A solution in search of a problem
A consultant spent three hours watching a production line trying to find opportunity. It was a simple quality inspection area where the product flowed in a continuous stream past a number of trained inspectors.
52 Opportunities
Managers don’t provide a “backup” assignment
In many operations, back up assignments can be a useful means to even out daily workflow. By providing a "ready backlog" of work that can be pulled if the main task is delayed for whatever reason, a manager can help optimize the productivity of an area.
Managers assign work unevenly
Uneven work assignment is a management problem, not a worker problem. Management's job is to try to elevate the overall group productivity.
Managers assign work without time parameters
We were working for a large software development company. One of the big operating concerns was the timely ...
When managers don’t assign work
A lot of productivity is lost due to how work is assigned, or in this case, when it's not assigned. What we often see is that the manager plays the role of a work collator, someone who creates a backlog of tasks that an employee can draw from. Work is "loaded" as opposed to "assigned."
The surprising importance of SMART work assignments
We spend a lot of time during our diagnostic phase doing "day-in-the-life" studies. The purpose of these studies is not to watch an individual, it's to watch the process flow and transfer points at what we call "the point of execution."
The opportunity that hides in plain sight
Cyril Parkinson wrote a humorous essay for The Economist magazine, in part drawing from his experience working in the British Civil Service. He observed that work tends to fill the time available for its completion.
When being more productive doesn’t make you more productive
There are a number of functions in an organization where it's tough to move the productivity meter. You might actually produce more but the base costs don't change so the true productivity measured from a financial perspective doesn't change.
What are we actually trying to improve?
"Boiling the ocean" is one of those phrases that can be quite accurate but is still slightly irritating to use or ...
Why happy customers aren’t enough
Over the years we've done a number of studies to try to help our clients find out what their customers think of ...
Green and red time opportunity
Opportunity #2
When we look for opportunity, we categorize time into green and red components. Green time is the ...
The hunt for opportunities
"Opportunity" is one of those euphemisms we use instead of "problems." It's arguably a better word, because most ...