Part two of my "Start. Somewhere.” series of writing. 

How.

Continuing where I left off, I want to go through the how. 

To summarize, if you’re not familiar with the first section, first we thought about why. High level to whys based on mission, vision, or policy, then we made a flowchart, then we looked at where we can improve. 

How is big piece. If you’ve determined you need to improve production capacities on a line, how is going to drive your choices of mechanism. Once we are ready to get into how, we need data. 

From the process map, we should understand things like time to build/process. We know who is doing what and where. Use these inputs to determine if your best path forward is a training program, or a cleaning and organization initiative, or do you need some process revisions at the front line? 

"How"

The means by which you fix problems, ensure your how fits and is a solution.

What you decide here is is critical and may determine your success.  I like to get the simplest items done first, this should get you credibility with personnel. It is of particular importance leadership gains support and provides focus and resource. People can be skeptical, especially if there have been similar initiatives in the past which failed all while wasting time and resources. If I haven’t mentioned before, leadership commitment is maybe the most important piece of this whole idea. 

When you pick your “hows” based on your maps, data, process understanding, make a plan. What is getting addressed and when. For organizations new to change or improvement initiatives, start small and pace the program. Too much too fast will kill you. As we figured out in the why phase, knowing the internal customers will inform how steps. The information should help you understand the best places to try new ideas and who you can push to perform.

Next step, when are you doing this? You spent the time to identify opportunities for improvement and correction, now when will you commit? When is related to how as it will impact credibility of your work. I mentioned too much too fast can be a problem…most of the time, some organizations can handle fast and starting right now. 

On the flip side, waiting will kill you. You need to be into a systems improvement within about 30 days of kickoff to maintain enthusiasm and gain momentum. Waiting too long after undeerstanding where to go can kill the project before it stats.

A closer look at when is also important. When might need to refer to the shift when you stat a thing. It might depend on the status of the process or even the production line. If you require mock-up training or dry-runs, do these ASAP and get into your change plan. 

The biggest piece of when is really about not waiting too long. Plan, make intentional moves to do better.

Finally, we should start. Take the plunge. You should by this time understand where your system weaknesses are and have a plan to take your operation to the next level. 

If you found this post useful, please say so. If you think something like this could help your organization, reach out. My primary goal is helping people. I would love to learn how Start. Somewhere. can make a difference at your workplace.