If we are being honest, we ALL want to improve things, whatever our current situation is, don’t we?
Turning Our Potential Into Results
Some people are naturally stronger in one area of their life than another. Some were born with the natural physique to be a great swimmer, for example. Ian Thorpe comes to mind. Olympic World record breaker at the age of 16! But even with his natural ability, he did not just jump in the pool and win the race!
For us there is both an art and a science to improvement. First gifts must be recognized through a process of observation and creative exploration. For swimmers, there are all sorts of styles, differing skills and abilities are required for each. You see it in the individual medley races, where one swimmer can be far ahead of the pack in her style, but then when it changes to fall behind in the race. Secondly, once skills, preferences and styles have been identified, then a deliberate strategy must be crafted to deliver the best result.
Not all of us want to be world record breakers, but all of us have great untapped potential to improve.
When it comes to the application of technology or more specifically of Streamline Edge to your business, we too are focused on releasing your business potential. As we engage with your team, we are looking to understand the outcomes or areas of improvement, the skills and talents of the team, and how the application of empowering systems can release that potential.
Then as the technology is configured to suit the needs, a bit like the hi-tech swimsuit, we stand alongside you and your team as a coach to mentor and guide the steps towards a better outcome.
Through our accreditation programs we measure knowledge and understanding of the new techniques and processes, as well as the actual performance that results from using and honing these new tools.
Integrating Smart Processes Into Work Practices
For us, though, improvement is not just about going faster, it is also about doing things better, improving quality and reducing risk. It is easy to take shortcuts and skip steps and then “pat ourselves on the back” and hand out awards for improvement. It is harder to streamline and automate routine tasks, and to measure and track exceptions to the standard process. It is easy to have policies and procedures in place, it is harder to enforce their use.
Some of the team have worked in large financial institutions who have a culture of being risk adverse and yet can still be exposed to risk because key processes were not integrated into their work practice. In just one example, a bank lost $750,000 because, whilst they had paper processes in place, a key step – a phone call, was not made to verify and authenticate a withdrawal.
Our processes are seamlessly integrated into the employees day to day work practice, inputs and outputs measured and key steps along the way. For example we are currently working with a company that services Air-conditioning units, their paper Occupational Health and Safety checklist is now digital on an iPad, and the staff member cannot proceed to do the service, unless the safety requirements on the checklist “pass”. The user entering the form is recorded, the time it takes to complete the form is recorded. From this efficiencies and performance can be measured, regular issues identified through exception reports and activities altered to effect improvement.
Talk to us today about your situation and let’s explore together how we might improve the operational effectiveness of your business.
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