5 Steps to Continuous Improvement

The driving force behind Japanese culture is the philosophy of Kaizen or in translation, continuous improvement. Kaizen is a daily process of applying ideas that gradually bring you closer to an improvement and can be applied at work or in life. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen can deliver significant results through tiny actions in areas of productivity, employee morale and safety. Companies that embrace this philosophy encourage people at all levels, from the CEO down to evaluate their surroundings and work processes and implement suggestions to improve workflow, standards and process. The end result is that improvements eventually lead to better quality, better productivity and higher profits.

Below are 5 Steps to help you use Kaizen in your organization:

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1. Define a Problem

If no problems existed, then there is no potential for improvement. First step is to recognize that a problem does exist. Most times the people who create the problem are not sensitive to it since they are not inconvenienced by it every day and nobody wants to admit that they created a problem. Think positive and look at a problem as an opportunity for improvement rather than an issue.

2. Create a Standard

If you do not have a standard, how can you improve upon it or know that you are improving? There must be a standard of measure for everything in your business, whether it is a worker, machine, process or manager. There has to be a baseline measurement that exists so you continually grow to surpass that standard.

3. Develop 3 to 5 Good Ideas

Once you have identified the problem and the standard that you need to improve upon, the next step in the process is to develop 3 to 5 good ideas. Ones that pass the PCST (personal common sense test). These ideas can come from anywhere within the organization through a suggestion system where people can share their ideas. This will improve morale and let the employees buy into the process through participation. Once you have all the suggestions, select the best 3 to 5. Select the ones that are easily implemented and will yield results within 120 days. 4. Implement Ideas Kaizen is all about action. You selected the best 3 to 5 ideas that will yield a result within 120 days because it is all about gradual and continuous improvement. Most companies have grandiose ideas and want to solve world hunger in 120 days, the approach we want you to take is to start buying a hungry man a sandwich.

5. Go back to step 1

The last step of the process is to start it over again--hence the word continuous. The goal is to pick your ideas and implement them within 120 days and then implement another set of ideas after that and again and again and again.

In Kaizen, you do not have to focus on grand ideas. In fact the best results and the best ideas are usually the smaller ones because they can be implemented easily and employees will be motivated and begin to like the winning feeling. Once they have that feeling in their gut, they will want more and more and more an eventually bring your organization to the highest level of efficiency.

©2009 Kellie D'Andrea & Associates

5 Steps to Continuous Improvement

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