Applying This Stuff to Your Business

Every business, regardless of the size, has processes that can be improved. If you are a small business owner or operations manager then you have to agree that there is always room for improvement. As an example, let's go back to that doughnut shop in that great location on Main Street. For reasons you just can't seem to figure out, you're just not making the profits you expected even though business is good.

First of all, begin by reviewing your monthly profit and loss statements. How bad is the actual picture? Can you identify times that are worse than others? Here are some steps that small businesses like yours can take to improve their current situation.

  • Begin by charting the slow periods your business experiences. This will allow you to adjust your staffing levels to fit the busier and less busy times of business.
  • Look at your leases, credit cards, loans, and other expenses that could be negotiated for better rates.
  • Find less expensive suppliers (get some tips from the section onSupply Chains).
  • Add menu items that might increase the total sale per customer.
  • Break down the costs of each menu item to make sure you're charging the right amount.
  • Make sure you aren't experiencing fraud by your employees. Initiate some control measures such as counting cups or other necessary items before each shift so that you know if products are being given away rather than sold.

Keeping track of progress
If a picture is worth a thousand words then charting the progress of your process improvements will bring about quicker understanding of the overall picture. Not only are they more interesting to look at, they also tend to be easier to understand and have more accurate representations than a verbal description of your efforts. With that said, let's go over some guidelines for making your charts say what you (and everyone else) needs to know.

  • Get input from everyone involved about the types of information to be collected and how it should be displayed.
  • Set schedules for updating charts and make sure someone is responsible for the necessary data being available on-time. (Daily, weekly, bi-weekly updates are useful for many areas.)
  • Determine the exact purpose of each chart.
  • Determine the most logical units of measure (This will require more consideration than you may think.)
  • Set up a standard format and look so that issues like "time" are always measured the same way.
  • Include your target or goal.
  • Include space for special information and notations beneath or beside the chart.
  • Include references to the yearly, monthly or weekly averages (or, year-to-date information.)
  • Include current best performance information and record best performance information.
  • Include photographs wherever possible to reinforce the message the chart is relaying.

Illustrating your progress for workers
Consider using the Japanese method of visual motivation (VM) to reinforce to workers the success and progress of their efforts. This can be as simple as setting up before and after charts that graphically illustrate how the process has been improved and perhaps even the savings that relate back to it. Position these around the work area near the process to which it relates.

Post the progress charts we talked about above as well so employees can see the benefit that is coming out of the changes they are participating in.