Meeting Topic

Introduction

Ever heard of ‘LEAN’? Think it applies just to large production or manufacturing businesses? Well, read on and find out how you can apply relevant LEAN concepts to YOUR business! Because small tweaks in a few areas can yield big efficiency gains and less wasted time and money.

Spring Cleaning is a Year-Round Event! By Amber McNamara

“Lean” and “Continuous Improvement” methodologies are normally referred to in a manufacturing sense, but it can be applied anywhere, anytime. Lean methodology was first introduced by Taiichi Ohno from Toyota. What he created went on to become the Toyota Production System (TPS).

The TPS was focused on eliminating waste from the manufacturing process.

In business, it means eliminating or reducing waste from any system or process that doesn’t add value to your customer (“waste”).

Let’s take a look at 7 “waste” areas that MAY be affecting YOUR business (and your customers!). And remember, waste often disguises itself as productivity so keep your eyes peeled!

• Inventory

By this I mean too much inventory.  “Just-in-case” stock, can be important to mitigate production delays or low quality. However, too much inventory increases storage needs and ties up cash flow.

In an office sense, this could be an inventory of projects that you have started and haven’t finished (WIP or work in process). Remember, busy doesn’t always mean effective, only manage what is possible, finish a project before adding another to your bucket, don’t let your bucket overflow.

• Waiting

When goods or tasks are not moving, “waiting waste” occurs, and this is easily recognizable as goods awaiting delivery, equipment waiting to be fixed, waiting for approvals or waiting for information.

• Defects

Defects cause rework, and don’t we hate re-doing something we have already done?! Not to mention it costs us money! Even worse, there may be no coming back from it – the product may end up in the bin. Checklists are key!

• Overproduction

Overproduction triggers the other 6 wastes to occur. Overproduction is producing more than the customer is willing to pay for. This can often be triggered by perfectionism!

For creatives, another way to look at this is, if ideas are produced too early they can often be obsolete by the time they’re needed.

• Motion

This means movements of workers or machinery that are complicated or unnecessary and can lead to injuries or missed deadlines.

In the office, this could also be mental motion. What’s the most common motion in the office? Looking for files! We can’t find what we need, we get distracted by something else on the journey and before we know it, we are down a rabbit hole and have completely forgotten what we started out to do.

• Transportation

Moving resources or materials, when the movement doesn’t add value to the product can be costly to your business and potentially damage the quality.

In an office, transportation of information often equals emails. Send complete thoughts, as a brief or quick response may lead to many more emails going backwards and forwards to clarify. Make sure your quick response doesn’t start a game of email ping pong. Conversely, don’t write an email novel with no point.

• Over-processing

This is doing work that doesn’t bring additional value or that brings more value than what the customer is willing to pay for. Adding features no one will use only increases your costs.

Multitasking fits in here as humans can’t multitask – it only leads to mistakes and reduces efficiency.

Sometimes “Lean” can be overwhelming to start, so start small. Making small improvements every day adds up to big improvements over time. And never stop, there is always more to do!

Amber is the owner of PUTTY.  Check out how Amber’s team helps their clients wrangle their systems and tech HERE.

Next Meeting Topic

Introduction

How is your year going so far? Is it time for a mid-year review? The next meeting topic article was contributed by Fiona Clark of BreakThrough Business Solutions. In it she discusses practical steps we can all take to make sure every month counts as we roll on through winter. Consider Fiona’s suggestions and discuss with your group which one could use a bit more focus going forward in YOUR business.

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Time To Roll Up Your Sleeves By Fiona Clark

This year, it will continue to be very important to ‘front foot’ business, take control, and proactively make every month count.

There are opportunities in every economy, but this may take creative thinking – looking at your business through a different lens – to find new markets, a new client base, new referral partners, or new strategies.

Don’t wait for the remainder of this year to happen TO you – make it happen FOR you!

Here are some key steps to help you achieve this:

Focus on your pipeline

What future sales are in your pipeline? What activity is being done to generate leads, set up opportunities, build relationships, drive interest, and keep cashflow, workload and momentum consistently going month after month? Right now, it is more important than ever to have a strong focus on sales and marketing and keep revenue and profit coming in.

When you place your focus on filling your pipeline, you can avoid that ‘feast or famine’ cycle.

Make marketing count

A lot of companies will pull back on marketing when they’re being careful with spending. Do the opposite. Spend more. Why? Because – why would you shut off a primary source of leads and revenue when you need it the most? When others stop marketing, you benefit; it creates a less crowded marketplace and can help you achieve better visibility online, and a greater return for your marketing spend.

When you place your focus on good, consistent marketing, you stand out even more.

Supercharge your sales

This is the time to make sure your sales team (or you, if you’re responsible for sales) are taking part in training and learning new skills. When client spending is tight, it’s crucial to have a clear sales strategy, have a solid sales process, and know how to close and ask for the business.

You can market till the cows come home, but when you place your focus on sales, your bank account will thank you!

Share your wins

Keep yourself and your team strong, proactive and positive. Sharing your ‘Wins’ is a great way to start team meetings and encourage everyone to share what’s gone well, find the ‘good’ in the week, and focus on the successes. (If you’re on your own, take a moment to share your wins with someone who supports you.) Also, remember to share wins from a big picture or business perspective – to give the team confidence in the direction of the business and the future of the company.

When you place your focus on sharing wins and maintaining a positive attitude, you go a long way toward retaining high performers and not giving them a reason to look for their next role.

To find out more about Fiona’s programmes, check out her website:  https://www.bbsolutions.co.nz/

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