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Clear Work Instructions, an Eight Point Plan

20 June, 2011 by James Lawther 2 Comments

When writing work instructions, you get points for clarity, not style.  Instead of waxing lyrical about the customer journey and decisive moments, just make your point.  Here are eight ways to do that: Use a clear heading to explain the task If you can’t explain the task succinctly what chance do people following the instructions […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: best practice, clarity, communication, error proofing, process control, service design, work instructions

Angry Birds and Process Control

1 June, 2011 by James Lawther 2 Comments

Angry Bird

Alaska Airlines has made an interesting step in process control.  (For all of you rolling your eyeballs at the thought of process control you should remember that aeroplanes that are out of control are generally a bad thing.) They have replaced the 11 kilos of paper flight manuals that pilots are required to carry when […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: Apple, aviation, capability, complexity, error proofing, innovation, process control

Error Proofing Suicide

23 May, 2011 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Here is a process improvement idea; you should make it easy for people to get something right and difficult for them to get it wrong.   Classic examples include flat pack furniture that only fits together one way, or the fact that all around the world a red light means stop. The converse principle also exists, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: best practice, capability, continuous improvement, customer focus, error proofing, innovation, process control

All You Will Ever Need to Know About Analysis

7 May, 2011 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Improving performance isn’t very difficult, it is just about fixing things that don’t work too well.  The problem is trying to work out which bit to fix, what is important, where will you get the most bang for your buck.   It is easy to fall into a world of analysis paralysis, pain and despair. You […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: continuous improvement, data presentation, fast food, measurement, monitoring, process control, service improvement

What did Tony Blair do for Customer Service?

11 April, 2011 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Control versus empowerment: Option 1.  Rule with an iron fist, don’t allow employees to show any initiative, make sure they do what the centre says they must do, be inflexible, remove yourself from the action. Option 2.  Empower people, let them do whatever they think is the right thing, let processes and standards diverge, all […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: compliance, empowerment, process control, video

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