Changes that Stick

Having the opportunity to speak with many business owners and managers in a variety of sectors in Southwest Florida, I've concluded that there is no shortage of good ideas within their businesses. Yet, only a handful of these companies are able to consistently harness these "bright" ideas and convert them into sustained results in the form of improved profitability, market share, customer satisfaction and competitiveness. Why is that?

There are many reasons why these initiatives can fall apart before the real benefits are realized, but often the reason has something to do with weak focus, accountability and follow through.

There are a number of things that can be done to make sure every initiative or project that is worthy of occupying time and resources has the necessary focus, accountability and follow through.

Following are a few of simple and effective tips to make lasting improvements.

1. Develop a means of quantitatively measuring performance before and after the implementation of the change.

Every effort should be made to develop a simple system that makes it easy to monitor overall performance in order to assess the success of the initiative. For example, if you were trying to improve efficiency and on-time processing of customer orders, you would probably want to establish and track an indicator such as processing time per order or processing cost per order in order to determine the effects of the changes. If the average processing time or cost per order drops (everything else being equal), then you have become more efficient. The alternative is to rely on someone's gut feeling or to wait for end-of-month financials to piece together what's going on -- Just the facts in real-time, please!

An incredibly handy tool is a nonconformance checklist. In fewer than 15 minutes per week and without relying on complex computer information reporting systems, this tool helps determine if performance is getting better or worse. Visit www.bpminternational.com to download a free nonconformance checklist form and instructions for it use in your company.

The checklist can also allow you to see a breakdown of any problems by their source. It not only pinpoints issues early on, it lets you and your staff know this initiative is important enough to keep your eye on it. Companies that measure performance realize that what gets measured, gets improved.

2. Assign an owner for the initiative. This person would be the point person that rallies for resources, makes sure things are moving along the way they should be, communicates progress to others and has the single goal of making the initiative a success.

To take this one step forward, make the success of the initiative an objective in the person's performance review and/or bonus plan. As leaders and managers of the company, make a point to ask about progress during the project and make sure to follow-up after the change has been made. Also, try not to inundate key people involved with the initiative with other assignments that can dilute their focus. These steps will reinforce the importance of the initiative to the company's success.

3. Develop and document an implementation plan. Make it simple. You might want to include the steps that must be taken, who is responsible and the due date for each step.

4. Establish a regular meeting to review progress or if it is a smaller initiative, make some room for it on the agenda of an established meeting. Use these times to communicate issues and review progress and performance on an ongoing basis. Start these reviews during planning and keep going until everyone is confident that the changes are now a new way of doing business, and the measurements suggest that the desired performance level is sustainable.

Focusing on a few simple follow through points will ensure your next important initiative does not turn into just another flavor of the month. You will make sure it is here today, still going tomorrow.

Rorie Wilson's firm, BPM International, is a Southwest Florida-based consulting firm that assists organizations in achieving performance excellence through Total Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction systems.