scene for the degree of difficulty being experienced in the process.  I don’t mention SWOT, I simply use the headings as prompts to speak too.

Where – Reiterating the desired outcome is often missed, yet it is the key area for giving others some understanding of the ‘journey’ and its value. 

The Where needs to be quite proactive in expression while also being clear about potential impact.

How – These are the key strategies and associated actions being undertaken and monitored throughout the process.

Those being updated should now have a clear understanding of what is at stake and what can be achieved which should make gaining support much easier. This is where the request for help from others and for resources can be canvassed.

Summary

Managers sometimes update purely around the How.  The problem with this is that the value of effort is not easily appreciated. 

People can also question the ‘Why’ of our activities as they have no real yardstick to measure against.

Only through consistent reiteration of the goal and its impact once achieved, the associated barriers being experienced and the solutions being applied can others get a true understanding of the project overall and its process.

This method can be applied when reporting against overall business or divisional progress as well as individual projects and initiatives. 

Therefore, you may have to follow this process several times during one presentation where multiple projects exist.

The following project sheet template is a handy way to manage initiatives as it directly captures the NOW – WHERE – HOW process.

Click here to download project sheet template .

Health covers a huge range of areas and as a management consultant I deal in health in an even broader sense of the word.  The health of a business is my perspective. 

The health of a business is often measured by the profits it makes, it’s market share and its growth.

These days though businesses are beginning to look at a wider set of metrics.  These measures don’t only look at the health of the business itself but also at its place in the community, the connectedness of its people and its broader purpose with regard to its widening range of stakeholders.

This is the big shift in thinking within business in the 21st century.  It began quite a number of years ago when greed brought many businesses unstuck in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s.  The ‘greed is good’ catch cry just wasn’t sustainable.

Good businesses or perhaps I should say healthy businesses are now realising they need to take a more sophisticated approach if they are to enjoy real sustainability. 

They need to recognise and satisfy a greater set of needs both internally and externally.

They now have a wider set of metrics that show how balanced they are as an organisation.  We all know that balance is the key to good health and measuring what drives a business to success rather than only measuring the outcomes is fast becoming the norm. So what are these extra measures or needs that must be catered to? Some include (in no particular order):-

• Significance – sincerely recognising the efforts of others.  This includes staff, suppliers and those who help keep the community (the market) strong.
• Contribution – adding value to others because you can, not just to make a profit.  Being a proactive corporate citizen.
• Growth and variety – The industrial age is finished, we can no longer get away with treating our people as simply part of the machinery of business.  We must provide stimulating work and better career paths.
• Connection – making sure everyone feels part of the  vision and purpose and feel valued for their contributions.  Quality communication is a key part of this factor.
• Certainty – ensuring that we are prudent in the way we administer our organisation in order to stay fiscally strong.  This breeds credibility within our team and the market.

Although some of these factors may appear to be soft and hard to measure, they are now increasingly more common within successful organisations.  Further, these are increasingly important considerations by the broader market in terms of business value.
 
After all it makes good business sense.  Those companies who had customer, supplier, staff and shareholder loyalty during the scare of the so called GFC are in much better shape to capitalise on the new opportunities now presenting themselves than those who failed to build trust and loyalty when they had the chance.

I spend a lot of time with clients help them identify their health right now.  This means where they are well and where there are warning signs of potential trouble.  From there building a program for ensuring they stay well is easy.  These are the businesses that will be around for the long term. 

Of course most businesses don’t follow such advice.  Businesses, like so many individuals, only seek diagnoses after the symptoms become obvious and sometimes that is simply too late.  Which type of business is yours?

Complete our business diagnostic report to recieve a free report on how healthy your business is. Click here to proceed.  

Most managers don’t realise that once the structure is mostly in place, they should move to stage two which is to get the ‘waste’ out and improve efficiency. They continue to keep working on structural issues!

There are seven key areas of waste or inefficiency: overproduction, waiting, transport, inappropriate processing, inventory, motion and defects.

We have developed processes to help you identify these wastes and inefficiencies easily and quickly.

Experience indicates that waste usually accounts for 15% to 30% of your total costs. There are huge savings to be made here and this is where process mapping can really help.

Process mapping

A simple tool called SIPOC can really help in the delivery meaningful process maps.

SIPOC stands for Supplier, Input, Process, Output, and Client.

SIPOC is an important tool to use when embarking on an improvement project. Completing a SIPOC exercise creates an ability to manage expectations and quickly identify and communicate:

• who the process serves (clients)
• required inputs to make the process successful (inputs)
• who provides the required inputs (suppliers)
• steps involved to complete the task (process)
• the results that the process delivers (outputs)

Using the SIPOC tool helps to define the start and end points of a process that you want to improve. Once done you need to dive into the detail of that process in order to improve it. A process map can help.

Creating a process map

Once you have determined the beginning and ending activity steps, start mapping what is done between the two. Make sure to:

• Keep it simple.
• Start at a high level first.
• Involve the people closest to the process.
• Walk through the process yourself.
• Think end to end.
• Work with a small group of 3-7 people. A larger group can make the activity unwieldy.

1. Begin by stating your intention to create a process map for activities completed between start-step A and stop-step B.

2. Document the activities that people do between steps A and B on self-adhesive notes. Attach the notes to a wall, flip chart, or whiteboard in the order in which they are normally completed. Begin your documentation at a high level and then move into additional process maps that provide greater detail.

3. Document the process maps. Schedule your next meeting to review the information. Make sure that you verify and clarify the activities and their owners. Also, look for any immediate opportunities to create ‘quick wins.’

Here is a simple example of process mapping.

In order to identify areas for improvement, processes must be broken into subprocesses. A subprocess operates at a more detailed level than a core process and gets into who does what and why on a daily basis.

Core processes must be broken down into enough detail to understand, monitor, manage, and analyze performance.

As a general rule, processes must be described at a third level, as shown above, before improvement teams will be able to deal with them adequately.

By reviewing processes in this way opportunities to use technology to drive down costs and drive up efficiency become apparent.

Our process mapping specialists are available to assist you with your goals of greater efficiency and effectiveness. To contact our business consulting team  click here

Mindmapping was developed by Tony Buzan in the 1970's as an aid for note taking in lectures.

Software is available to assist the process enabling you to circulate legible, mindmaps and to work on them with colleagues and advisers. To review Mindmapping software options Click Here

How to develop a Mindmap

1. Make sure that you have a large work area such as a white board or sheet of paper.

2. Draw a small ellipse in the centre of the work area and write in the name of the issue
eg. Promotion

3. Brainstorm any elements of the issue e.g. Advertising, Direct Mail

4. Draw other ellipses off the Promotion ellipse and link with a line as shown below.

5. When all the key elements have been identified repeat the process on the sub elements.

6. Try to cover the whole board. Use different colours for different issues.

The next stage is to do a Pareto Analysis. Determine the 20% of issues that are causing, or will solve, 80% of the problems. In other words, which 20% of issues will produce 80% of the desired outcome.

An example of a typical Mindmap is shown below.

The key lies in having systems that are simple to use and in ensuring everyone uses them.

If these processes are properly utilised you and your team will become more productive and your business will run more smoothly.

To really get control follow these simple steps:-

1) List the issues

2) Rank each

3) Identify the options

4) Select the best options

5) Develop the actions

6) Adopt a Control Process

1) List The Issues.
Some times the best way to look at a problem is to consider how things might look if the problem didn’t exist. For example, if the issue was poor sales how would you describe sales if they were good? 10% better than now? Which target markets would contribute the most to the gain?

By taking time to list the issues in this way you are focussing on where we need to be rather than only focussing on where we are now. Clear measurable outcomes give everyone the chance to deal with issues in their context.

For example getting more sales can be a daunting prospect yet when 10% growth is broken down into say 3 new clients per week it becomes a real prospect.

2) Prioritise
Working out which issues should be dealt with first is important if we want to achieve maximum movement forward for the least commitment of resources.

For this reason two questions need to be asked

Out of 10, how easily can each issue be removed (10 being very easy)? If for example the issue requires a lot of cash to resolve and we are not in a position to commit such funds the rating would be low.

Now out of 10, rate how large would the push forward for the business be if the issue was removed.

Think in terms of the company’s competitive advantage. Would resolution make the business more appealing to the client? For example, you might highly rate the implementation of an improved administrative system if the direct knock on effect was improved customer service. If however the issue being resolved makes life a little easier but doesn’t really impact directly on strengthening the business it would rate lower on the scale.

By plotting each issue on the above matrix in accordance with the ratings given you will be able to identify those issues that are easiest to improve and deliver the most assistance in growing the business. These issues will be located in or near the top right quadrant of the matrix.

Mind mapping allows all the ideas to be captured as they relate to one another. The example below shows mind mapping in action. In this case the issue is improved sales revenue. Each arm represents ideas from the group.

Once all ideas have been captured apply the Pareto rule. That is, which 20% of the possible options listed in the mind map will potentially give us the best result.

For this example we have chosen the Sales Team option. Problem solving is about breaking down issues into smaller and smaller pieces, which can be managed more easily. To achieve this breakdown still further we can apply the Force field Analysis tool.

4) Select the Best Options

The Force Field is handy as it recognises and deals with the fact that despite our best actions there are always forces acting against us. In the following diagram the Sales team option from the mind map has been considered.

On the top line there is a rating bar, which allows the team to intuitively assess where the sales effort is currently and where it should be, given the time and resources available to us.

Minus 5 means sales are extremely poor while plus five means they are extremely good. Zero is used to indicate average performance. The ratings bar puts the issue in context. For example, if we wish to improve by 4 points our strategies will be different if the gap was say 7.

5) Develop the Actions

After listing all the potential strategies on the left and the potential impediments on the right we can now apply the Pareto rule again.

In this example telephone sales, time management and a focus on improving conversion rates has been selected

What actions in each area now need to be set?

6. The control process
Once mastered these simple tools can deliver fast results while illustrating the decision making process along the way.

For managers delegating issue resolution this is a great way of receiving recommendations from staff.

Once the strategies and actions have been decided they can be incorporated into a One Page Plan control document.

For more information please contact our newcastle business consulting team.

 

As organisations grow, habits form, people get set in their ways and cost to produce inevitably rises. The result is inefficient practices. Waste in the business is an opportunity to make more profit.

The good news is that anyone in business can learn how to remove the waste. Working in teams, using common sense and practical tools, you can continuously identify and remove waste.

Toyota identified seven areas in a business where waste commonly occurs.

Overproduction
Ask where are you overproducing? Look for build up of stocks, work in progress, and resources. Do we over service our customers? Do we produce unnecessary reports?

Waiting
Where do goods and services wait? Are we waiting to collect outstanding debtor accounts? Do we wait excessive periods to obtain approval before completing tasks?

Transport
Map out where things move from one point to another. Look at moving goods, paper, people and machines. Can we save time by locating the storage area or photocopier closer to the office. Can we combine the number of trips it takes to service the customer to save time and money?

Inappropriate Processing
Are you using the right machine for the job? Are you using a highly paid senior to complete a task that should be delegated to a lower cost employee?

Inventory
Is it costing you money by holding excessive stores of inventory, debtors, money in bank accounts? How can we reduce the level of stock we operate to currently?

Motion
Where do we waste time through our daily activity personally? Do we waste time looking for things on an cluttered and untidy desk? Do we look for things that could be filed better? Do we consider using more efficient means of delivering a letter like email?

Defects
Do we incur costs in fixing mistakes and redoing the job? How important is for us to do the job right the first time?

Step One - Brainstorm the waste issues

Now that you have the seven wastes, simply develop a check-list of potential wastes that could fit under the seven headings.
For example, under the waste of over production you could use sub elements such as the following:

Over Production

1. Over use of subcontractors

2. Warehousing some items that don't require it

3. Over servicing of customers

4. Working unnecessary overtime

5. Production of reports that are not used

Step Two - Rate each waste issue

By putting a rating scale against each you have developed a simple waste survey.

Rate each of the issues on current performance and then rate each issue on the targeted performance you desire.
Examine the gap on each issue to identify the highest priority issues.

Rating Scale:

LOW - This represents poor performance in this area
HIGH - This indicates that performance on this issue is excellent

Step Three - Estimate the cost of the waste

For each issue estimate the cost (opportunity cost) involved with performing at this level.
The cost represents potential savings once you improve the performance of issue.

Step Four - Prioritise each issue

Determine the priority to address issues by using the gap analysis and magnitude of the potential savings as a guide.
A large gap indicates that this issue needs to be addressed and is a candidate for improvement.

Step Five - Develop Actions

Develop actions for each issue by forming Project Teams and using problems solving tools.

Don’t be too concerned about whether you are entering an issue under the correct heading.
All that matters is that the issue appears somewhere in your audit.

We have specialist consultants who can take you and your organisation through this profit improvement exercise. Call me and we will catch up on an obligation free basis to review if/how this program could be applied to your organisation.

More on building up surplusses? Click Here

We spend money on insurance. We have a lawyer (most likely) and an accountant.  Why then when it comes to spending on technology, many of us only spend money if we have to?

Not investing in technology we think we don’t need is often a mistake.

If you are building a business that's built to last you must think of your technology spending as an investment in your business growth.

You must spend money on technology that will help you now and in the future. The right investments in technology will help you save money, save time, do more with less and overall grow your business.

Don't think of where your business is now, but think of where your business will be in 5 years and invest in technology accordingly.

• Email is not CRM

Many of you, like I do, use Microsoft Outlook or some other email program as the core foundation of their business. You use it to manage your email, tasks, notes and calendar and that's good.

But if we want to increase sales to your current customers and really know everything you can about each customer, based on each interaction they have with you - you must use a true CRM product or service.

• Track Your Marketing

There are some very powerful website analytics programs that you can use not only track how many visitors come to your website but where they come from and when.

Tie this together with your other marketing campaigns and you have a very effective campaign performance monitor. For example, does a sudden spike (or drop) in visitors to your site correlate with the beginning (or end) of a radio campaign? Or a newspaper advertisement? Or did you new advertising campaign make no difference at all.

It’s all very powerful information.

• Mobile Technology

If you and your staff are sitting desks all day long I guess you don't need mobile technology.

However, if you and your staff are traveling around (as I suspect you do) then you need to implement mobile technology solutions. This means that you can access your office, wherever you are - email, faxes, files - you can access it all.

There's no reason you should have to tell a customer you didn't get their email or voice mail as you were out of the office. Take your office with you by leveraging mobile technology.

• Outsource your technology but keep in control

There is no need at all for you to manage and implement technology on your own. Sure, you are an expert in what you but you are not an expert in network security, data backup or mobile technology.

The only way you are going to maximize your use of technology is to outsource your use and implementation of it, it in your business.

At the same time however its important you keep hold of your computer network documentation, account details and work logs. Too many businesses have experienced a break down only to find their provider can’t be contacted. Then no one else can help due to the lack of documentation or server account details.

• Don’t technologize a bad business process

I'm sure you run a very good business and do your best to manage its various processes, however if there are parts of your business that are not going so well and you think technology is the answer, you're probably wrong.

Technology can support great service, quality, range and professionalism overall by capturing customer likes, dislikes, preferences etc but it often struggles to replace these things. 

The larger banks found this as they rolled back their personal customer service through their branch networks in preference for customer service using technology.  This has allowed many smaller players to enter the market using personal service as their competitive advantage. 

This isn’t to say what the large banks have done is necessarily wrong it’s just for those of us in small business, using technology as a direct interface needs to be carefully considered. 

For most of us the adage ought be ‘employ great staff and then leverage them with supporting technology’.

As part of a wider business consulting and training group, the Partnercorp Information Technology team knows exactly how to support business growth through the proper application of IT solutions and maintenance programs.

If you’re a small or medium size businesses click here to find more about how our IT products and services can support you.