We all want to grow in our workplace. Business leaders want to grow to continue winning and handling the business well. And of course, to have the opportunity for future expansion.
Team members want to grow by gaining more knowledge and experiences. This overlap as business owners and leaders want to give their team the best tools to push them to improve. With this same mindset, it drives everyone to make a working environment of continuous winning.
For business leaders, it is a challenge to have a positive and engaging business – a business that has consistent productivity and is capable of step-by-step improvement.
What is continuous improvement in a business?
Continuous improvement is an effort to develop or improve ourselves, our products, or our services. It can simply be put as an ongoing strive for perfection in everything you do. These efforts can be small improvements, but these small changes can make a big impact in the future.
A business that is keen to have continuous improvement knows the importance of these actions in solidifying the quality of their services and improving customer satisfaction. This practice should be instilled in the business culture and not just some spur of the moment happening. Leaders are encouraged to devote to long-term benefits by focusing on different measures of continuous winning.
Businesses that practice continuous improvement integrate this into their business culture, and it reflects on their training and hiring. It is also shown on their members’ evaluation and compensation benefits. With this, team members feel more a part of the company and strive to do more to be a part of the ongoing improvement.
Coach Doug Durie can help you if you’re working on a strategy for continuous improvement in your business. Our well trained and knowledge equipped coach is just a call away.
What are the principles of continuous improvement?
These are few of the principles that can guide businesses on implementing continuous improvement at work.
- Improvements are based on small changes.
Large and sudden changes are frightening and can even be weakening for your business. That is why this principle is important. By taking small and stable steps, these changes become less scary and they even push for faster improvement.
- Give value to your members’ ideas.
Members of the team are essential in identifying opportunities for improvement. It is said that they are closer to the problems so it is best to equip them well.
If you will suddenly ask them to come up with a product idea on the spot, you will rarely get a decent idea. Members are more focused on their day-to-day work. Ask them instead for small improvements that they can do to save 5 to 10 minutes per day. Then, implement that improvement and make everyone in the business do it. In this way, you can take a small idea and use it to make a big impact.
- Step-by-step improvements are inexpensive when implemented.
Team members want small changes to be accomplished at less expense. In fact, most of their ideas are eliminating unnecessary processes instead of adding ones. This is a great way of adding value to customers instead of just wasting effort.
- Team members take ownership and are involved in the improvement process.
How do you make it easy for people to change the way they do things? We all know that changing someone is very hard. You have to make them feel first the value of doing that change. Same with the business, by engaging members of the team in continuous improvement, you give them the power to take charge of their own work, while still helping them in the background as leaders.
In the process of continuous improvement, they will learn to identify the problems as well as the opportunities to improve. They will follow through the implementation of their ideas, take credit for their work and see the big impact of all their efforts.
Members become more focused on the outcome of change. This increases the chance for successful, continuous winning.
- Improvement is reflective.
Constant feedback is vital for implementing continuous improvement in business. Communication in every stage of the implementation of changes is important to both the final outcome of improvement and also the maintenance of these changes.
- Improvement is measurable and repeatable.
To achieve real improvement, the impact of change should be measurable. It is not as simple as making the change and calling it an improvement. We have to determine if the change is applicable to other problems. When improvements are now visible, take time to compliment the effort of each other.
What are the benefits of continuous improvement?
Integrating continuous improvement as part of the business culture is an excellent approach in analysing a business’ most difficult challenges. If supported by the right system, continuous winning can easily be achieved and success can be maintained.
Below are some of the benefits of practising continuous improvement in your business.
- Upon practising continuous improvement, team members learn to be more engaged with the business. Empowered with their knowledge of finding solutions to their problems, they become an active participant instead of just passive members that just do their day-to-day work.
- This practice can lower members’ turnover. This is because there is an increase in members’ engagement. Members can feel their contribution to the betterment of the business and can gain a sense of accomplishment. In the end, they find less reason to leave the business.
- Continuous improvement can improve both the process and the service. Businesses that continue to look for ways to improve their business can also increase the value of their services.
- Continuous improvement gives businesses a way to reach their next level of excellence. It encourages the business to never stop searching for better opportunities. And, to never be complacent on their current accomplishments. Eventually, this leads to the stage of continuous winning.
For businesses, it is important to have a framework for continuous improvement. Through Doug Durie, our dedicated and trusted coach, we can provide the training and strategy you need to help your business.
