Best Practices

What and where to improve?

What and where do I start to improve? This is a common question and while we need to balance the cost and impact to identify the real bang for the buck let’s start with the basics. Here are some things to be aware of that are indicators that you can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your business. You may hear people saying this indeed you may say it yourself, well these are the places to start and you don’t need to do an organizational self-assessment to uncover them.
Nov. 26, 2011

What and where do I start to improve? This is a common question and while we need to balance the cost and impact to identify the real bang for the buck let’s start with the basics. Here are some things to be aware of that are indicators that you can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your business. You may hear people saying this indeed you may say it yourself, well these are the places to start and you don’t need to do an organizational self-assessment to uncover them.

  • There is too much paperwork
  • Too many reports are needed (are they actually being used?)
  • Too many mistakes are being made
  • Procedures are too cumbersome
  • Decisions take too long (too much red tape)
  • Costs are too high
  • Quality is unsatisfactory
  • Operations are completed late
  • Bottlenecks cause delays
  • Resources are not coordinated
  • Communications are confused
  • Some people are over worked
  • Things are not going as planned
  • Teams and individuals are not prepared
  • Meetings last too long
  • Enthusiasm is dying

About the Author

Denis Leonard

Denis Leonard has a degree in construction engineering an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in quality management. Denis is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality, a Certified Quality Manager, Auditor and Six Sigma Black Belt. He has been an Examiner for the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners a Judge on the International Team Excellence Competition and a Lead Judge on the National Housing Quality Award. A former Professor of Quality at the University of Wisconsin, he has experience as a quality manager in the homebuilding industry as well as construction engineer, site manager and in training, auditing and consulting with expertise in strategic and operational quality improvement initiatives. His work has achieved national quality, environmental and safety management awards for clients.

Denis is co-author of 'The Executive Guide to Understanding and Implementing the Baldrige Criteria: Improve Revenue and Create Organizational Excellence'.

http://www.BusinessExcellenceConsulting.net

[email protected]

Full listing of blogs https://www.probuilder.com/author/denis-leonard

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