strategy

Why you should do this when looking at Business Performance

Posted on by Adam Payne

Raising Performance is always a challenge (many a sleepless night) but it’s not just about getting it right in your manufacturing processes, it’s about looking at your business as a whole.

Recently, we were asked to support a £40m turnover company with an objective to reduce costs.

Now, although Reducing Costs (and in particular eliminating waste) is an excellent focus, you can sometime lose sight of what other advantages/opportunities there may be, new market opportunities, sales optimisation, finance, etc.

During our detailed business diagnostic, it became apparent that there were some fantastic opportunities to be realised with particular projects on Increasing Growth and Efficiency Savings.

With TCMUK’s Business Practitioners coaching and mentoring our customers internal team, a total of £700K+ efficiency savings, £1M in cash flow improvement and a 17% growth opportunity have been realised so far within the business, with further projects being highlighted for implementation over the next 2/3 years.

So remember, step back and look at the whole business not just the usual suspects (this goes for any size organisation) and you’ll be confident (and hopefully sleeping) knowing you are focused on the right things.

And don’t forget, if getting results like this is on your agenda and you’re looking for some sector expertise, call on 0330 311 2820

0330 311 2820

Book a Return Call at a time that Best Suits You “HERE”

“Performance Rooms” a powerful Visual Management Tool.

Posted on by Adam Payne

Over the last few months I had a number of discussions regarding what I call “Performance Rooms” others call “War Rooms” (never really been keen on that expression but as long as the process is followed what does it matter) or the Japanese term “Obeya Rooms”. I will use Obeya in this article.

These rooms and the disciplined approach to the process behind them helps businesses to reach their strategic/tactical goals and promotes the creation of solutions and actions that can be developed and implemented quickly. The aspect of Managing Performance Improvement for any business undertaking Growth or Lean.

Strategy Room

The following is an overview to understand the theory behind it.

Obeya is based on a simple idea that we dedicate: time, space, the coordination to root cause analysis and problem solving so that organisational barriers are minimised. This ability to maintain a disciplined approach to real-time problem awareness, listening to team members concerns, making discoveries, resolving problems, collaborating and above all developing/mentoring our people is critical to the success of a business.

They promote the coordination and implementation of Strategic and Tactical issues by mobilising and pulling together the intellectual resources of all employees in the service of the firm.

The following are different types of Obeya Rooms (not limited to):

Product Launch; when developing a new product, managers responsible for decision making in design, production engineering, and manufacturing gather in one place to shorten the lead-time through real-time problem resolution.

Business Process Layout: Centralised data collection, prioritising and action planning.

Focused: Project Performance Rooms, SQPDC, A3 Problem Solving, Continuous Improvement rooms.

Observations to consider when looking at Obeya Rooms :

  • Use two colors when tracking status, Red and Green. This avoids ambiguities; the status is ON TARGET or NOT.
  • Define SMART metrics (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely), no more than 3-5 focused metrics as more would be impractical for every day review.
  • Problem, Follow-Up and Countermeasure Boards are mandatory, the team must be prompted to solve issues immediately. The deferment/stalling to solving the problem is not allowed.
  • Meeting Discipline – Punctuality, Question and Challenge with dignity and Respect and the meeting should last no more than 30mins.
  • The flow for review takes the shape of Check, Plan, Do, Check, Act instead of the normal PDCA.

0330 311 2820

Book a Return Call at a time that Best Suits You “HERE”

Leadership Alignment

Posted on by Adam Payne

Leadership teams still operate in silos. Commercial don’t talk to operations and vice versa, individual objectives are not aligned to the business needs, Quality stands alone. Your business may have a company vision but is this realised/disseminated throughout the organisation and most importantly of all, is your leadership team aligned to it.

Creating a clear company vision is key to your organisation’s success, but how do you make sure everyone on your leadership team agrees? Now this doesn’t mean that your team need to get on together but it does mean they are fully focussed and completely in agreement on what needs to be delivered.

Make sure everyone on your leadership team is on the same page with a crystal-clear vision for your organisation by AGREEING on the answers to these questions. REMEMBER AGREEING AS A TEAM!.

This walk-through helps your team clarify and agree on your company vision and priorities.

 

What are your Core Values?

What are the 3-5 characteristics that define who you are as a company, culture and leadership team?

 

What is your Focus?

What is it your business excels at? What is its core competence? What’s your purpose?

 

What is your 10 year Vision?

What is the goal you are all working towards? What does the finish line look like?

 

What is your Marketing Strategy?

Who is your ideal target market? What are your Unique Selling Points you need to tell to the world? What is your proven process for doing business with your customers? What’s your guarantee?

 

What is your 3 year Strategy

What is the Revenue, Profit and Measurable goals (remembering KPI’s drive behaviour so make sure you have the correct ones)? 3-5 bullet points on what your business will look like in 3 years.

 

What is your 1 year plan?

What IS the plan, what are the 3-7 most important things that must be done within the next 12 months? (Less is More)

 

Quarterly Milestones

What are the most important things your team must do in the next 90 days to ensure they hit the 1 year plan to put you on track to make your 3 year Strategy a Reality?

 

Implement a governance process to ensure execution.

Give time, Space and co-ordination of problem solving so that the organisational barriers are removed.

REMEMBER AGREEMENT AT EVERY QUESTION BEFORE YOU MOVE ON

0330 311 2820

Book a Return Call at a time that Best Suites You “HERE”