Business Improvement Strategy: Continuous Improvement
An Ongoing Business Improvement Strategy
Continuous improvement is a business development strategy and an ongoing process that seeks to constantly evaluate business performance so further improvements can be developed and implemented.
It is a gradual and never-ending process that should measure the efficiency, effectiveness, and adaptability of a business’s operation.
Benefits of a Continuous Improvement Strategy
Unsurprisingly the key benefit is continuous improvement. Additional benefits include:
- Streamlining workflows;
- Saving time;
- Saving money;
- Optimizing resource distribution; and,
- A competitive edge.
Kaizen: Improvement Method Process
Kaizen is a Japanese productivity strategy that was first discussed by Masaaki Imai in ‘Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success.’
The word comes from two Japanese words. ‘Kai’ meaning ‘Change’ and ‘Zen’ meaning ‘Good.’
According to Imai, the key features of Kaizen are:
- Feedback and self-reflection;
- Efficiency and waste elimination; and,
- Incremental continuous development.
Building a Continuous Improvement Program With Toyota Kata
Our partners at Mango Live, creators of Mango Compliance Software, have published a really informative webinar on building a continuous improvement program with Toyota Kata.
Kata: noun – a system of training or a choreographed pattern that is practiced to build expertise.
Toyota Kata provides a framework to build a continuous improvement program. Similar to Kaizen, it does this by focusing only on the next small step, or experiment. These small incremental experiments accelerate your organization’s improvement program while giving it the agility to change direction at each experiment.
Click the button below to watch the webinar.
Business Continuity, Risk Management, and Business Improvement
QSM Group is an expert at working with an organization to understand its business improvement goals, then providing recommendations and developing solutions to implement and help achieve these goals.
Here are some links to other posts we have published on business improvement strategies:
- The Basics of Lean Management
- Environmental Management And Sustainability
- ISO 22301: Business Continuity and Risk Management
Contact us today to see how we can help your organization grow.