Business Process Improvement Guide

Book Sample- Chapters 2 and 3

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Business Process Improvement

(Step By Step Guide)

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Chapter 2.Do the workers know what they need to be doing?The answer to this can be quite surprising sometimes. Even in

small companies people have a tendency to assume that everyone knows what to do. In my experience, ten to thirty percent of workers do not know completely what they need to be doing . So let’s make sure of three things relative to this topic.

One, do the workers have clear direction as to what is expected from them, when its expected, and all the little details that go into the finished product. If direction has not been given verbally, in writing and with examples of what it looks like when done wrong then you have failed this step.

Two, is the direction clearly given to all workers equally? Have you taken the time with each one or as group to make sure everyone knows what to do?

Three, are all the workers responding to the direction in the same way.

Example Success Story-Bob wants his widget makers to produce six widgets, have them inspected, and shipped to Company

B. He supplies the team leaders written direction, a verbal lineup, explains what failure looks like, and posts the direction on the wall outside his office.

Bob goes to the leader of the widget production team and asks to sit in on the morning meeting where the job assignment will be handed to the workers.

In the meeting, he watches the leader go over an assignment sheet that calls out what, where, who, and why will be doing the widget builds. He goes over the previous modes of failure so the team knows what not to do and what to look for in their inspection. At the end of the meeting the leader reiterates what is to be done, posts the line-up sheet so everyone can see it and releases the team to go about their business. As Bob leaves the area he sees the leader going around making sure the work area is clean and giving his workers time to ask questions.

Bob then goes to the inspection area to make sure they have their assignment well in hand. He finds the Inspection leader and asks her if the team will be ready to inspect the widgets as they are completed. The leader shows him his lineup sheet that is posted on the wall, takes him to the inspector who is gathering his equipment and inspection data. The inspector indicates he knows what is coming, how many, how to inspect them and how to get them to shipping.

Bob then goes to shipping. He finds the shipping leader in her morning team meeting. Bob is pleased to see the written lineup sheet in her hand, hearing the verbal directions, and the reminder of what went wrong previously.

Bob went back to his office knowing all was well.

Chapter 3. Does each project have a plan? All projects start with a plan. Those plans

should include a Statement Of Work (SOW) page, an Open Issues List, timelines, copies of Purchase Orders, copies of relevant correspondence, and lastly a copy of the initial line-up sheet from the leader.

Example Success Story- Bob’s company had gone through a tough time several years ago.

Managing programs seemed to be out of their company’s ability to control. They had made some changes with outside help and Bob felt confident that this aspect of his process should be improving. He requested an update on all the programs to see if the training had taken hold and that the programs all had plans and were on time. The leader met him in a conference room with a stack of files and a smile. They went though the programs one at a time. The files all started with a Statement Of Work (SOW) page and were followed by, an Open Issues List, timelines, copies of Purchase Orders, copies of relevant correspondence, and lastly a copy of the initial line-up sheet from the leader. All the programs were performing well and he walked away from the meeting feeling confident that his company’s programs were being managed properly.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me at my email listed below.

Thank You:

Tom Turner - Owner T and T LLC.

Website- TomTurner.BIZ