Focus on Continuous Improvement To Get Results

Whether problems with your business have been identified or you simply know that you can perform better, finding a way to give better service and be more efficient in how you do so is very important. But it’s also not something that can be done over night. Focusing instead on a gradual, continuous improvement makes the progress more achievable, easier for the employees, and allows for adjustment along the way when the changes simply don’t work.

More Achievable

The way our minds work makes little accomplishments much easier for us to achieve. Instead of focusing on the end result and getting to it as quickly as possible, setting small goals or making small changes in progress towards the end result allows your mind to feel the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Our minds can’t get enough of that feeling of accomplishment, which means that each little accomplishment helps fuel us towards the next small goal. On the other hand, facing too big of a hurdle in your path to improvement, and failing to accomplish it, causes our minds to feel depressed and doesn’t provide that fuel to help accomplish the next task.

What this idea and process is called is KAIZEN, and it marks one of the crucial phases of Six Sigma and Lean projects, the Control phase. Used in conjunction with the other phases, KAIZEN helps you to bring your planned improvements to fruition; from your dream into a reality.

Better for the Employees

You’d be hard pressed to find a change in a company that was supported by all the employees. They get adjusted to how things work when they arrive, and any deviation from that is, at least at first, frowned upon.

By making small changes towards a bigger goal you’re able to lessen the impact if the changes over time, allowing the employees to gradually adjust to the new standards and quality you expect of them, as well as learn any new policies associated with the changes.

This can help them become motivated by the changes or even get to the point where they’re looking forward to the end result, improving morale and helping you ensure that the changes you make to improve service aren’t being diminished by an employee base trying to resist.

Adjusting Along the Way

Finally, by making small changes along the path to the end goal, you’re able to adjust for unforeseen obstacles better and easier. If a change simply doesn’t work, you can change it or remove it and reevaluate without putting the entire goal in jeopardy.

By ensuring you’re focus on continuous improvement over a period of time you make the goal of increased service and efficiently obtainable and more easily achieved.