In this article I would like to show that continuous improvement and development of the company is the responsibility of all employees and therefore as many people as possible from the different departments should be involved. This is about both the improvement of the products and services offered and also the improvement of the internal processes to produce them or make them accessible to the customers. I will present a new methodof how this task can actually be transferred to a larger diversified team of employees without much additional effort and how ideas and feedback from customers or partners can also be integrated at the same time.
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Different perspectives are important for continuous improvement
The development and improvement of products and services in your company is the task of all employees. More ears hear more and more eyes see more. Every team has a different perspective on the same thing and is particularly familiar with a certain part of it. This perspective is shaped by training, function but also by personal experience and knowledge. If we really want to improve a product or its production as a whole, we have to use all these perspectives and get an overall view before we plan improvements. Otherwise, it can happen that we solve the problem of one department but, objectively speaking, simply shift it to another department.
If we collect feedback from customers primarily through sales, the picture is very different than if we also include feedback from execution/project management or service/after-sales. Because each person asks different questions, has different ideas and a different focus.
Different perspectives and ideas make the picture more complete and in the end the result better. If we want to use more perspectives, it also means that we need to involve more people in the process. However, this is only possible if the additional effort for the people is almost negligible.
Needfinding method, how to involve employees easily
In exchange with various SMEs, evores has developed a method which fulfils these requirements and makes it possible to involve a larger number of people in the process: The method is called evores drybag. The method is called evores drybag and is named after the drybag or pack sack in which one packs all important items outside to protect them from the weather and to have them ready to hand at all times.
evores drybag is a combination of online tool and advisory services.
Mit dem Online-Tool können Sie Ideen, Feedback und Erkenntnisse innerhalb und außerhalb des Unternehmens von Kunden und Partnern einfach und mit minimalem Aufwand sammeln. So gerät keine Idee mehr in Vergessenheit, auch wenn Sie im Moment keine Zeit dafür haben. So geht keine Idee mehr vergessen, auch wenn Sie im Moment keine Zeit dafür haben.
At the beginning, the selected employees are trained to gather insights and ask the right questions. Asking targeted and good questions improves the value of the feedback enormously. After that, they can start observing immediately. These insights are then collected regularly and systematically during normal work. The additional effort for this is practically negligible. This process is called needfindingin technical language and it is about observing and understanding.
The ideas and findings are processed together in a structured manner at regular intervals in workshops. In the process, we get an overview of the feedback and find the common causes behind it. According to the design thinking method, it is about observing first and understanding the problem and the causes behind it. core/paragraph evores supports you in organising and facilitating the workshops and advises you on how to structure and evaluate the findings and make appropriate changes where necessary.
The results of continuous improvement
You decide which projects and changes you want to implement based on the feedback. From experience, it is often enough to recognise the connection between different problems in order to then decisively improve the situation with small interventions. Certain findings can be implemented very easily, while other indications need to be understood in more detail. Some findings may even require projects of their own to be implemented. In any case, we have a good and always up-to-date overview of the whole situation and can decide in which direction and to what extent improvements should be tackled. evores also accompanies you during the implementation. The goal is to collect great ideas, refine them, test them and quickly bring them to market.
This somewhat more democratic approach to corporate development does not mean that specialized teams for product innovation or organizational development are no longer needed. Especially when it comes to structuring and implementing feedback, these teams again become very important, in case you already have them in your company. Because it is important that someone feels responsible for the implementation and can also spend the necessary time to accompany the projects. If you don’t have these teams available, evores can also take over this task for you.
The results from the workshops are very different and depend on the type of feedback they collect. You can use the method either to improve your offer or rather to improve internal processes. Possible products are
- Understand overview of new developments in the market and needs of customers
- Tangible ideas on how to improve existing offerings through feedback from customers
- Identify ideas for new offerings, refine them, test them and bring them to market
- Identify problems in internal processes based on feedback from employees and find causes for them
- Collect and implement ideas for improvements to internal processes
Continuous improvement increases employee satisfaction
From experience, this involvement of employees contributes a lot to satisfaction. Valuable employees have good ideas at work every day or they think about obstacles and problems. These ideas and insights are often placed in appropriate or inappropriate places in the company. And it is very frustrating in the long run, if such input is not taken up and the same problems have to be solved again and again. If, on the other hand, the feedback is taken up and contributes in some way to the improvement of the company, this gives enormous motivation and satisfaction to continue thinking about improvement.
If this method is interesting for your company, please contact me. Please leave a comment here or on the LinkedIn page about how this task is organised in your company and what experience you have with it. I look forward to the exchange.
Use evores drybag to continuously develop your offer and improve internal processes!!! If you are interested in what engineers and scientists can learn from Design Thinking Method, then you will be interested in this article.
Interesting information
For more information on evores drybag, on using the method to improve products and services or to develop internal processes
Good introduction into Design Thinking: https://innovators-guide.ch/2013/02/design-thinking-2/
Interesting article on diverse teams in design thinking:https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-thinking-select-the-right-team-members-and-start-facilitating
Informationen on the methods: Lehmann, C. (2018). Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Transformation in Water Industry. Zürich.
Good Book on Design Thinking: Lewrick, M., Link, P., Leifer, L., & Langensand, N. (2017). Das Design Thinking Playbook : mit traditionellen, aktuellen und zukünftigen Erfolgsfaktoren. Das Design-Thinking-Playbook (2nd Edition). München: Verlag Franz Vahlen.
On the author
Claudio Lehmann is founder and consultant at evores. As an engineer and management consultant, he is fully committed to making the existing potential in companies visible and utilising it. Long-term sustainability starts with motivated employees and goes through efficient collaboration to the innovative strategy of companies that bring value to society. People. Planet. Profit.
Get in contact with me!
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