Are you familiar with the ancient Japanese philosophy of ‘Kaizen’?
Kaizen is the principle of continuous improvement that can make a huge difference to the efficiency of any company and is saving some of the world’s most powerful companies millions of dollars a year. Sound good? Here are ways you can embrace Kaizen to improve your business.
- What’s your waste? - This isn’t just about what’s ending up in the rubbish. It’s also unnecessary movement, overproduction of stock, waste due to mistakes, and time spent waiting. Examine whether the waste is avoidable or could be made more efficient. In my bookkeeping practice, I often drive out to see clients, even though I could do the work from home. Some may consider this a waste of time. I don’t. I love to work at my clients’ business as it is nice to get out of the office and provides me with a deeper connection with them.
- Get organised! - Create a standardised work week so the same things are happening on the same day or time. Organise your equipment so everything has a home, and everyone knows where it is. I lag on my emails. I am working on looking at/actioning them 2 times a day – first thing in the morning and in the middle of the day. Some things need to wait, but at least I can answer the clients saying when I think it will be ready.
- Create visual systems - Get everything out of your head and onto a board –the goals and priorities, how you’re tracking, and who’s responsible. It helps with communication and eases the pressure on you because you now don’t need to be there to answer all the questions.
- Non-utilised resources - Listen to your team; their ideas and even their hidden talents could be put to good use. You don’t have to do everything. Find out what they can take off your to-do list. Get them to come up with the ideas – they will take more ownership on them.
You don’t have to spend millions on flash solutions
Simply get down to basics, understand the root cause of the problem, and put systems in place. Continuous improvement is about making your life easier, less frustrating, and gaining more time to be an efficient, effective business owner.
Need some inspiration? Book a complimentary chat with us using by clicking here.
This post was originally written by BOMA and has been updated to make it more personal.
