Capacity Revisited – more tips on creating the capacity for change in your organisation.

As a follow up to my previous blog (link below) here are more tips, ideas and suggestions on creating the capacity for change in your organisation

Previous Blog http://projectspeoplechange.blogspot.com/2013/03/creating-capacity-for-change.html

Standardise and Streamline

Try to standardise and streamline many of your processes, possibly by automation or standard forms, so that they are faster to master and easier to process. This releases time to think about the things that matter, for example the facts rather than the format.

Manage your meetings

I am amazed by meetings that don’t have ownership, timings, accountability and action points. Without these the whole thing is a waste of time!

Some simple rules…

1.       Invite only people who will make a difference – no spectators

2.       Start and finish on-time – don’t wait or procrastinate

3.       Make sure people prepare before the meeting, not at the meeting

4.       Each agenda item gets 10mins – that’s all (standing up meetings are good for this)

5.       No minutes, instead Bullet-List who does what, when (and other criteria like where and cost)

6.       Hold people accountable for their promises and their actions

Be ‘lean’ with your processes

It might be a gross over-simplification to say that lean is about being efficient (5S) and being effective (8w). You might even think about re-organising your office so that information and decisions flow through the office like parts in a manufacturing process!

The 5s are about being organised

1.       Sorting

2.       Straightening or Setting in Order

3.       Standardized cleaning-point at a 5S organized plant

4.       Standardizing

5.       Sustaining the Practice

The 8w are about eliminating waste (of time, money, effort etc.)

1.       Waste of Over-production

2.       Waste of Defects

3.       Waste of Inventory

4.       Waste of Over-Processing

5.       Waste of Transportation

6.       Waste of Waiting

7.       Waste of Motion

8.       Waste of Un-utilized People

Re-prioritise your time

Creating capacity needs to be seen in context.  The subject here is on creating the capacity for change in your organisation. You cannot create more hours, therefore how you allocate the 24 hours in a day, or the 7 days in the week has to change.  Time need to be dedicated to the collective goal rather than the personal interest. Think about how you would prioritise your time differently in a war-time situation!

Delegate More

To extend the war-time metaphor a little further, make yourself a general rather than a corporal and set about directing your troops through your sergeant. If you do everything like a foot soldier you will become cannon fodder. Learn to delegate and demand.

http://mashable.com/2012/11/24/how-to-delegate/

http://sbinformation.about.com/od/businessmanagemen1/a/Effective-Delegation-Tips.htm

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Eight top tips to for efficiency and effectiveness in your organisation.

The list below describes how to organize work for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order.

The decision-making process usually comes from a dialogue about standardization, which builds understanding among employees of how they should do the work. You might even think about re-organising your office so that information and decisions flow through the office like parts in a manufacturing process!

Sorting	Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts, and instructions. Go through all tools, materials, and so forth in the plant and work area. Keep only essential items and eliminate what is not required, prioritizing things per requirements and keeping them in easily-accessible places. Everything else is stored or discarded.
Straightening or Setting in Order	Arranging tools, parts, and instructions in such a way that the most frequently used items are the easiest and quickest to locate. The purpose of this step is to eliminate time wasted in obtaining the necessary items for an operation.
Sweeping or Shine	Clean the workspace and all equipment, and keep it clean, tidy and organized. At the end of each shift, clean the work area and be sure everything is restored to its place. This makes it easy to know what goes where and ensures that everything is where it belongs.
Sustaining	Maintain the same configuration over time. It is important to have continuous education about maintaining standards. When there are changes that affect the 5S program such as new equipment, new products or new work rules, it is essential to make changes in the standards and provide training. Companies embracing 5S often use posters and signs as a way of educating employees and maintaining standards.
Safety	"Safety", should be a factor in all work practices and making this an integral factor in work planning will reduce the time, cost, expense and other consequences if failing to manage safety.
Security	"Security", can also be added to include consideration of , material, human capital, brand equity, intellectual property, information technology, assets-in-transit and the extended supply chain.
Satisfaction	Employee Satisfaction and engagement in continuous improvement activities ensures the improvements will be sustained and improved upon.

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Create more time, money and quality by eliminating 8 wastes.

“Waste” in a Service Organization is anything that does not add value to the customer.

Waste only adds to time and cost and undermines quality.

This customer could be an external customer who is the recipient of a Service (Care) or Product (Car) in return for money. For an internal customer who requires support from other departments like HR, IT, Sales and Marketing etc.

The 8 Wastes of include

Type of waste	What is it?	Examples
Waste of Over-production	Processing too soon or too much than required	Information sent automatically even when not required Printing documents before they are required Processing items before they are required by the next person in the process
Waste of Defects	Errors, mistakes and rework	Rejections in sourcing applications Incorrect data entry Incorrect name printed on a credit card
Waste of Inventory	Holding inventory (material and information) more than required	Files and documents awaiting to be processed Excess promotional material sent to the market Overstocked medicines in a hospital More servers than required
Waste of Over-Processing	Processing more than required wherein a simple approach would have done	Too much paperwork for a simple transaction Same data required in number of places in an application form Follow-ups and costs associated with coordination Too many approvals Multiple MIS reports
Waste of Transportation	Movement of items more than required resulting in wasted efforts and energy and adding to cost	Movement of files and documents from one location to another Excessive e-mail attachments Multiple hand-offs
Waste of Waiting	Employees and customers waiting	Customers waiting to be served by a contact center Queue in a grocery store Patients waiting for a doctor at a clinic System downtime
Waste of Motion	Movement of people that does not add value	Looking for data and information Looking for surgical instruments Movement of people to and fro from filing, fax and copier machines
Waste of Un-utilized People	Employees not leveraged to their own potential	Limited authority and responsibility Managers common Person put on a wrong job

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

What does it take for you to believe?

In many organisations one of the biggest challenges is to overcome the cynical view that “…it will never happen..” The problem with this cynicism is that left unchallenged you’ll never inspire or motivate the necessary actions to make things happen and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So how do we make people believe?

How do we make then believe: in the need for change; the benefits of change; that it will happen; that they have a role; and that they must act. That’s an awful lot of belief that is necessary!

I think the answer lies in a quote by Confucius Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)  and in understanding how the media compile and broadcast stories, either news or dramas that have an audience identify, understand, engage, and believe.

The quote by Confucius is “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

Arguably belief is stronger when it is founded on personal experience (what we do) rather than the wisdom of others. However it is strongest where the two coincide and the words, pictures, sounds, facts, feelings around us accord with the values, culture and experience within us.

It is interesting to consider the key seven ways to influence belief and action

Do it…

Because you like me, and you’re like me - We often do things because of the value we put on relationships. We do things to please or ingratiate others and help identify ourselves with them. Following celebrity diets, fashions or views are examples.  In organisational change it is good to be able to “Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch” (http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_if.htm) since this means more people will be like you and like you.

Do it to reciprocate, repay past or future debt or promise - A lot of community work, ethics, religion are based on “give to receive” or “eye for an eye”. Reciprocity “do unto others as you might have them do for you” is a feature of many cultures and does effect behaviour whether the reward is now or in the after-life. In organisational change positive negotiation and some give and take can unlock change.

Do it because everyone else is doing it -Most advertising is based on social and peer pressure to be with the in-crowd. Every parent knows the argument that “..everybody else is..”. People will often join a crowd or a queue simply to see what’s happening and this creates expectation and an appetite for something which are the fertile soil for belief. In organisational change it is good to point to other examples, precedents and case studies.

This offer is good for a limited time only - Some advertising is based scarcity which creates value. This is not unrelated to the above ideas of expectation and an appetite, but extend this to desire. Desire, wanting something to happen or be true is often the basis of making it true: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man” (George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"). In organisational change it is good to emphasise that the time is NOW!

Do it to be consistent, with past, with values, with type - We sometimes do or believe things because it fits with our culture, our family, our sense of self and our place in the community. This applies to the church as much as it does to the football crowd or the political group. Belief and belonging are strongly linked. In organisational change it is good to create community and belonging and codify the conditions for membership.

You can believe me, I’m an authority - We sometimes do or believe things because we respect authority. Dr Andrew Wakefield and MMR Vaccine springs to mind (http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13532/) If you want to really understand this see the experiments of Stanley Milgram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) In organisational change it is good to have authority, experience, wisdom, credentials and past experience.

Do it or else - We sometimes do or believe things because we are coerced. North Korea springs to mind. You could argue that doing something when coerced is not belief, but it is based on a belief that you have no better choice. In organisational change where there is a crisis strong leadership may be decisive and possibly divisive but sometimes do it or else is necessary for survival.

So when do we believe…

We believe when sufficient factors above and sources suggest when something is True Enough.  True Enough to serve our purposes, confirm our prejudices, satisfy our needs and expectation and fit with our values.

When the media tell us and we experience it then it must be true.

I recommend this book True-Enough-Learning-Post-Fact-Society

http://www.amazon.com/True-Enough-Learning-Post-Fact-Society/dp/0470050101

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/