Workplace Improvement

Lean on “Tim” to improve your work processes

1-page handout – 91KB If you manage or work in a process that frustrates staff and falls short of customer expectations, here’s great news: Tim can help, he can start now, and he works for free. Who is this generous Tim? Well, he’s an acronym, designed to make a key concept more memorable. His full name is TIMUWOOD (typically referred to as Tim U. Wood). Each letter stands for a different form of process waste – a point where the process is overly complicated or too slow or redundant or error-prone. Click on the thumbnail for a TIMUWOOD one-pager. This isn’t the only summary on the web, but it’s the best. It conveys plenty of information in concise plain English, and it’s tailored for service-oriented workplaces. If you work for any kind of service organization – a professional service firm, a government agency, an educational institutions, or anything like that – this TIMUWOOD summary will be very relevant. The key is to put it to work, and here’s one surefire way: Gather with colleagues who all work in the same process. Share the TIMUWOOD handout, provide a quick overview, and allow a few minutes for review. Then prompt the group to think about their process in terms of all eight TIMUWOOD factors. Ask: Which of the descriptions on the handout seem to match what we’re seeing and what our customers are experiencing? A couple good questions will open the conversation. As people share their views, list the discoveries on a white board or flipchart. See where the group gravitates. Look for an emerging consensus around the two or three occurrences of waste that people seem to cite most. Now, this exercise isn’t the end all, it’s a starting point. It gets everyone thinking more deeply about their process – in a way that sets the stage for improvement. Here are additional questions to build momentum toward next steps: • What are some “just do it” improvements we can make right away? • With those one or two occurrences of waste that really stand out: What’s the root cause? Some snap analysis will deepen the group’s thinking. • Is there information or data that can help us get smarter about the situation? Who can do some research and get back to the group? • How about a process walk? Some groups get so curious from their TIMUWOOD conversation that they schedule a start-to-finish walk-through of their process – literally...

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Keep an eye on a few key measures – or else

I should’ve known better. My work involves performance and process improvement, so I’m well aware that meaningful measures and objective data really do matter. But for an upcoming half marathon, I decided to go rogue. I’d run without my watch and without looking at the posted times on the course. It would be a test of sorts for 13.1 miles. I’d remain oblivious to time and see what happened, instead of closely tracking time like I’d done in all my previous races. On race day, the early miles seemed to fly by. I felt so good that at mile 4, I picked up the pace. At mile 9, still feeling strong, I sped up some more. And with a few miles to the finish, I raced forward with confidence. When I crossed the finish line, I had no clue what time I had logged — but I knew it was good. Perhaps my best time ever. Except that it wasn’t. Not even close. For all the half marathons I’ve run over the years, it was my worst time ever. As I dug into the official post-race numbers, I discovered what had happened. Those first four fly-by miles were easy because I wasn’t flying at all. According to the data, my pace had been 14 seconds slower than my leisurely per-mile pace for long training runs. For whatever reason, my internal pacing mechanism was giving me a good report, but it was way off. Without a watch, I had no accurate reality check. When I dialed up my pace at about mile 4, I felt like I was really hitting the accelerator. But the data told a different story. From that point to mile 9, my pace was only 46 seconds faster per mile — a measly 7.5% pick-up. Without any objective feedback telling me otherwise, I was relying on my internal pace clock, and it was again giving me a deceptively rosy report. In the last four miles, I shaved another 33 seconds off my per-mile pace. I passed 482 runners — while being passed by only 19. All that passing surely boosted my confidence, further convincing me that this race could be a personal best. But because I had so dogged it early on, the quicker pace was nowhere near enough to get me a good time. Did I have fun during the race? Absolutely. Would I have...

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Are you really a problem solver?

When you encounter a problem that’s easily solved, you solve it, right? You probably said yes. I’d say yes too. Most people think of themselves as problem solvers. But what about our actions? Are we actually solving problems — especially little ones — or are we mostly thinking about them, talking about them with colleagues, and wringing our hands? These questions came through loud and clear for me at a recent conference. When sound problems kept the people in the back of the ballroom from hearing the keynote speaker, a few of them spoke up about ten minutes into the presentation. An audio tech fiddled with some controls, the speaker adjusted the microphone, and the sound quality improved slightly. But the people in back still couldn’t hear without straining. The folks in the front reported better sound quality, and seats were available. So guess how many people moved from the back to the front? Out of about one hundred people struggling with suboptimal sound, 3% took matters into their own hands to solve the problem. As for the 97%, perhaps they figured that the audio tech would eventually work a miracle. Perhaps they expected the speaker to switch from the clip-on microphone to the one with a cord. Or maybe they were so settled into their seats that they stayed put by default. Keep this story in mind as your week unfolds, because you’re likely to face similar situations in which problems arise and solutions are within easy reach. Will you count on someone else to effect a fix, will you submit to inertia, will you complain to yourself or to a colleague? Or will you work out a solution right there and then? By Tom Terez •...

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The inefficient extra that’s entirely worth it

When you break your wrist and have to undergo surgery to get it fixed, the last thing you want is another surprise — unless it’s overwhelmingly positive. That’s what happened to my sister. Three days after her surgery, she received a hand-addressed envelope from the outpatient group that fixed her wrist. Surprise! Inside was a “thank you for selecting us” card signed by six staff members. Is it a big deal? It was to my sister. After the pain of a broken bone, compounded by all the worry that precedes and follows surgery, the card and those first-name signatures provided just the right personal touch. There’s no rule that says an organization has to send thank-you cards to its customers. There’s no compelling financial reason. There’s no likely therapeutic benefit. You could even argue that it’s an inefficient way to use time and resources. Perhaps that’s why cards like these are so rare — and so appreciated. By Tom Terez •...

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Getting your ideas (finally) implemented

Coming up with ideas for improving the workplace should be a good thing. So why can it be so frustrating? “Few of my ideas are ever implemented,” one person told me recently. “It’s getting to the point where I rarely bother to suggest anything anymore.” If you can relate, don’t give up. There are specific ways to move more of your good ideas from drawing board to reality. • For starters, make sure your ideas aren’t all about things that other people should do. Come up with improvements you can implement on your own — and get them done. • With an idea where you don’t have the authority or ability to implement, take a second look. Perhaps you can narrow the concept to something smaller that you can do. Let’s say you’ve pitched an idea for having your organization survey its customers, but senior leadership is unresponsive. No problem. Just scope down your idea to something you can do: Conduct your own survey of your own customers. Others will take notice, some will follow suit, and your idea for an all-company survey is likely to get attention. • When communicating your ideas, speak to people in their preferred language. If you’re presenting to someone who’s obsessed with financials, lead off by explaining how the idea will benefit the bottom line. With someone who’s planning-oriented, show how the idea will help the organization achieve a goal. With someone who’s competitive, demonstrate how the idea will give the organization a significant edge. • If none of the above seems doable, engage in a little guerilla marketing of your idea. Start talking it up, especially with individuals who wield influence and shape opinions. Growing chatter among the right people will give your idea added credibility. The next time you come up with a great improvement idea for your workplace, you might be tempted to rush forward and tell everyone right away. Or you might be inclined to keep quiet because previous ideas went nowhere. Avoid both of these extremes. Instead, advance your idea with the more nuanced approaches described above. It will take more time, more thought, and more patience – but you’ll achieve much more...

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Broadcast success and you’ll get more of it

If you want to build a positive workplace culture, one of your best opportunities is available to you every day. It’s so simple. Just pay attention to what’s going right, then call it out among colleagues. There’s a lot to find, as long as you look: determined effort, great performance, a best practice, stellar results, compliments from a customer, the completion of a big project, and much more. This is a must for all managers. But anyone in any organization can do this, and everyone should. Here’s how: Begin every meeting by citing recent accomplishments. Have colleagues chime in with their own positive observations. Make a habit of expressing thanks — and give the gratitude more magnitude by telling the person exactly what they did that made a positive difference. Put several success stories in each issue of your internal newsletter or e-letter. In one-on-one conversations, become a positive gossip, sharing a story or two that illustrates what’s going right in the workplace. Do this on a regular basis, so it becomes a part of the everyday routine. As all this good news get circulated, confidence will grow. People will learn and improve as they hear about factors that led to success. They’ll follow your lead and share their own positive testimonials. Even the skeptics and naysayers will start to find silver linings. Over time, you’ll get more of what you want in the workplace. The workplace culture will strengthen from the inside out. The catch? You have to get it started. By Tom Terez •...

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A week that will make your workplace strong

“Casual Day” is now the norm in many workplaces. It’s typically on Friday, which got me thinking about the rest of the week. Why can’t we dedicate the other days in even better fashion? “Learning Thursday” would be just that — a day to learn something about anything that’s remotely related to work-related. Each person or team would have to initiate their own learning, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re talking five minutes to have a colleague explain how the accounts are processed. Or asking the resident expert for tips on how to use that new machine. Or getting with colleagues to share your best proven practices for doing certain aspects of your job. “Why Wednesday” affirms the importance of critical thinking. At least once during the day, people are to ask “why” when they find themselves doing the same thing in the same way for no good reason. “Why are we filing away these forms that no one ever uses?” “Why am I checking my email ten times a day when once or twice would be plenty?” “Why haven’t I walked over to accounting to meet and talk with my contact there in person, instead of my usual drill of sending him yet another email?” All good questions. “Customer Tuesday” puts the attention on customers. True, we should be serving them well every day, but how about one day a week when we’re expected to reach out and ask them directly for feedback. Each person would contact at least one of their internal or external customers, to see whether they’re thrilled and to get at least one actionable insight or improvement idea. “Acknowledgment Monday” is about recognizing what’s going right and who’s doing great things at work. Each person would make a point of finding at least one positive — and calling it out to colleagues. Maybe it’s a newly improved process that’s making life easier for everyone. If so, say so. Maybe it’s someone on your team whose service ethic has them always helping out. If so, let them know they’re appreciated. Or maybe it’s just a silent acknowledgment inside — appreciation for a job and colleagues and the chance to serve, even if there are things we’d like to change. Last but not least, let’s institutionalize the “No-Work Weekend,” setting aside one or two days each week as a completely work-free zone. No working...

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