Understand What Flows Through Your Business to Find Improvement

I remember once seeing a cartoon which showed two people working a counter. On the wall behind them was a sign which read, "Quality Work, Low Price, Fast Service ? Pick Two." In order to deliver all three, which is what customers expect, it's important to understand the flows of your organization.

The first flow is, of course, cash flow. This comes in two varieties, money coming into the organization, revenue, and money going out, expenses. Understanding cash flow is not as easy as it appears. Throughput accounting and Lean accounting are two methods some companies are using to try and get a better understanding of how cash flows through a business.

The second flow is the product or service flow. This starts with how the product or service is designed. The next step is how the product is built or the service delivered. How is the product or service used? Finally, what happens when the customer is done is the product discarded, recycled, or consumed.

How does information flow through the organization? How does it come into the company and how does it leave? How is it used in the organization, does it follow the work or pull the work forward? What types of feedback is received?

How does material flow in the company? If a product is built, how are the raw materials or parts brought to the point of assembly. For a service, how do the necessary information, materials, and people get to where they are needed?

How does the movement of the workers flow? Is the motion smooth or does it start and stop like rush hour traffic? Are there any wasted motions, like retrieving a paper file from a cabinet in another room or walking over to get a tool which is required for product assembly? Why is the tool at the point where it is needed? Why is the file located in a cabinet in another area?

Creative flow is important to understand. Creative energy, like any other kind of energy, can be harnessed and managed. Does a research and development department create everything and the rest of the people just do what they're told? Or are all employees thinking about innovation, how to reduce costs, looking at safety issues, reducing wastes, and improving the environment. Are people developing skills to identify, articulate and communicate those kinds of things?

The final flow is time. Time is, of course, a factor in all the other flows. Since we can't change time, rather than looking at how time flows; we need to see how the organization flows through time. How long does it take to accomplish things? Can the time be reduced? By reducing the time it takes to do our work, we reduce or eliminate the wasted things we do. Eliminating wasted brings us closer and closer to excellence.

By observing the flows in our work, we can see where things run smoothly like a tranquil river. Bottlenecks in the workflow create turmoil, much like the rapids in a river.

"Oh, this ol' river keeps on rollin', though,
No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow,
And as long as it does I'll just sit here
And watch the river flow."
- Bob Dylan (Watching The River Flow © 1971 by Big Sky Music)

Any process, any product, any service can be made better in some way, somehow. So observe and understand the flows of your organization, it will lead to improvement opportunities.

Copyright © 2005 Chuck Yorke - All Rights Reserved

Chuck Yorke is an organizational development and performance improvement specialist, trainer, consultant and speaker. He is co-author of "All You Gotta Do Is Ask," a book which explains how to promote large numbers of ideas from employees. Chuck may be reached at ChuckYorke@yahoo.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Burger on a Bun Decision Making

When approaching any decision, it's important for individuals to maintain... Read More

Leadership Style: What Makes A Good Boss?

In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss... Read More

Five Strategies for Profitable Services Growth

In today's era of Professional and IT Services competition and... Read More

CEOs Are Great, Top CEOs Are Greater

People in leading positions are often in a dilemma: on... Read More

Learn About Commercial Collections Agencies Fees

As with any other service, there are good and bad... Read More

Making Your Workers Your Partners

There is an inherent conflict between owners and managers of... Read More

Group Discussion Guidelines

DISCUSSION METHODS: There are two basic types of discussion methods;... Read More

New Job, New Culture: Do You Fit In?

It seemed like a good decision at the time. A... Read More

Culture Management and Creativity

Many concepts in the fields of managing creativity are very... Read More

The Email Trap

If you sit at a computer for most of the... Read More

Credibility - A Golden Key to Becoming More Influential

You have been named a new leader in your organization,... Read More

Productivity Through Positive Reinforcement

Most people just want to be appreciated. If you're a... Read More

Selecting A Collection Agency

If you run a business, you are sure to have... Read More

Executive Humor at Meetings

I don't encourage managers to wear funny hats, appear in... Read More

Regaining Control - Nine Steps for New Managers

My client had faced the same challenge, which was frustrating... Read More

Accountability Equals Meeting Success

Leslie was the new manager of the group. She was... Read More

Performance Expectations - 5 Tips and 5 Questions

People want to understand their role - they want to... Read More

Hows Your Company RQ (Reputation Quotient)?

In light of recent corporate scandals, from Enron and Global... Read More

How to use NLP for Business?

What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?Neuro-Linguistic programme is nothing but the study... Read More

Industry Analysis Section of Your business plan

Writing a Business Plan for your next entrepreneurial endeavor is... Read More

Managing Change in the Workplace

Change is exhilarating. Change is terrifying. Change is badly needed... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Organizational Structure of Our Growing Business

This article relates to the organizational structure competency, commonly evaluated... Read More

Managing the Human Resource Project

We obtain strategic results by aligning HR mission, vision and... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

How To Manage A Difficult Employee

Having to manage a difficult employee is never fun and... Read More

Allan Kempert Discovers That Truly All You Gotta Do Is Ask

A year or so ago, I met Allan Kempert. Allan... Read More

Drafting an Employee Manual Sample Outline

One of the hardest things I had discovered running my... Read More

Pricing Strategy for Retail Flower Shops

When you create your profit and loss statement to assess... Read More

Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business

Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the... Read More

How To Decrease Profits Without Really Trying

Hurting your sales efforts can be accomplished easily with the... Read More

When Business Becomes A Battlefield

"We have to be careful it's like a minefield out... Read More

Maximizing Sales through the Ultimate Tracking Software

Every small to mid-sized business owner would love to know... Read More

Its Not Always What You Say

A major source of communication breakdowns is incongruence between the... Read More