A Lean business produces just what is needed - when it is needed and with no additional labour, cost and time.
Over-Optimism is a human trait. When it infests project planning it results in the best-looking projects with positivistic thinking taking over, instead of looking how other similar projects have performed in the past.
Usually, the projects that get the green light are the ones which look the best from a planning perspective, resulting in cost and time overruns over and over again.
When dealing with a complex project that involves a multitude of stakeholders, each one with their own 'secret agenda', strategic misrepresentation may occur.
Deception is often one of the reasons for a major programme to fail in meeting its predefined targets and practically get derailed.
Often, organisations embark onto new, large projects that are 'one-off' and the performance of which have the power to affect the organisation's own existence.
Looking into similar projects' historical performance can assist an organisation in dealing with the challeges of project planning.
Most large projects are expected to run over budget and over time. Often, a distress fund is set up to help with unforeseen difficulties along the way. Such funds are seen as 'red meat' by subcontractors and are usually consumed very quickly, leaving the rest of the project unprotected to other mishaps.
Looking at a reference class can help project planning better assess the probabilities of cost and time overruns and perform quality control and due diligence.
A Lean business produces just what is needed - when it is needed and with no additional labour, cost and time.
Lean is a philosophy, methodology and science rooted in the best manufacturing know-how and can-do spirit of postwar Japan. As a holistic system, Lean is also widely known as the Toyota Production System (TPS) and proper implementation of this system has benefits both in factory operations as well as in service environments.
The Six Sigma approach generates quick, demonstrable results linked to a no-nonsense, ambitious goal : To reduce defects ( and the cost they entail) to near zero by a target date. Six Sigma also:
Average and Variability
Most of the issues are not addressed only by averages. Trouble is, averages can hide lots of problems. With the way that most processes operate today, if we promise customers to deliver packages within two working days of getting their order, and your average delivery time is two days, many of the packages will be delivered in more than two days. If you want all packages to be delivered in two days or less, you will have to dramatically eliminate problems and variations in your process.
A Six Sigma approach first improves the mean, then the variability. This pattern repeats as a process of continuous improvement.
What are the challenges in your laboratory environment today? Does it need a more streamlined end-to-end flow of material, expectations and communications?
Identify batching, waiting, inventory gathering, review and testing in the process. Reduce wait times, create flow in process, with everyone involved knowing the process end-to-end.
Recognise how customer expectations are aligned to the internal work process. Does everyone in the production line understand the requirements? Clear customer expectations that are understood by all will eliminate "silo" mentalities and promote cooperation - leading to faster throughput and a reduction in defects.
Leadership in the organisation and succession are important in making sure that the right leader profile is emerging based on the needs of project delivery.
The correct mix between task-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviours need to be set and preserved.
Across organisations, employee engagement is crucial, especially when critical projects are to be delivered within budget and on time. Learning from company champions within a complex organisation is an important part of making sure organisational knowledge is preserved.
Employee discretion brings learning to a new level where tacit skills are passed from one generation of employees to the next.
The increasing adherence of organisations to regulations and best practices give rise to 'fine tuning'. Past successes and acclimatization alter decision-makers' beliefs about probabilities of future success. Engineers and managers pursue partially inconsistent goals, while trying to learn from their experiences.
An Organisational Culture within the Reflective Practitioner framework where continous learning is combined with a critical view of processes and practices is what is required for the organisation to survive a rapidly changing environment.
Performing Benchmarking and Quality Control across silos, business units and projects of strong interdependence is often addressed by ad hoc metrics that have been developed in circumstances other than the current state of the organisation.
Relevant statistical metrics are often taken out of context and within completely different classes of industry. There is cost to achieving quality, effective, synchronised teamwork, and continuous improvement. However, there is an unforeseably high cost not to have quality control in place.
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