Good news spreads quickly
News of the invention of the wheel must have traveled in every direction as quickly as horse or camel could run. Those who learned of its advantages over the litter and the sledge adopted it right away. And no sooner was it adopted than it began to be adapted: made lighter, stronger, faster. Wheels were soon attached to axles, then to axles with pivots.
The idea catches on
Then transportation lost its monopoly on the new technology, and wheels helped to make pottery, lift buckets out of wells, steer ships, grind grain, keep time. Even now, the process of adopting and adapting the wheel continues as new uses are modified, improved, and applied in ingenious ways. The observation is certainly true: "Without the wheel, today's civilization would be impossible." [1]
No wheel, little progress
Meanwhile for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, in islands of the South Pacific, the Americas, and other isolated places, cultures existed without any knowledge of the wheel. Their technology lagged behind because they still faced that first, high hurdle. Human beings have always been better modifiers than inventors. Why reinvent the wheel when someone has already done the hard work?
Best practices needed
Like civilization, your company is on a journey; yours is one of continuous quality improvement. It is "a journey with a definite a beginning but no end, and every one of your employees is a co-traveler. The extent of your progress depends on how well you live your core values values: like company family, commitment to quality, customer focus, embracing technology, integrity and respect, and teamwork. These values overlap, merge, and blend into one another when it comes to the sharing, evaluating, and implementing of best practices.
Definition is important
What are best practices? Unless we have a clear idea of what they look like, we won't recognize them when we see them. According to the American Productivity and Quality Centre, best practices are "those practices that have been shown to produce superior results; selected by a systematic process; and judged as exemplary, good, or successfully demonstrated." [2]
Of course, this definition still leaves quite a bit of room for differences of opinion about what is "best" and what is not. According to C. Ashton in Managing Best Practices, "best" is always contextual, or situation-specific." [3] A more sophisticated, multilevel approach to defining best practices comes from Chevron: [4]
For more than the past decade, businesses across the country and around the world have been developing, identifying, implementing, and adapting best practices as one means of achieving the excellence of efficiency and superior customer service that would set them apart from their competitors. No doubt your company is engaged in the same quest.
Process of best practices transfer
A recent study identified six steps involved in the transfer of best practices:" [5]
This step involves finding best-in-class solutions from a variety of sources, both internal and external to your company. Your company's SOPs constitute a tremendous resource (hopefully available on your intranet) available to and from employees in all of your sites and regions. Success stories contained in newsletters and award presentations are another internal source. Good sources for external searches can involve newsletters and journals, business contacts, trade shows and workshops, new hires, "boomerang" employees." [6] and outsourcing contacts." [7] If you start looking for best practices, your search will certainly pay off." [8]
This is a critical but essential step, though it is heavily dependent on the specific situation and people involved. On the one hand is the tendency to assume "the way we've always done it is the best." On the other hand is the equally questionable assumption, "it must be better because it's new." [9]
Measurements help to eliminate this kind of subjectivity. Does the department already engaged in the practice have higher productivity, less downtime, more rapid customer response, or fewer reworks than the same department at another site that has not adopted it? The evidence should be compelling that the payback of the change will be much greater than its costs. And once a practice is validated as "best" it needs to be publicized. This will encourage others not only to adopt it, but to come forward with best practices of their own.
The practice has to be documented (usually in an SOP), and usually someone already engaged in the practice should be involved in training others. During the implementation step, team members should be looking to adapt the practice to local needs and varying circumstances, as well as analyzing opportunities for improvements.
A note of caution: Although "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," copying someone else's success does not always work. As David Bracken, director of Mercer Delta Consulting, put it, "I have always been skeptical about taking tools designed in one setting and using them in another organization ... more often than not attempts at 'copying' are doomed to failure." [10]
Not only might the copied practice suffer from "copy-of-a-copy" degradation, but the people on whom the practice is imposed might very well lack the motivation of the group that developed and implemented the practice in the first place.
Once a best practice has been plugged in, it should be reviewed from time to time. All processes-even the best ones-grow stale over time, and what is "best" now may not remain "best" for long. As one study noted, "'best' is a moving target in today's world." [11]
Making a best practice into a standard practice is what the transfer process is all about. Successful adoption means that a best practice has become incorporated into the culture of what it means to do business with your company. What was once above the ceiling now becomes the floor upon which we stand to reach even higher.
Beyond best practices
Identifying, evaluating, adopting or adapting, implementing, reviewing, and routinizing best practices can lead to marked improvements in the way you do business. This strategy can help you to be more efficient, improve your profitability, eliminate mistakes, and most importantly, raise the level of your service to the external customer even higher.
There is a proviso, however. Peter Skarzynski and Peter Williamson of Strategos warn that all of this adopting of best practices can lead to what they call "strategic convergence," a phenomenon in which each competitor within an industry moves its practices and procedures closer and closer to those of its rivals. Their survey of more than 500 CEOs indicates that such convergence is actually taking place in many industries. Its eventual result would be the elimination of virtually everything that distinguishes one competitor from another. [12]
Their solution? Innovation! The company that devotes itself to innovation will always be able to differentiate itself from its competition. They offer ten rules on how to innovate successfully in their article, "Innovation as Revolution." [13]
Another important caveat is that sharing best practices is not the only tool you have to achieve excellence. Of even greater importance are your people. You must continue to hire people with great attitudes and then provide them with the training they need to be experts at their job. Then you need to re-recruit them so that they will stay with the company. This re-recruiting process involves making your company the "employer of choice" by having great managers, a great working environment, and great benefits. [14] The best people-your employees-will drive your best practices, speeding you ahead in your Quality Journey. Your company's search for best practices Your company should be pro-active in its search for best practices. The main points of the program should include:
An ongoing quest
Your search for best practices must be continual, as you strive to strengthen what is weak, make what is good even better, and plug in what is best. You should also seek ways to adapt practices regarded as "best-in-class" to new situations and circumstances. The overall direction of your improvement journey is away from isolation toward interconnectedness, away from the static toward the dynamic, and away from top-down management toward the empowerment of all employees. You should make measurable progress in all three of these aspects; enlisting the cooperation of all employees will ensure that such progress accelerates.
Copyright ©2005 Steve Singleton, All rights reserved.
Notes
Steve Singleton is Communications Coordinator for a financial printing company. His Bible study website is at http://www.DeeperStudy.org.
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
How many times have you heard or uttered this phrase... Read More
DISCUSSION METHODS: There are two basic types of discussion methods;... Read More
How can I make my community of practice truly effective?How... Read More
Q: How much do I have to worry about what... Read More
Most people treat meetings as a free resource that can... Read More
This article relates to the Career Opportunity competency, commonly evaluated... Read More
Late last year I was presenting a workshop for the... Read More
It's easy enough to convince your own staff that better... Read More
As a training manager, there are two important aspects to... Read More
People talk to me about making personal and professional changes... Read More
Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Before you call your next meeting, the FIRST step is... Read More
Stop hiring new administrative support staff. And learn how to... Read More
This article relates to the Coworkers competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More
I once worked in a place where there were three... Read More
Ten or so years ago, an international consultant, specializing in... Read More
Meriwether Lewis set the stage for the Corps of Discovery's... Read More
THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One... Read More
I read a report in the Toronto Star stated that... Read More
Are you one of those bosses that people just love... Read More
Employers have become so concerned about seeming "unfair" or worse... Read More
Re-organizing, re-engineering, re-training, down-sizing, outsourcing, changing-changing-changing. Organizations today think they... Read More
The objective is to beat the competition and make money.... Read More
Following is a brief definition of core competencies and competitive... Read More
Picture all the people you know who are dynamic, successful... Read More
Introduction"High performing HR function affects bottom line nearly 10%"- A... Read More
Often, collaborating documents in a team or in a business... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Supervisor-employee relations are a critical part of a work place... Read More
It was 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and I was... Read More
How Companies Are Like FamiliesLike a family, a company is... Read More
Integrity is very important to me, and I try hard... Read More
How can you get more attention for your conference and... Read More
We have only one life, but we live in three... Read More
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the... Read More
Keeping and Motivating the Best Employees ... Read More
There's a one-word reason most ideas never see the light... Read More
Q: How much do I have to worry about what... Read More
What is the number one way to prevent failure in... Read More
Recently, I attended a webinar with nearly 400 other Chief... Read More
Do you ever wonder why people do not simply do... Read More
Step 1Get the proper level of Six Sigma expertise at... Read More
Positive versus Negative WorkplacesWe have all worked in places where... Read More
In any organisation, progress is frequently impaired by the time... Read More
You're so excited you're practically bouncing off the walls. This... Read More
As an experienced manager, I can announce without a doubt... Read More
Often, collaborating documents in a team or in a business... Read More
There is no sure fire route to commercial success, but... Read More
MSDS SHEETSMSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheets. MSDS sheets... Read More
You've all heard the old joke about a consultant being... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Change is not simple. Why do we repeat behavior that... Read More
In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how... Read More
DISCUSSION METHODS: There are two basic types of discussion methods;... Read More
Media relations can be difficult, but also rewarding. And the... Read More
For small business owners, an enthusiastic vision for smooth, steady... Read More
Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the... Read More
This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More
Any IT manager who wants to pursue the IT Service... Read More
As a business owner, time is of the essence. Running... Read More
Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and,... Read More
Sir Alex Ferguson has just celebrated his 1000 game in... Read More
1. Create benefit intensifiers for your list of ad copy... Read More
This article relates to the Senior/Top Level management of an... Read More
Business Management |