Day to day business can get awfully complicated. When it starts to be too much is often the starting point for business improvement activity. However, streamlining and simplifying your processes without adequate focus can deliver less than optimal solutions.

It is crucial to remember why a process or system exists; this will help you re-focus your approach. In some cases processes can be eliminated rather than improved, things change and sometimes business processes don't follow.

When you come from the purpose of why a process exists a very complex situation is boiled down to its essence.

Have you ever noticed those small tasks that you just don’t get round to? Have you ever noticed what a big problem these small tasks cause if they haven’t been dealt with for some time? Improving the way that work flows through your department or  team can help with the overall efficiency of the business.

Recognising the small tasks and coming up with a routine to make sure that they get done on a regular basis can mean that when you have to focus your energies onto some burning issue you can feel better that the tidal wave of problems that can come from not doing the little things won’t happen.

Some tools are incredibly simple to use, and also deliver some amazing results. Kamishibai boards are a great example and are superb when you want some visual control over routine tasks. By the way Kamishibai is pronounced "come-e-she-bye" in case you were wondering!

As simple as you could want it, a Kamishibai board is a T-card system that has red cards glued to green cards (so that each T-card has a red side and a green side). The red cards are for the incomplete tasks, where as the green cards symbolise that the work has been done.

The end result of an improvement usually reflects the planning and decision making that takes place at the beginning, when the idea is being developed. If there is no planning and the improvement is a stab in the dark as to what needs to change then the final result may not be what was expected.

The 'what are we doing this for?' question is a great place to start. Sometimes improvements are spotted mid thinking, so to speak, and if you work backwards just a little further you may uncover a more meaningful issue to resolve.

A datum is a reference point, something that you can look back to work out where you are. Business can move so quickly and by having some defined reference points you can make decisions quickly and consistently.

Being able to step back and see where you are can sometimes be difficult and requires objectivity. If you can see your datum and see where you are then an appropriate decision can be made as to what you need to do next. The gap is the action required.

A datum doesn't have to be a cold measurement (such as a KPI) it could be a principle that you use in the business to help guide thoughts and decisions.

Many improvement projects aim to improve the performance of a business in one fell swoop. Many times however the shift that the business undertakes needs to be backed up with new habits and discipline.

By discipline I am referring to routines of working. If certain things need to happen every single day in order to maintain the new way of working then we need to ensure that we do what we say we are going to do. There is no magic bullet and we have all seen how quickly habits can be broken.

When a business is struggling to achieve its business objectives then a review of the standards agreed in the business can make a radical change. Sometimes this change can take place rapidly.

One of the simplest agreements we can make is how long a part of the business will take to respond to customers. This gives the people in the business a standard to focus on and (hopefully) the customers a better quality of service.

Defining the key parts of the business process and looking at how they affect the achievement of the business objectives can tell you how each part needs to perform.

So many businesses rely on their computer systems to provide accurate and meaningful information. In many cases their databases are riddled with holes, or even worse, incorrect information. Bad data often leads to the users creating sub systems to cope with the lack of confidence, which can create other problems including wasted time. 

If you find that the data in your organisation is unreliable then don't keep quiet. Ensure that the offenders know that their data collection / input methods aren't acceptable and keep supporting them until the situation changes.

Have you ever noticed that from time to time some really big jobs crop up? They take an inordinate amount of time and you wonder where they come from. A common reason is that small bits of maintenance don't get performed, over time this issue compounds until one day something crashes to a halt. Finding the small regular maintenance activities can pay off in the long run if they are incorporated into a daily or weekly routine of some kind.

Data bases and computer systems that are used to manage the day to day activities in your business are a great place to perform small chunks of maintenance.

There is so much richness available to you when you have a face to face meeting that when you see systems being created that avoid this you may wonder why it has been done. Sometimes, the gain in efficiency is fantastic for the business.  However, at other times the lack of face to face contact can be detrimental to the business.

When you meet face to face there is the ability to pick up on the nuances of the discussion and come to a decision quickly. When the same approach is tried via e-mail it can sometimes take a much longer time to come to agreement.

In engineering (and many other disciplines) there is a stage gate process that prevents too much activity from taking place until there is enough capability or experience available. This idea can be applied to business improvement quite simply by recognising the phases of your improvement work.

If you are needing to go through many changes in quick succession it may be worthwhile to define the most appropriate sequence and then to work out what the right pace would be. By this I mean you need to decide what the criteria is that allows you to progress along your road map.

Sometimes we are asked – “why the name Smartspeed?” It’s a simple response – we help our clients to think differently (SMART) and then act with improved effectiveness and efficiency (SPEED). If you think about the experiences that you have had then you will probably be able to recall times where you have seen this not take place!

Have you ever seen projects that have begun without fully understanding the facts? ‘We don’t have time to do all the paperwork!’ you may hear, but then there is enough time to rework various elements and work unpaid overtime to get the job completed.

The system in any business is what drives the performance. The individuals (the personalities) are essential to make the system work, but the performance of the overall business is due to the system. If you focus on the system then you are focussing on improving the overall business, not just pockets of activity within.

When we look at the individuals we take our eye off the process that converts our customers wishes and wants into tangible products and services. Keeping this in mind means that we can work on developing our business system and improving the performance of individuals within the business at the same time.

In many meetings an idea or a suggestion is killed off quickly because someone present knows why it won't work. However, upon further exploration, it is usually the case that the person who knows that the idea won't work doesn't really know at all.

When you have a group 'brainstorming' session you usually abide by rules. These rules include the welcoming of all ideas no matter how bizarre or ridiculous they might appear. Why not have the same approach to parts of our normal working practice.

When a task needs to be performed in a business it is straightforward to write a standard operating procedure and then hope that the results obtained are the ones you want. One way to improve this haphazard approach to results is to define the standard expected of the result.

If you define the attributes of the result you can give people a far clearer picture to work with, this can help them to achieve your vision of the result more consistently.Explain which areas need to be rigid, and allow the other areas to include flexibility.

Many people get hung up on 'getting it right first time'. This is a good motto in many instances. For example, 'right first time' is a great way to be when you are visible to your clients, or if you are repeating a process of some sort and getting wrong has significant cost implications. However, when we are trying to find a new solution, focussing on getting the result right the first time can result in people not trying new things. We need to be willing to experiment, and to tweak the approach until we get it right.

• Do the same KPIs need to be reported upon?

• Do the same reports need to be submitted to your clients?

• Do you still need to hold the same meetings that you had before your problems went away?

What happens when there are too many projects on the go? 

Quite often the answer is stagnation and a distinct lack of progress. If this is the case then limiting the amount of projects could be the way forward.

- You gain clarity with fewer projects.
- Speed of completion rises.
- The relevance of other projects is questioned.

So, if you are getting stuck and not making progress with your projects then consider doing less. By slowing down we go faster.

When a business doesn't work the way it should do it often finds itself on the back foot. When this happens it is quite common that a series of sub systems appear in the business, ways of working that allow the business to solve the immediate problem(s) faced. If the reasons for falling back in the first place are not understood and not addressed then there is a strong risk that the business will get behind once more and need to dig itself out of the hole again.

If this pattern continues for too long you could find the business running the sub-systems as their primary workload and not really running the business as it should do.