3 Step Guide to Operational Excellence

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What does Operational Excellence look like? What is Operational Excellence? And to be frank, who cares?

Big questions right?

Maybe that is the problem we have in all businesses. We are too driven by the P&L sheet to actually realise that it is Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement that makes the difference.

So we’re going to take a look at the 3 basic steps that will guide you on your journey of operational excellence.

1. Analyse your business and ask the right questions

If you were to analyse your business truly, how much waste and non-value added activity do you carry out, and therefore pay for?  How many activities do you address twice, or more and therefore perform tasks that are not focused on the requirements of the customer, but have become entwined in legacy that we feel we can’t do without them?

2. Look at the operation from the eyes of the customer

Is what you are doing now adding value to your business IN THE EYES OF THE CUSTOMER?

3. Are your tasks reliable? Get task right first time by removing waste.

Is what you are doing now the first time the task has been carried out? You are not re-processing paperwork, product, and internal communication? Backing up ineffective training? Removing the WASTE in all our processes gets us closer to Operational Excellence. Not accepting the status-quo, not cranking the handle of the sausage machine, but challenging ourselves, our teams and our businesses to do better. That is what shows us what Operational Excellence is.

It is different to every organisation, but successful businesses all demonstrate Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement, although they may not (and probably don’t) make a big song and dance about it. They might not have a separate department called ‘CI’, ‘Lean’ or such like. But the culture of everybody in the business is not just to do what they do, but to do it better.

Make sure your journey is about Improvement and your drive to Operational Excellence. And the place to start? Just try to make things better!

 

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