• Formalize the Informal
• Maximize the Return
• Transform the Culture
• Define the Process
• Accelerate the Progress
• Who are We?
• Inspect versus Expect
• Nobody Gets Fired
Formalize the Informal
Most businesses and organizations start small and begin without much structure. A key part of growing these startups into successful operations is to formalize these initial, informal activities. Developing this structure requires putting things in writing, which often leads to additional thinking on the purpose of those activities and how to best accomplish the desired outcomes. Important refinements and improvements result.
Established businesses and organizations often face similar situations. For example, a cross-functional team may be established to address a problem or opportunity. But often, operational issues regarding such teams are left unresolved. How were the team members selected, was the purpose of the team defined, were performance indicators put in place to track the progress of the team, and how were needed resources made available? The failure to put a necessary structure and definition in place can limit the contributions of team efforts, even when the results feel good.
Formalizing the informal is a key step in creating organizational maturity. The resulting definition will increase the efficiency and/or effectiveness of daily work processes and large projects. Management by “momentum and tribal knowledge” will be upgraded to management by fact. Activities and events become processes that can be defined, measured and improved. And both the company or organization and the individuals in the workforce will benefit from a common understanding of operational methods and results.
Maximize the Return
Over the last several years, businesses and organizations have all increasingly been required to do more with less. Human and financial resources are strained and important projects are either not initiated at all or are launched with insufficient support. And little chance of success.
In these difficult times, any organization must make certain that that the investment of limited personnel and vital financial resources achieves the maximum return. The first step in doing so is to determine which projects are the most important to the overall success of the organization. Such decisions must be based on a holistic view of the organization and all current operations. A “Balanced Scorecard” is typically designed to provide such a comprehensive view and valuable perspective on organizational needs. When the measures reported on a balanced scorecard accurately reflect all current customer and stakeholder needs, these results will point the way to the most important projects.
If such a scorecard is not in place, there are several other systematic assessment methods can provide the necessary insights. The time and effort to create a holistic view will vary with the complexity of the organization. Regardless, investing the effort to understand the greatest needs of the business or organization is a prerequisite to wisely investing in its future success.
Transform the Culture
Many successful businesses and organizations have laid the foundation for future success by transforming the culture in the organization. I was fortunate to participate in research that identified several common attributes of these new, high performing cultures that are based on transformational leadership.
Senior leaders have effectively focused the entire workforce on the Mission, Vision and Values that have been established to provide clear guidance for the organization. These leaders have also created an emphasis on common goals to promote teamwork and the changes needed to achieve organizational objectives. A key aspect of the leadership in cultural transformation is transparent and consistent communication to the workforce. And senior leaders must develop new skills, such as coaching and mentoring, and allocate their time differently to personally support the new culture.
Systematic process improvement aligned to strategic needs is another key element of these cultural transformations. Fact-based analyses of existing system performance and benchmarking research into external best practices will lead to sustainable process and performance improvements. These efforts need to be supported by organizational and personal learning that is embedded throughout the workforce. And improvement efforts need to become the way the business, health care provider or school conducts operations on a daily basis.
Define the Process
Anything that is done by a business or other organization can and should be looked at as a process. Work should not be performed through independent activities and events, but by a series of related actions that produce a defined outcome. And once the process is defined, indicators can be put in place to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the process in meeting customer, patient or student needs. These results can then be compared to competitive and comparative results, such as Joint Commission Core Measures, state school test averages or industry productivity.
A key benefit of process definition is that it creates a clear understanding of the workflow through the organization and across functional departments, shifts and locations. The output from one department flows to the next and its quality affects the ability of that next team to effectively process its own work. Ultimately, these processes work together to produces a product or service for its customers, patients, or students. The maturity of the processes within the organization determines the levels of quality, service and cost associated with the products and services provided.
Defining processes throughout any organization provides a base for effective integration. Functional divisions or “Silos” are broken down as work flows are seen to move horizontally between functions. Handoffs within the organization are improved through an understanding of processes and their interrelationship. And overall performance is improved in ways that are not possible by looking at individual work activities or events.
Accelerate the Progress
Many businesses, health care providers and schools participate in the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and state award processes based on the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The primary benefit of applying for such awards is the forty-page feedback report that is received at the end of the three-stage review process. This report details the strengths and opportunities for improvement identified by a trained, multi-dimensional review team. Such a feedback report may contain over 100 individual comments, including 40-50 improvement opportunities. These insights, while extremely valuable, are often overwhelming to organizations that are already very busy. The trick is to understand the comments in the feedback report and to integrate these findings with current business plans. Then the organization can determine which of the many opportunities will drive additional, short-term success and accelerate the organization’s progress. It is the vital few projects that address these key opportunities that the leaders should support with the necessary human and financial resources.
To maximize the return on the organization’s investment in writing an award application and, in most cases, hosting a 3-day Site Visit by the review team, a structured approach to processing the feedback is needed. A proven, four step workshop is available to any organization to help them understand and begin to use their feedback reports. This method has been successful with both first time applicants and mature, high-level award recipients.
Who are we?
Most organizations are sure they know who they are and what they do. But when it comes down to actually documenting the scope of operations and key details, such as specific customer requirements, the perspective can get fuzzy. In large businesses and organizations, some parts of the company are unaware of what is done in other parts. Developing a holistic, comprehensive description of an organization and its operations is always more complicated and time-consuming than is expected. But the resulting profile is of tremendous value in educating the workforce, customers and other partners. An Organizational Profile is a proven method to capture an organization’s key products, customers, partners and challenges.
A profile can also provide invaluable perspective for strategy development. Comprehensive input will help identify potential “blind spots” that can lead to a flawed plan. The strategies and objectives developed from such a complete perspective is more likely to define and drive future success.
Inspect versus Expect
A wise man with whom I once worked was prone to say that “people will do what is inspected, not what is expected”. While that observation on the human condition may or may not be true, measuring performance is a proven and constructive method of getting the attention of a workforce. And to really get individuals in a business, health care provider or school to use performance measurement as a basis for improvement, the organization must communicate both that these indicators are important and why they are critical to future success.
Nobody Gets Fired
One of the true innovators in the quality movement was W. Edwards Deming. He was instrumental in the success of Japanese companies catching and ultimately surpassing the quality levels of their American competitors. Many people believe that one of Deming’s axioms was that “nobody gets fired”. I was privileged to work with a Deming disciple who clarified Deming’s actual message in this area. He said that sometimes, when you analyze the problems in an existing process and attempt to identify the root causes of poor performance within the system, you determine that a specific employee needs a more appropriate and less demanding work environment- in another company!
The point is that nobody should get arbitrary blame for the poor performance of a process. Organizations that rush to find someone to blame for problems invariably lose good employees and don’t fix the actual problem. A systematic, structured methodology is needed to accurately identify the true root causes of poor performance, which are typically inherent in the process and not the fault of any specific employee. The corrective actions needed are more likely to be better procedures, more effective training, or improved materials or equipment. And sometimes, but not very often, an employee will be transferred or even fired. But not until the definition and analysis of the process eliminates all systemic problems.
• Maximize the Return
• Transform the Culture
• Define the Process
• Accelerate the Progress
• Who are We?
• Inspect versus Expect
• Nobody Gets Fired
Formalize the Informal
Most businesses and organizations start small and begin without much structure. A key part of growing these startups into successful operations is to formalize these initial, informal activities. Developing this structure requires putting things in writing, which often leads to additional thinking on the purpose of those activities and how to best accomplish the desired outcomes. Important refinements and improvements result.
Established businesses and organizations often face similar situations. For example, a cross-functional team may be established to address a problem or opportunity. But often, operational issues regarding such teams are left unresolved. How were the team members selected, was the purpose of the team defined, were performance indicators put in place to track the progress of the team, and how were needed resources made available? The failure to put a necessary structure and definition in place can limit the contributions of team efforts, even when the results feel good.
Formalizing the informal is a key step in creating organizational maturity. The resulting definition will increase the efficiency and/or effectiveness of daily work processes and large projects. Management by “momentum and tribal knowledge” will be upgraded to management by fact. Activities and events become processes that can be defined, measured and improved. And both the company or organization and the individuals in the workforce will benefit from a common understanding of operational methods and results.
Maximize the Return
Over the last several years, businesses and organizations have all increasingly been required to do more with less. Human and financial resources are strained and important projects are either not initiated at all or are launched with insufficient support. And little chance of success.
In these difficult times, any organization must make certain that that the investment of limited personnel and vital financial resources achieves the maximum return. The first step in doing so is to determine which projects are the most important to the overall success of the organization. Such decisions must be based on a holistic view of the organization and all current operations. A “Balanced Scorecard” is typically designed to provide such a comprehensive view and valuable perspective on organizational needs. When the measures reported on a balanced scorecard accurately reflect all current customer and stakeholder needs, these results will point the way to the most important projects.
If such a scorecard is not in place, there are several other systematic assessment methods can provide the necessary insights. The time and effort to create a holistic view will vary with the complexity of the organization. Regardless, investing the effort to understand the greatest needs of the business or organization is a prerequisite to wisely investing in its future success.
Transform the Culture
Many successful businesses and organizations have laid the foundation for future success by transforming the culture in the organization. I was fortunate to participate in research that identified several common attributes of these new, high performing cultures that are based on transformational leadership.
Senior leaders have effectively focused the entire workforce on the Mission, Vision and Values that have been established to provide clear guidance for the organization. These leaders have also created an emphasis on common goals to promote teamwork and the changes needed to achieve organizational objectives. A key aspect of the leadership in cultural transformation is transparent and consistent communication to the workforce. And senior leaders must develop new skills, such as coaching and mentoring, and allocate their time differently to personally support the new culture.
Systematic process improvement aligned to strategic needs is another key element of these cultural transformations. Fact-based analyses of existing system performance and benchmarking research into external best practices will lead to sustainable process and performance improvements. These efforts need to be supported by organizational and personal learning that is embedded throughout the workforce. And improvement efforts need to become the way the business, health care provider or school conducts operations on a daily basis.
Define the Process
Anything that is done by a business or other organization can and should be looked at as a process. Work should not be performed through independent activities and events, but by a series of related actions that produce a defined outcome. And once the process is defined, indicators can be put in place to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the process in meeting customer, patient or student needs. These results can then be compared to competitive and comparative results, such as Joint Commission Core Measures, state school test averages or industry productivity.
A key benefit of process definition is that it creates a clear understanding of the workflow through the organization and across functional departments, shifts and locations. The output from one department flows to the next and its quality affects the ability of that next team to effectively process its own work. Ultimately, these processes work together to produces a product or service for its customers, patients, or students. The maturity of the processes within the organization determines the levels of quality, service and cost associated with the products and services provided.
Defining processes throughout any organization provides a base for effective integration. Functional divisions or “Silos” are broken down as work flows are seen to move horizontally between functions. Handoffs within the organization are improved through an understanding of processes and their interrelationship. And overall performance is improved in ways that are not possible by looking at individual work activities or events.
Accelerate the Progress
Many businesses, health care providers and schools participate in the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and state award processes based on the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The primary benefit of applying for such awards is the forty-page feedback report that is received at the end of the three-stage review process. This report details the strengths and opportunities for improvement identified by a trained, multi-dimensional review team. Such a feedback report may contain over 100 individual comments, including 40-50 improvement opportunities. These insights, while extremely valuable, are often overwhelming to organizations that are already very busy. The trick is to understand the comments in the feedback report and to integrate these findings with current business plans. Then the organization can determine which of the many opportunities will drive additional, short-term success and accelerate the organization’s progress. It is the vital few projects that address these key opportunities that the leaders should support with the necessary human and financial resources.
To maximize the return on the organization’s investment in writing an award application and, in most cases, hosting a 3-day Site Visit by the review team, a structured approach to processing the feedback is needed. A proven, four step workshop is available to any organization to help them understand and begin to use their feedback reports. This method has been successful with both first time applicants and mature, high-level award recipients.
Who are we?
Most organizations are sure they know who they are and what they do. But when it comes down to actually documenting the scope of operations and key details, such as specific customer requirements, the perspective can get fuzzy. In large businesses and organizations, some parts of the company are unaware of what is done in other parts. Developing a holistic, comprehensive description of an organization and its operations is always more complicated and time-consuming than is expected. But the resulting profile is of tremendous value in educating the workforce, customers and other partners. An Organizational Profile is a proven method to capture an organization’s key products, customers, partners and challenges.
A profile can also provide invaluable perspective for strategy development. Comprehensive input will help identify potential “blind spots” that can lead to a flawed plan. The strategies and objectives developed from such a complete perspective is more likely to define and drive future success.
Inspect versus Expect
A wise man with whom I once worked was prone to say that “people will do what is inspected, not what is expected”. While that observation on the human condition may or may not be true, measuring performance is a proven and constructive method of getting the attention of a workforce. And to really get individuals in a business, health care provider or school to use performance measurement as a basis for improvement, the organization must communicate both that these indicators are important and why they are critical to future success.
Nobody Gets Fired
One of the true innovators in the quality movement was W. Edwards Deming. He was instrumental in the success of Japanese companies catching and ultimately surpassing the quality levels of their American competitors. Many people believe that one of Deming’s axioms was that “nobody gets fired”. I was privileged to work with a Deming disciple who clarified Deming’s actual message in this area. He said that sometimes, when you analyze the problems in an existing process and attempt to identify the root causes of poor performance within the system, you determine that a specific employee needs a more appropriate and less demanding work environment- in another company!
The point is that nobody should get arbitrary blame for the poor performance of a process. Organizations that rush to find someone to blame for problems invariably lose good employees and don’t fix the actual problem. A systematic, structured methodology is needed to accurately identify the true root causes of poor performance, which are typically inherent in the process and not the fault of any specific employee. The corrective actions needed are more likely to be better procedures, more effective training, or improved materials or equipment. And sometimes, but not very often, an employee will be transferred or even fired. But not until the definition and analysis of the process eliminates all systemic problems.
