Cutting costs helps the bottom line but weakens future performance. Sustaining operational excellence in a down business cycle requires the better use of each of the four dimensions of operational excellence: people, process, technology, and time. However, for many organizations these four dimensions are out of balance. Creating a balance between them enables a more productive and stress-free work environment.
Traditional approaches to operational excellence tend to be one dimensional. For example, an organization with a primary focus on implementing technology solutions, may not sufficiently invest in people and processes. Too much focus on technology may provide a cost effective service to customers, but one that is inflexible and difficult to adjust to changing market conditions. However an office focused primarily on leveraging its people may provide its customers a highly satisfying experience, but that experience may be too costly to maintain.
Considering all four dimensions of operational excellence helps maintain equilibrium between existing people, process, technology, and time resources. Each dimension offers a different perspective that can be used to manage each individual resource as well as the interactions between all four resources.
- People – role definitions, responsibility transfers, service level agreements
- Process – work instructions, decision points, value added steps
- Technology – role-based inputs & outputs, information milestones
- Time – flow, priorities, work-in-process, outcomes, change
Well defined responsibility transfers make it easier to identify value added and non-value added work steps; reducing costs. Succinct value added process steps describe exactly what information is needed when; reducing lead times. Concise knowledge of role-based inputs and outputs better defines responsibility transfers; reducing rework. Pro-actively managing change through result-based outcomes sustains operational excellence; reducing workplace stress.
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