There is a continuum with the way in which management systems can be implemented.
At one end, you would have an entirely “tick box” approach. The focus is to get “the badge on the wall” as quickly as possible and as cheaply as possible, and in doing so not much time and attention is actually focused on using the system to develop the business in any way. As might be imagined, companies adopting this approach are unlikely to add much value to their business from this approach.
At the other end of the continuum, there are those that want to use these systems, and all of their associated thinking, tools and techniques in order to drive real and quantifiable continual improvement. The laudable objective being to create a culture of creative destruction where, as soon as a process or procedure is found to be stagnant, or deficient, or someone finds a better way of doing things, that the issue is used as a lever to drive change.
The thinking (the important bit) and the associated tools and techniques might include:
- Flowcharts
- 5 why’s
- 8D
- Check sheets
- Histograms
- Pareto analysis
- Fishbone diagrams
- Scatter diagrams
- Control Charts
- (The most valuable yet underused part of management’s armoury)
To sum up, the more you put in, the more you get out!
Start simple and build gradually over time as your organisation develops, but develop the system with improvement in mind.
Solution & resources
- Take time to understand how to link the standards requirements to improving the performance of your organisation.
- Statius briefing papers.
- Particularly our Process Improvement Handbook.
- Numerous Statius blogs.
