I'm hungry to learn about how businesses operate, and have been lucky that in each step of my career I've been able to soak up business processes across a number of industries. I always ask myself, "what would I do differently if this was my business?"
One constant observed is that business processes can always be improved.
Processes often do not make sense. Complete head scratchers. Employees of a business are closer to the action than management, thus employees see these nonsensical acts when management is unaware.
But employees do not speak up - not feeling as though their ideas are valued by management and not feeling invested in the success of the business the largest two reasons.
Luckily for managers, these two major pitfalls to process improvement can be avoided with one simple fix - allow your employees 30-60 minutes per week for idea creation. What are we doing that does not make sense and how would you fix it?
Employee empowerment will go a long way in the long-term capabilities and growth of your business. While the competition is fat and happy, your team will thrive with new ways to incorporate tomorrow's technology in to practice.
And for us employees, it's ever-so imperative that we bring new ideas to the table, challenging status quo when we see opportunities to improve a business. Without speaking up about what doesn't sit right in your role, you have no room to be annoyed with the current processes in place. Discuss the issue with your manager/s and bring forward an idea or two to improve the process.
Speak in solutions rather than in problems.
Commentaires