Organizations usually see themselves as smoothly
coordinated operations, even when they are not. Why? They
don't consider the alternatives.
I Like Company
Most organizations start off lean. But soon, more jobs are
added to perform the same amount of work.
Why does this needless proliferation happen? Managers enjoy
the prestige of having more people reporting to them.
Insecure managers will use the bloated staff to cross-check
for errors so that the manager looks good in the monthly
reports. Also, compensation usually reflects the size of
the reporting staff. Of course, incompetent managers will
also reflexively hire more people when tasks are left
uncompleted due to illness or temporary spikes in demand.
But adding excess people to a process is often about as
helpful as having a marathon runner wear combat boots.
Hands Off!
Many people in organizations find job security in "owning"
a piece of an important process. Let's say that this person
has to check incoming orders for errors. Well, all
organizations depend on incoming orders. Grab a piece of
that process, and you'll be one of the last to see your job
eliminated. Yet most of these order processes can be
eliminated or automated. Customers can place orders that go
directly to shipping. Error-checking programs can prompt
customers to make corrections before the order is finalized.
If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again
Left unchecked, organizations create redundancies that
double or triple the workload … and still fail. In part,
failure results because eliminating the last scintilla of
errors may cost as much as eliminating the first 99.9
percent of errors. More likely, however, is that the way of
working is built up to make the managers feel safer. New
process designs rarely reflect sophisticated knowledge of
error-reduction methods. Rather, the designs allow senior
bureaucrats to assign blame for errors to others.
STALL ERASERS
Standing Room Only
At times, unorthodox methods are needed to help workers
break out of their bad habits. A venture capitalist noticed
that his colleagues were happy to sit at their desks
drinking coffee and filling out administrative reports. But
money in venture capital comes from working with
entrepreneurs. The venture capitalist's solution: Buy
stand-up desks. None of his colleagues were psychologically
or physically able to stand at those desks all day.
Usually, they headed for the field by mid-morning to round
up prospective investments and investors or to improve
current investments.
I Love the Sound of Feet Leaving the Meeting
In the early 1990s, Sears hired the former chief of
logistics for the U.S. military effort following Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait, William G. Pagonis. He quickly halved
the time it took to ship apparel from suppliers to Sears'
stores. Suppliers who missed deadlines were fined.
Another improvement focused on cutting back on time
executives spent in meetings. In a simple expedient
(reminiscent of those stand-up desks), Pagonis removed the
chairs from meeting rooms. Those in attendance got to the
point quickly or shut up entirely. His meetings rarely
exceeded 15 minutes. In the past, managers felt that they
had to speak up to earn their keep. Now they knew better
and stopped wasting valuable time.
STALLBUSTERS
Spot Checking
A high percentage of paper shuffling involves having
checkers checking on checkers, a direction usually chosen
for the laudatory purpose of effectively controlling the
organization. Spot checking works almost as well and is a
lot less expensive. To spot check correctly, ask a
statistician to help you design a process to spot check.
Rarely will you need to check more than a couple of
thousand incidents, even if you want to get a handle on
millions of occasions.
Streamline Processes
In lengthy processes, orders and offerings sit around 99
percent of the time waiting for people to do the next
little bit. If you reduce the number of people who are
involved, the process duration dramatically shortens.
Cross-train people to do all of the tasks that are needed
at each important stage, and you may take weeks out of the
process.
Map out how long each part of the process lasts now and who
does what. Alongside that lengthy list, lay out a way to
reduce the steps, shorten elapsed time, and limit the
number of people involved. If your organization is like
most, you can probably create a 96 percent reduction in
elapsed time during the process.
Today, the elapsed time standard for processes is very
short … often as little as a few minutes. In industries
where parts suppliers provide the goods to their
manufacturing customers "just in time" (just before the
part is used), suppliers usually determine what and how to
ship to the customer rather than waiting for an order.
Billing and payment are usually tied to scanning incoming
packages.
Go for Massive Continuous Improvement of Your Most
Important Tasks
For decades the mantra of many management experts has been
"continuous improvement." But those experts were usually
thinking about making 1 percent improvements. We recommend
instead that you continuously seek 2,000 percent solutions.
You'll run rings about the usual continuous improvement
people. The more frequently you set goals and the higher
those goals are, the more you'll learn and achieve. Get
going at getting better at your most important tasks!
Here are questions to help you succeed with massive
continuous improvement:
• What should you be measuring?
• How can you measure those areas?
• How often should improvement goals be set?
• How can steps, delays, and errors be eliminated,
simplified, and automated?
Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of six books including The 2,000 Percent Squared
Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook. You can find free tips for accomplishing
20 times more by registering at:
=========> http://www.2000percentsolution.com .
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