People sometimes call or e-mail us to ask why they should buy Bizmanualz Policies and Procedures manuals instead of someone else’s.  Here are the top ten reasons why:

1. Handy Procedure Starting Point – No Need to Start Business Policies Procedures Writing from Scratch
   

   Business Policies Procedures

   Using a strong business policies procedure starting point from Bizmanualz can kick-start your business policies procedure writing and improve the usability of your procedures (hence, their usefulness).  It can also reduce procedure confusion and user errors and help you achieve your compliance and control objectives.
2. Easy to Edit Microsoft Word Procedure Templates on CD-ROM
   MS-Word is the business standard for word processing applications. Bizmanualz business policies procedures use basic features of MS-Word (bulleting, page numbering, and title tags for table of contents making, etc.) that help to speed up procedure development.
3. Convenient, Colorful 3-ring Binders with Colored Tabs and Hardcopy Review Pages
   The colorful 3-ring binder is easy to spot on your shelf when you need to refer to your business policies procedures manual.  The entire contents of the manual comes in printed form for your convenience. Each page is easy to insert and remove from the D-ring binder, which lays flat on your desk. Handy D-ring binders won’t curl your pages like C-ring binders will.
4. Immediately Available for Downloading via the Internet
   Business policies procedures manuals are available in hardcopy binders or as compressed “zip” files for immediate downloading over the Internet. You let us know which form you prefer when you order.
5. Fast Same-Day Shipping for Quick Delivery
   All manuals are shipped via UPS Ground or International. Overnight shipping options provide fast alternatives when you need a printed copy quickly.
6. Thoroughly Researched Content Prepared by Quality Professionals
   All procedure manual content is researched by certified quality professionals, subject matter experts, and technical writers who together have decades of business experience. The finished product is thoroughly reviewed by subject matter experts who bring their years of specialized experience to the topics we cover.
7. Easy Reading ISO Conforming Format and Best Practices
   

   ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

   Over 17,000 ISO standards are now available, standards that align companies around the world.  The ISO 9001 Quality standard uses the process approach to describe — and provide a framework for — management systems. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Bizmanualz, an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company, uses the same process approach and incorporates best practices in developing and implementing procedure manuals.

8. Live Help via Phone or Email to Answer Your Questions Quickly
   Answers to questions about your policies and procedures manual, subject matter, references, or manual preparation are only a phone call or email away. Bizmanualz staff are available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, Central (US) time.
   

   business management procedures

9. Integrated Selection of Business Management Procedures for Your Whole Company
   A company is made up of more than a single topic or department. Business management policies and procedures are used by accounting and finance (to control cash), human resources (to comply with federal and state regulations), information technology (to control your data), disaster recovery (to plan for emergencies), security (to protect your assets), sales and marketing (to deploy your strategy), and quality (to operate a complete quality management system and for compliance). Bizmanualz is the only company that provides all of your department business management policies and procedures manuals.
10. Custom Training and Consulting Services, to Facilitate Understanding and Implementation
    Bizmanualz quality professionals are available to personally explain how to plan your procedures project, help you understand your business processes, write and review your procedures, implement your procedures, perform process procedures audits, or develop training materials for successful procedure implementation.

Competitors may be able to match us on a few of the above, but no other company matches or beats Bizmanualz on all ten reasons.  What do you think?  Time to check us out!

Top 10 Reasons to Use Bizmanualz Policies and Procedures Manuals

1. No need to start from scratch
2. Easy to edit
3. Convenient
4. Immediately available by download
5. Same-day shipping
6. Thoroughly researched
7. ISO-conforming format and use of best practices
8. Live help – get quick answers to your questions
9. Procedures for every department in your company
10. Custom training and consulting services, when you need them

Why should you implement a lean kanban system?  How can you beat a simplified production system that costs less, satisfies customers more, and takes the headaches out of management?  A kanban is system of signals used in lean to balance the flow of work, materials, and people to get a job done.  Kanbans are used within agile software development, manufacturing, service deployment, construction, and just about anywhere people are implementing lean systems.

Let’s look at the top ten reasons for implementing a lean kanban system.

1. Visualizes your work

A lean kanban translates your production planning into visual kanban boards, kanban cards, or electronic e-kanban signals. A value stream map is used to understand your kanban needs.  Workers can all see what the current production plan is easily and quickly by reading the visual kanbans.

2. Reduces your Work In Progress (WIP)

A Kanban is built by balancing your individual work cells to the pull of customer demand using kanban signals.  Lean balanced flow reduces WIP created by batch sizes that are larger than customer orders.

3. Moves your work along Steadily

A balanced flow is achieved by understanding the takt time or rhythm of customer demand and then adjusting individual work cell batch sizes to achieve the steady balanced product flow.  Your workers jobs are now even, steady, set to a comfortable frequency that satisfies customers and management.

4. Improves your work flow

A steady balanced lean product flow is a great lean process improvement over traditional chaotic systems made of large batch sizes.  The whole system operates together as a team reducing employee stress levels and adding a calm to the organization.

5. Releases your work on demand

New orders trigger the system to produce the next batch.  A balanced system only produces enough products to fulfill customer demand and hence only releases orders on demand.

6. Simplifies your production planning

Your production planning is reduced to adjusting the kanban size as market conditions change.  A steady balanced manufacturing flow sets the order turnaround time eliminating expedited orders and special rush jobs that are the bane of traditional production planning.  In effect, all orders are expedited when you balance the flow to customer demand.

7. Eases your purchase planning

Purchasing becomes balanced with production kanbans and can be simplified even more using e-kanbans that automatically send purchase orders direct to suppliers.

8. Increases your customer satisfaction

The real goal of a kanban is to understand what all customers demand and then focus your production on that customer demand.  When your customers get what they want, when they want it, they become very satisfied customers.  That is the value of a lean competitive advantage.

9. Eliminates your employee confusion

Simplified production planning, simplified purchase planning, and simplified work cells all lead to a simplified system.  Employees can see the simplification and easily understand the flow.  Confusion is virtually eliminated.

10. Minimizes your overproduction risks

Inventory can become obsolete quickly in today’s fast changing marketplace.  A lean kanban will reduce your exposure to excessive older inventory by focusing your production on customer demand instead of production planning.  If you only make what you need then there is little obsolete inventory risk.

Top Ten Reasons for Using a Lean Kanban

1. Visualizes your work
2. Reduces your Work In Progress (WIP)
3. Moves your work along Steadily
4. Releases your work on demand
5. Improves your work flow
6. Simplifies your production planning
7. Eases your purchase planning
8. Increases your customer satisfaction
9. Eliminates your employee confusion
10. Minimizes your overproduction risks

Last week, we identified “communication” as the most important means to achieving success, the one tool your managerial toolbox cannot do without.  Without effective and timely communication, project development and implementation will suffer and as a result, the organization will have a difficult time reaching its project objectives.

Of course, there are other barriers to project success.  Good communication will take care of a lot of problems but not all — human nature being what it is.  Whether you’ve been a project leader or part of a project team, you’ve undoubtedly run into one or more of the following problems:

1. Lack of Clarity. Some or all employees don’t know or don’t understand the project goals, objectives, roles and responsibilities, etc.  What are their individual goals and how do they relate to the goals of other team members, and to the project?  Stakeholders don’t see what they have to gain if your project plans aren’t clear, and everyone must have something to gain or they don’t cooperate.
2. Inadequately Researched or Defined Requirements. This is a major cause, if not the root cause, of lack of project clarity.  Be sure you and the user/customer agree on what is required.
3. Inadequate Resources. You considered and planned for project development and rollout costs, but what happens after rollout? What does it take to adequately inform, or educate, the customer?  Did you adequately address marketing, customer support, and maintenance needs?
4. Lack of Ongoing Customer Support. For some companies, contact with the customer ends with the sale. Did your plans account for the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty? Too many companies fall short in this regard.
5. Biases (Yours and Theirs). You’ve heard the phrase “overpromised and underdelivered”.  How many times does this happen in your business?  Why?  How likely are potential customers to believe you if they’ve already been burned.  What were their previous experiences?  Be sure to address these.  Also be sure to address your company’s attitudes toward existing customers (see “Ongoing Support”).
6. Technology Gap. Where is the customer on the technology continuum? If your solution is technology-based, consider the amount of training that will be required within your implementation process.  Also, be sure you know what their most pressing needs are and solve them.  Don’t give them more than they need and don’t shoot wide of the mark.
7. Resistance to Change. An individual’s degree of resistance to change is a major factor: While it may seem counterintuitive to you, many people prefer the devil they know to the one they don’t.  Be aware of that and have a plan for dealing with it.  Make sure the customer knows the benefits of your project early on and how they will far outweigh any temporary pain they might feel.
8. Lack of Time. See “inadequate resources”.
9. Not Invented Here. You still see a lot of this from customers: “How can you expect to come in here and solve our problems when you don’t have any experience in our business?”  That may be a purely defensive posture.  One of the messages often underlying that question is, “Once the project is complete, jobs will be lost, etc.”  You have to be able to answer that in your project plan.  Also see “biases” and “resistance to change”.
10. Political Barriers. You lack support from critical areas/functions.  Maybe people are unwilling to step forward for various reasons.  What’s the company culture like?  Are they historically proactive or reactive?  What are their real motives for seeking you out?  Is the project supported all the way from the bottom to the top of the chain of command?

We need to remind ourselves now and again that careful, thorough planning prevents most problems.  The problems you don’t prevent in the project planning phase – and you’re never going to prevent them all, but – they’re a lot easier to identify and correct when you have a sound project plan.

Project Management consists of managing your project plan, achieving your project objectives, and delivering the intended project results to your users, customers and management.  As a Project Manager, doing this effectively requires a disciplined project management approach using key project management methods, tools, and documents to guide your progress.  What are these important project management documents?

1. User Requirements & Project Assumptions:
   customer comments, stated and implied requirements, and project assumptions from the customer or management.
2. Feasibility Study:
   industry research, costs, and methods that provide the basis for the financial justification to management.
3. Business Case Justification:
   the financial justification to management derived from the feasibility study, user requirements and project assumptions.
4. Project Charter:
   the basic problem, goals, benefits, and schedule
5. Project Plan:
   the detailed schedule, budget, resources, risks, assumptions, and roles & responsibilities for all stakeholders.
6. Acceptance Plan:
   customer criteria for receipt of project deliverables.
7. Quality Plan:
   the project management policies, procedures, standards, and reviews used to ensure customer acceptance.
8. Communications Plan:
   the stakeholders, what they need to know, and when.
9. Procurement Plan:
   external resources and the tender management process for acquisition.
10. Post Project Review:
    important project achievements and lessons learned from project errors for future project improvements.

Top Ten ” Must Have” Project Management Documents:

1. User Requirements & Project Assumptions
2. Feasibility Study
3. Business Case Justification
4. Project Charter
5. Project Plan
6. Acceptance Plan
7. Quality Plan
8. Communications Plan
9. Procurement Plan
10. Post Project Review

A disciplined project management process is important to any project.  Project managers are expected to deliver results, on time (if not sooner) and on budget.  Solid project planning reduces the risks associated with any project you take on.  Here are ten reasons why you need project management:

1. Control Scope Creep and Manage Change

Small changes in demands occur on every project.  They come from management, the customer, your project team, suppliers, or other stakeholders.  Individually, they may appear acceptable, but collectively these project demands can add up to a significant project expansion (referred to as “scope creep”) that can overrun your budget.  As a project manager, if you effectively manage the scope of your project, you have a better than even chance of effectively managing project resources — time, money, etc. — and managing change.

2. Deliver Project Results On Time and On Budget

Project planning starts with a well thought out business case justification that usually includes some type of cost calculation associated with Return On Investment (ROI).  Once these measures are established, it is up to the project manager to ensure that on-time, on-budget performance is maintained; otherwise, the project will never produce the expected results.  That’s what good project management is all about.

3. Focus the Project Team on the Solution

The project team can easily drift off topic and spend too much time on the wrong tasks.  A good project manager keeps the project team focused by using a clear and concise project charter, resolving barriers, or shielding the team from unnecessary interference.

4. Obtain Project Buy-In from Disparate Groups

As President Lincoln once said, “Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.” A good project manager uses the tools in the initiation phase of project management to collect user requirements, project constraints, and a feasibility study to build a strong business case justification.  Using input from various sources, the project manager overcomes dissent and obtains buy-in by communicating the project benefits as the different stakeholder groups see them.

5. Define the Critical Path to Optimally Complete your Project

Every project is made up of a series of connected activities, each of which has its own constraints.  The project manager identifies the critical path of activities — the optimal sequence of actions that best ensure the project’s successful completion.

6. Provide a Process for Estimating Project Resources, Time, and Costs

Using project management software, previous project experiences, and a solid project initiation phase can provide the discipline needed to reduce project estimating errors, increasing the likelihood that the project will finish on time and on budget.

7. Communicate Project Progress, Risks, and Changes

As a project progresses, stakeholders must be kept informed of the outcomes, changes, stumbling blocks, or successes that the project experiences.  Project management creates a project communication plan to address these communication issues, provide a format, and lay out a process for execution.

8. Surface and Explore Project Assumptions

All projects are based on assumptions to some extent.  A good project manager delves into user requirements, project constraints, and management expectations to understand what is said and what is not said.  Relying on too many unconfirmed assumptions can invalidate a project schedule or, worse, sink the project.

9. Prepare for Unexpected Project Issues

Every project runs into unforeseen issues, such as changes in market conditions, and is hit with random cause variability.  Experienced project managers plan for the unexpected by lining up alternative courses of action.

10. Document, Transfer, and Apply Lessons Learned from Your Projects

The last phase of project management focuses on “closing out” the project.  The project manager reviews how well each prior phase — project initiation, project planning, project execution, and project monitoring and control — was performed.  As part of good knowledge management, all project review notes should be dissected and analyzed for patterns, trends, and opportunities for improvement.  These “lessons learned” should be documented and communicated to other project managers before starting the next project.

The Top Ten Reasons Why You Need Project Management

1. Control scope creep and manage change;
2. Deliver project results on time and on budget;
3. Focus the project team on the solution;
4. Obtain project buy-in from disparate groups;
5. Define the critical path to optimally complete your project;
6. Provide a process for estimating project resources, time, and costs;
7. Communicate project progress, risks, and changes;
8. Surface and explore project assumptions;
9. Prepare for unexpected project issues; and
10. Document, transfer, and apply lessons learned from your projects.

What’s your first reaction when you enter the conference room and you see the VP of Very Important Stuff firing up the projector?  How about when, once they’ve got the projector to cooperate, you see the title frame of a PowerPoint slide show?  Oh, and how about when they hand you a 200-page stack of “everything we’re going to ‘discuss”?

Why do you react that way?  Because that’s how every PowerPoint meeting goes!  Remember the 400-slide show, capturing every mind-numbing detail?  Remember the presenter who recited exactly what was on the screen, word for word, in a weak monotone?  Or (my personal favorite), the “cool” transitions and animation that scream, “This is my first time using PowerPoint!”

Why do people continue to misuse PowerPoint?  (Because it’s always been done that way?)  PowerPoint is the most overused, yet least understood, of business applications.  It lets people take hours to say what they could easily say in five minutes.

Well, you’re not going to let this go on!  It’s the message, not the medium! You’re going to communicate an idea effectively and concisely in the shortest period of time possible.  Your slide show is going to stand out for the right reasons!

You’re going to put together a refreshing, informative, and entertaining slide show!  And this is how you’re going to do it:

1. You’ve been tasked with an important job: get the company’s message across.  If you’re pressed for time, don’t dump on some poor so-and-so — that’s a snowball that won’t stop until it hits bottom.  Tell whoever asked for the presentation “by 3:00 tomorrow” that you’re doing this, that, and the other thing and need more time.  Quality takes time and planning, so have them give you a reasonable amount of time to put a draft together, refine it, AND rehearse it.
2. Tell the audience what you’re going to say — introduce the topic on a single slide.  Say it — one slide per major point, and keep it under two dozen slides.  Then, tell them what you just said — conclude with a one-slide synopsis.
3. Keep it short and simple.  Don’t regurgitate the entire benefits plan or the budget plan for FY 20xx.  Point out — and summarize – the main ideas of the plan.  Simple declarative sentences or phrases will do.  Supplement the statements on the slide with the brief but insightful explanations you have in your notes (see point 1) but do not parrot every word on the slide show!
4. Give the presentation visual appeal.  Text-only presentations are the surest way to lose your audience (next is to pump out slide after slide after slide of tabular data).  Use charts, graphs, and pictures to get your point across, but don’t overdo it.  Charts and pictures lose their appeal, eventually (think “Uncle Elmer’s slide show from his and Aunt Hermione’s trip to the Holy Land”).
5. Be inventive!  Rather than do the same dry, tired show that everyone else has done, dare to be different!  “Tried and true” isn’t always a good thing.
6. If it’s appropriate, use humor to convey your message.  I once ended a slide show with a picture of Laurel and Hardy in a sinking rowboat.  Stan Laurel was madly rowing, while Hardy sat chin on fist, wearing a look of resignation, as usual.  The point of the presentation – take care of problems while they’re little (they got it).
7. Send the meeting agenda to your audience in advance.  Keep it brief — the agenda should take up less than one printed page.
8. Don’t give attendees the slide show on paper as they’re entering the conference room.  One, you want them to pay attention to the PowerPoint on the screen, not flip noisily through it.  Two, as soon as you hand each of them a 100-page stack of paper, you’ve lost them.  (I guarantee you they’re thinking, “Oh, @#$%&!”, or something to that effect.)  Hand out the details at the end of the session, or tell them where and how to go to “Learn More”.
9. Finish with a brief Q&A – take no more than a couple of questions.
10. Afterward, ask a few attendees whose opinions you value, “What did you think of the presentation?”  Use every opportunity to improve your presentation – jot some notes about the feedback, then go back and punch up the presentation.  Little things often make the biggest difference.

Follow these rules and you’ll not only get your point across – you’ll make it stick.  Best of luck to you, and let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Many prominent figures have emerged within the quality field, but some have stood out as key figures of quality.  Most have passed away, but their memory still lives on in the ideas, concepts, and methods that permeate our quality thinking today.  In no particular order, they are:

• Dr. Walter Shewhart developed the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle (known as “Plan-Do-Study-Act” in some circles, as well as theories of process control and the Shewart transformation process.
• Dr. W. Edwards Deming developed his complete philosophy of management, which he encapsulated into his “fourteen points” and the “seven deadly diseases of management”.  He advanced the state of quality, originally based on work done by Shewhart with his explanations of variation, use of control charts, and his theories on knowledge, psychology and variation.  Deming greatly helped to focus the responsibility of quality on management and popularized the PDCA cycle, which led to it being referred to as the “Deming Cycle”.
• Dr. Joseph M. Juran developed the quality trilogy – quality planning, quality improvement, and quality control.  Quality management plans quality improvements that raise the level of performance, which then must be controlled or sustained at that level in order to start the cycle again.
• Armand V. Feigenbaum developed the idea of total quality control based on three steps to quality consisting of quality leadership, modern quality technology, and an organizational commitment to quality.
• Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa developed the Ishikawa diagram and was known for popularizing the seven basic tools of quality and the philosophy of total quality.
• Dr. Genichi Taguchi developed the “Taguchi methodology” of robust design, also known as “designing in quality”, which focused on making the design less sensitive to variation in the manufacturing process instead of trying to control manufacturing variation.
• Shigeo Shingo developed lean concepts such as Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) or reduced set-up times instead of increased batch sizes as well as Poka-Yoke (mistake proofing) to eliminate obvious opportunities for mistakes.  He also worked with Taiichi Ohno to refine Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing into an integrated manufacturing strategy, which is widely used to define the lean manufacturing used in the Toyota production system (TPS).
• Philip B. Crosby developed the idea of “quality is free” which asserts that implementing quality improvement pays for itself through the savings from the improvement, increased revenue from greater customer satisfaction, and the improved competitive advantage that results. His popularized “zero defects” to define the goal of a quality program as the elimination of all defects and not the reduction of defects to an acceptable quality level.
• Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt developed the Theory of Constraints which focuses on a single element in a process chain as having the greatest leverage for improvement (i.e., “1% can have a 99% impact”). This compares to the Pareto principle which states that 20% of the factors have an 80% effect on the process.
• Taiichi Ohno developed the seven wastes (muda), which are used in lean to describe non-value-added activity. He developed various manufacturing improvements with Shigeo Shingo that evolved into the Toyota Production System.

Top Ten Quality Gurus

1. Dr. Walter Shewhart
2. Dr. W. Edwards Deming
3. Dr. Joseph M. Juran
4. Armand V. Feigenbaum
5. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa
6. Dr. Genichi Taguchi
7. Shigeo Shingo
8. Philip B. Crosby
9. Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt
10. Taiichi Ohno

There are seven common Quality Tools you can use to understand and improve processes during a process improvement event.   Each tool helps you identify sources of variation and aids in the analysis, documentation, and organization of the information, which leads to process improvement. 

1. Flowcharts, or Process Maps, visually represent relationships among the activities and tasks that make up a process.   They are typically used at the beginning of a process improvement event; you describe process events, timing, and frequencies at the highest level and work downward.  At high levels, process maps help you understand process complexity.  At lower levels, they help you analyze and improve the process.
2. Ishikawa, Fishbone, or Cause & Effect Diagrams visually represent the causes of a problem – or effect – and help you determine the ultimate source of the problem — the root cause.  (This tool is called a “fishbone” diagram because of its appearance; Ishikawa was its inventor.)   The cause-and-effect diagram is used at the beginning of root cause analysis, to organize the causes of a problem (people, methods, equipment, materials, measurement, and environment) and prioritize them.
3. Data Checklists, check sheets, or recording tables are matrices designed to assist in the tallying, recording, and analysis of test results or event occurrences.  They are utilized in production to count defects and collect process data, which you analyze to identify opportunities for improvement.
4. The Pareto chart is named after Vilfredo Pareto, who came up with the Pareto Principle (or the “80/20 rule”), which says that 20% of the factors account for 80% of potential problems.  The Pareto chart ranks defects, causes, or data from the most significant to the least significant, in descending order.  Pareto charts help you separate the “vital few” from the “trivial many”.  They are typically used during process improvement analysis, to understand where to focus improvement for the greatest impact.
5. Histograms consist of vertical bars, side-by-side, that depict frequency distributions within tables of numbers and can help you understand data relationships over time (e.g., the familiar “bell curve”).  Histograms are generally used during process improvement analysis.
6. Scatter charts display relationships between dependent (predicted) and independent (prediction) variables.  They are used during hypothesis testing, to determine if there is a correlation between two variables and how strong the correlation is.  Less scattering indicates stronger correlation.
7. The control chart is a type of statistical process control tool.  Process performance is plotted over time against upper and lower control limits; this helps you readily identify process variations and enables determination of special cause and common cause variation.  Control charts are used during production, or after process improvement implementations, to ensure that processes are within control limits, or “in control”.

To achieve the best results, start by (1) drawing up a process map, so you understand the process flow.  Next, (2) analyze the process flows for the primary causes of problems and develop your cause-effect diagram.  Then, (3) collect data using check sheets and (4) plot your data using a Pareto chart and/or (5) a histogram.  Next, (6) determine the relationship of various variables in your cause-effect chain using a scatter chart.  Once you have solved your problem, (7) use a control chart to ensure that the process is staying within process control limits — demonstrate process control.

The Seven Quality Tools

To summarize, using these seven quality tools:

1. Flowcharts or Process Maps;
2. Ishikawa, Fishbone, or Cause & Effect Diagrams;
3. Data Checklists, check sheets, or recording tables;
4. Pareto Charts;
5. Histograms;
6. Scatter plots; and
7. Control Charts (SPC)…

…especially in combination, will help you improve your processes and achieve your objectives.

Process improvement is occurring at many organizations throughout the world.  Yet people constantly ask about how to get started.  How do you get your organization moving in a direction of continuous improvement?

First off, you have to have Management Commitment.  The obvious question, then, is how does top management show commitment to change and improvement? The answer is about inspirational leadership, it is about communication.  To be an inspirational leader, one needs to be a great communicator.  Management commitment takes both leadership and communication.

Second, it takes SMART Objectives.  Planning by management must result in clearly defined objectives that the organization can work towards.

Third, in order to achieve the SMART objectives, the organization will require operational Action Plans with accountability and responsibility for each action.  This means the Who-What-When is spelled out for proper execution.

Fourth, you will need a User Focus.  Defined customer requirements, an understanding of the voice-of-the-customer — your customer, and a method of constantly integrating your customer’s requirements into your processes.

Fifth, there has to be Profound Knowledge, which results in your ability to anticipate results.  Really understanding your customer, your markets, and your processes lead you to anticipating what your customer needs next.  How do you reach this state?

Sixth, you will need to learn and implement Management By Fact, which will lead you to profound knowledge.  Collect the facts from data, use the data to derive information, and obtain knowledge about your customers, markets and processes.

Seventh, in order to manage by fact, you will need the facts in the form of Real-Time Data.  Your processes will require increased visibility and transparency.  Real time data is needed to build a strong competitive advantage.  The longer the delay in getting data, the slower your reaction time is and the less competitive you become.

Eighth, with so much going on you will need a good Change Management System that can document and control all of these changes.  This will build on your system of management by fact and lead you to greater profound knowledge.

Ninth, Execution Audits, internal audits or process audits.  Either way you will require a system of monitoring to ensure that the system is working, that your change management system is effective, and that you are in fact achieving progress towards your SMART objectives.

Tenth, still unsure of where to start?  Then Continuous Learning is needed to build your knowledge management.  No improvement will take place unless knowledge is identified, acquired, shared, and used.  Training, learning and practice are crucial to build competence.

What are these Performance Improvement Drivers?

1. Management Commitment (Leadership & Communication)
2. SMART Objectives (Goals)
3. Action Plans (Accountability, Who-What-When)
4. User Focus (Customer, Employee, Supplier)
5. Profound Knowledge (Anticipates Results)
6. Management By Fact (Data, Information Knowledge))
7. Real-Time Data (Visibility)
8. Change Management System (Documentation & Control)
9. Execution Audits (Monitoring)
10. Continuous Learning (Improvement)

Many metrics exists to focus an organization on important organizational objectives and drive the company forward.  Key organizational metrics are more controversial.  Many organizations will focus on revenue, profit, and growth as “Key” measures of success.  Yet, all three are lagging indicators and will not tell you the whole story about your organizations prospects.

Revenue does not say anything about your foundation.  Revenue can rise due to asset sales, unprofitable discounts, or realizing future revenue today.   Profitable revenue is more important yet profit is an accounting number filled with depreciation, amortization, absorption rules and tax effects.  Growth sounds great but can hide failing products, while horizontal growth can spread the organization too thin.

So what is an organization to do?  Produce a balance of leading and lagging indicators for your success.  leading indicators represent metrics that forecast a high probability of future success.  For example, the relationship you have with your customers can say a lot about your future sales, you competitive advantage, and your prospects for future growth.

Below are Ten Leading Indicators of Organizational Success

1. Communication Effectiveness – Did your employees understand, not just hear, your latest communication message?  Sure you said it in your last meeting, newsletter, memo, or web page, but does anybody understand it.  How would you know?  Did you use a test, quiz, or did someone repeat it back in different words?  Do you have a measure for the effectiveness of your communications?
2. Customer Relationships – We are not talking about customer satisfaction.  Often times a customer may be satisfied but what is your relationship index with them?  Relationships are two-way streets.  How do you feel about them?  Do they pay on time, generate enough revenue, and are they easy to work with?  Focusing on customer satisfaction alone could lead to unprofitable customers.  Sure the customer is always right but are they the right customer for you?  Do you have a measure for customer relationships?
3. Employee Satisfaction - Happier employees will lead to happier customers.  Do you have an employee satisfaction index that measures: absenteeism, complaints, turnover, and surveys?
4. Brand Image - This is about more than recognition, brand image is a leading indicator of success regarding how people feel about your organization.  Use market research and survey your market to determine if your brand image is rising or falling.
5. Distraction- Everybody has a job within your organization but how much time do they spend on what they were hired to do?  Do you have a measure for administrative tasks, quality improvement, and other management assignments?  In lean we try to eliminate this waste.  How much time is spent on those tasks management asked you to do but are not part of your job description?
6. Trust- Do people believe in your organization/leaders?  You could call this the “foot-dragging” index.  If people do not believe in their management then they will erect barriers that will slowdown the implementation of any management program or initiative and customers will stall and stop buying.  Do you have a measure for determining your organizations level of honesty and integrity both inside and outside of your organization?
7. Customer Frustration – Don’t you want your customers to have a consistent and beneficial experience with your organization?  So how do you seek out, count and measure the aggravations, frustrations and negative surprises that your customers experience as they do business with you? I know that most companies do not measure this because every major corporation has a phone tree you must navigate to talk to them, and then you are put on hold, only to talk to the person that cannot help you.  Frustrated customers will eventually abandon your organization in search of a more pleasant vendor experience.  Are you measuring customer frustrations?
8. Supplier Relationships - Just like customer relationships, supplier relationships must be measured too.  How easy is the supplier to do business with? Are they responsive to your needs? Is their quality more than sufficient?  Suppliers provide inputs that are, in some way, passed on to your customers.  Garbage in equals garbage out so how do you measure your supplier relationships?
9. Project Management - Every organization has projects, either for clients or for internal customers.  The better your organization is as delivering on project objectives, the more effective and efficient it will be.  How do you measure a project’s budget and cost performance, schedule completion, quality and even innovation?
10. Employee Competence - This is more than just training hours, it is about actually learning something useful to your job.  To do this right is difficult.  You might develop a competency matrix defining the required skills versus the required skill level.  Then measure everyone’s current skill as a percentage.  The gaps indicate the training required to move the organization toward higher competence.  Are you measuring competence?

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