Category: - Juma Vera (Maitreyi Gautam)

Developing a Lean Culture

8/7/2018

Organizations which follow Lean principles of continuous improvement in their daily workings are called "Lean" organizations. They have a culture of Continuous Improvement that utilizes efficient processes with reduced (ideally zero) waste.

Lean organizations understand the importance of increasing customer value and because of this, focus their effort towards continuously enhancing customer satisfaction. Companies with a Lean culture help their workforce to move in the same desired direction of meeting corporate goals and vision by moving forward in an efficient and organized manner.

Here are three steps that you can take towards developing a Lean organizational culture...

Develop a Continuous Learning Culture- Train your workforce to have the best skills and competencies to do their job. Then inculcate in them the spirit of Continuous Learning, so that your employees are always enhancing themselves with the latest knowledge in their field and bringing back that value to your organization.
Maintain Open & Clear Communication Channels- It is important for your people to know that their voice is heard without any bias or fear of repercussion. Provide clear mechanisms for receiving feedback from your workforce. Communicate any subsequent action-steps that were taken to incorporate suggestions and resolve issues.
Encourage Efficient and Engaged Way of Working- Recognize and reward employees that show active engagement in the organization's vision and growth. Create a workforce culture where suggestions and feedback are welcomed, and efficient ways of working are immediately recognized and commended.

Implementing Lean principles is only the start of an organization's continuous improvement journey. Developing and maintaining a Lean culture is very crucial for sustaining the implemented efficient processes. A Lean workplace culture will encourage your employees to continuously augment customer value with minimal waste/cost, which in turn will increase profits and enhance the organization's bottom-line.

Maitreyi Gautam MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#LeanOrganization #LeanCulture #LeanSixSigma #BusinessExcellence #SandhyaBhat

What is a Lean Organization?

7/20/2018

Lean is a collection of practices, tools and methodologies which help to improve process efficiency by focusing on delivering increased customer value by maximizing efficiency and reducing waste.

Lean principles can be applied to every functional area of an organization. It can be implemented in a bottom-up or a top-down approach. Because of this, Lean principles become a philosophy which pervades across the various divisions and departments by becoming part of an organization's core work-culture.

Organizations which follow these Lean principles of continuous improvement in their daily workings are called "Lean" organizations. Since Lean involves creating an efficient work environment, it is important that the workforce feels empowered and believe their suggestions/ ideas/ opinions will be heard irrespective of their level within the organization. Because of this Lean helps in enhancing Organizational Effectiveness.

Lean organizations understand the importance of increasing customer value and because of this, focus their main processes towards continuously enhancing customer satisfaction.

The final objective of a Lean Organization is to be able to provide maximum benefits and value to their customer by utilizing efficient processes that have reduced (ideally zero) waste.

Maitreyi Gautam MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#LeanOrganization #LeanSixSigma #BusinessExcellence #SandhyaUBhat #ContinuousImprovement

What is Technology Utilization?

7/17/2018

In today's time- when everyone is very conscious of their departmental budgets and want to stretch their dollars for more value, utilizing technology is the best way to see immediate and tangible results.

By not properly utilizing their existing technology, organizations loose tens of millions of dollars a year!

Very often companies pay millions of dollars in license fees, but don't completely utilize the technology they have purchased! At other times, they obtain multiple applications with similar features! This increases their IT Operations costs and they miss opportunities to incorporate automation in their processes by not utilizing (thru unawareness) their existing systems and technologies.

There are three steps that every organization can take to ensure that they are utilizing their current technology to the "bare minimum" efficiency! Further rationalization and process architecture will allow for true and comprehensive technology utilization.

Ensure Correct License Count & fees- Make sure that you know the user count and are paying accurate license fees. Check to see if you can negotiate a better plan with the application vendor/s.
Remove Application “Duplicates”- Conduct a simple Application Rationalization check to ensure that you have ONLY ONE application providing specific set of business functionalities. Even though you are not paying additional license fees, duplicate applications still add to IT Operations- support and training overhead costs.
Know your User- Have a clear policy for requesting non-standard Business applications. Put controls in place to check and ensure that a user truly needs the requested application to conduct their work duties. Many a times this can easily be accomplished by having their supervisor approve their application request.

Detailed application rationalization along with technology-process gaps identified by conducting process architecture workshops will provide further avenues to comprehensively utilize current existing technology within the organization.

Technology Utilization not only helps with immediate cost savings as reduced license fees and IT Operations costs, but it also allows for streamlining and automating relevant processes that help by reducing/eliminating costs that arise from human error. Comprehensive Technology Utilization ultimately helps with providing efficient business services and increasing customer satisfaction.

Sandhya U Bhat MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#TechnologyUtilization #SaveMoney #ReduceTechnologyCosts #SandhyaUBhat #RisingTechnologyCosts

How to develop a culture of ‘Continuous Improvement’ in an organization?

6/10/2018

Continuous Improvement in an organization means that employees are constantly learning, improving and adding to the main goal of the organization. Many environments are able to facilitate continual improvement, such as at work, schools and even in relationships. Continuous Improvement helps all individuals involved to move in the same desirable direction and meet goals in an organized manner. Developing a culture of continuous improvement often relies on the individual’s ability to communicate, share ideas and evaluate. An incentive is often involved in order to raise morale.

One of the first stages in order to foster continuous improvement in an organization is to clearly define and express anticipations. In a business, it is common for expectations to include punctual employees, attendance at gatherings, timely submission of projects and involvement in ways that can benefit the procedures, product or service. It is necessary for anticipations to be expressed as clearly as possible. It is also advisable for expectations to be repeated frequently so that employees are reminded.

It is essential for skills and comprehension to be developed and improvement in a consistent manner in order for continuous improvement to develop optimally. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as conducting sessions in which employees receive training. Allowing employees to participate in ongoing courses allows for skill enhancement.

It is up to the organization to decide how frequently the sessions should be conducted, which varies on the particular skill that is being taught. Communication is important whilst developing a culture of continuous improvement because it allows employees to feel confident in asking questions as they learn new skills. They should know who they can ask the questions to and should feel comfortable asking the questions.

Using a variety of assessment tools, such as tests, observations or reviews, can assess employee’s improvement. Assessing improvement should be done frequently in order to make sure that individuals are on the right track. It is also a good gauge of knowing whether learning sessions should be increased or if other skills should be focused on instead.

Perhaps on the most important ways of developing continuous improvement in an organization is to let the employee’s know their significance to the goal. Employees ought to be aware of the fact that their contributions are greatly appreciated and respected. Questions, feedback and ideas are just some of the many ways that employees can contribute to continuous improvement.

Organizations that follow the culture of Continuous Improvement, don't do it just to increase efficiency, reduce wastes and ultimately increase the profit margin. For such organizations, Continuous Improvement is really about being an innovative and efficient organization, a thought-leader in the industry that hires, trains and retains an engaged and inspired workforce and above all creates positive waves by its presence, products and leadership.

Sandhya U Bhat MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#CorporateCulture #LeanOrganization #LeanCulture #SandhyaUBhat #ContinuousImprovement

What is meant by Business Process Management?

6/4/2018

Business Process Management is defined by the activities involved in an organization that include identification, evaluation and improvement in various processes of a business. It is used in many industries but is most popular amongst the IT industry. Businesses tend to use this action in order to increase customer satisfaction, efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance.

The idea of business process management is to lower, or diminish, errors that are caused by employees in the workforce. Common causes of these errors include miscommunication. It is necessary for employees to understand their various roles in an organization and to be managed accordingly. It is a system of management that is not just another tool or software to use but requires employee’s participation in order to succeed.

A major different between business process management and workflow software is that business process management does not solely use a set of tasks to reach a desirable solution but encourages individuals to continuously contribute to improvements in an organization’s processes as well.

Simply put, business process implies the various stages involved in reaching a specific goal. Either systems or individuals perform the activities involved in the stages. The activities can take place in sequence or at the same time, depending on the issue at hand. It is thought of as the necessary stages in order to adequately perform tasks that need to be done to successfully reach a goal.

There are many processes involved in business process management, some of which are more applicable to certain situations than others. Various processes are typically determined by: time frame, volume, department, difficulty and industry. Not all processes will necessarily be included in order for business process management to reach the goal. There are five main stages of business process management: model, automate, execute, monitor and optimize.

During the first stage of business process management, a model is created as representation. This stage is vital in determining the processes involved in order to reach a goal and allow stages to begin developing, without going into specific detail yet. The automate phase uses the model and general ideas involved to come up with more detailed directions. This can include instructions, rules and other important aspects of the process.

During the execution phase, instructions outlined in the automate phase are monitored and evaluated until the entire process is complete. The monitor phase specifically measures and analyzes the improvements made. The final stage known as the optimize phase uses the information gathered from the entire process and makes it applicable to situations in the future.

Sandhya U Bhat MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#ProcessModelling #BPM #BusinessProcessMapping #BenefitsofBPI #ROI #BPI #BPR #ProcessMapping #LearningandDevelopment #CorporateTrainingTV #Leadership #Management #Coaching #Mentor

What's involved in a BPI Initiative?

6/2/2018

First agreeing on the name! Is it- BPR ‘or' BPI

A Rose by any name would still smell as sweet!! When Shakespeare wrote those lines, he probably did not need to worry much about being politically correct or present his ideas in a very emotion-sensitive corporate environment like the Human Resources department.

What brought me thinking about this is that, recently I was working on a BPI project. Of course it is with the HR department and for reasons mentioned below, I decided to shun the old BPR terminology. There was a time when BPR was very in vogue. Though, now-a-days you don’t hear much about it.

The new terminology is BPI. It made me wonder as to the logic behind this. So I decided to dig a little more into it. You see, the term BPR which stands for Business Process Reengineering was made quite famous by the Six Sigma methodology (among other reengineering methods) and some very well-known (should I say notorious) corporate re-structuring ventures. Problem started, when employees and onlookers started perceiving ‘all’ reengineering projects as a euphemistic way of telling employees they were terminated. Pretty soon- “BPR” and “You are fired” (hope I did not offend Donald here by using his line :-)) became synonymous.

Now industry has a new term, which is not as threatening to the employees and allows the Process Controls Team to work well in a smooth gear- it is BPI, stands for Business Process Improvement.

Here are some of the basic steps involved in any BPI-

1. Selection of process teams and leader Process teams, comprising 2-4 employees from various departments that are involved in the particular process, are set up. Each team selects a process team leader, typically the person who is responsible for running the respective process. Many times this could be an external SME (subject matter expert) that is brought in to channel and lead the BPI project or the team could choose an internal group person who in turn reports to the SME, in which they are probably called a Project Lead.

2. Process analysis training The selected process team members are trained in process analysis and documentation techniques.

3. Process analysis interview The members of the process teams conduct several interviews with people working along the processes. During the interview, they gather information about process structure, as well as process performance data. Other people from technology including Engineering and IT (information technology) may also get involved in cases where the process involves touch points with software application systems.

4. Process documentation The interview results are used to draw a first process map. Previously existing process descriptions are reviewed and integrated, wherever possible. Possible process improvements, discussed during the interview, are integrated into the process maps.

5. Review cycle The draft documentation is then reviewed by the employees working in the process. Additional review cycles may be necessary in order to achieve a common view, i.e. the real working of the process with all concerned employees. This stage is an iterative process.

6. Problem analysis A thorough analysis of process problems can then be conducted, based on the process map, and information gathered about the process. At this time of the project, process goal information from the strategy audit is available as well, and is used to derive measures for process improvement.

An 11-Step methodology that I have typically used and found very helpful is:
1. Selection of process teams and leader
2. Process analysis criteria
3. Process analysis interview
4. Process documentation
5. Review cycle
6. Problem analysis
7. Design process improvements
8. Document new processes
9. Clean up current system data
10. Setup Governance group with criteria for control measures
11. Deployment, training and sustainment guidance
So in short, the steps are apparently very similar to a BPR, but just by calling it a BPI; you can ensure happier team members- who are less worried and more focused on getting the work done with good cheer.

Hopefully this will get you started on your next BPI initiative...

Sandhya U Bhat MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#ProcessModelling #BPM #BusinessProcessMapping #BenefitsofBPI #ROI #BPI #BPR #ProcessMapping #LearningandDevelopment #CorporateTrainingTV #Leadership #Management #Coaching #Mentor

Merits of Business Process Modelling-Mapping

6/1/2018

Be it a small shop or a multi-million dollar corporation, one needs to be quite clear on the various processes that need to be conducted to achieve results. These could be simple processes to carry out day to day work tasks or to reach special benchmarks and goals.

Many businesses, do not see the merit in chalking out their current business process work. They say, well- our staff knows how to do their job, so why waste time and effort to note it down.

There are many merits to conducting your current business process modelling-mapping:

Clear understanding of how work is currently accomplished.
Process delays and breaks which were probably over-looked (due to the apparent lack of clarity).
Pathway to process optimization and quality improvement- to do things better and in a more efficient manner to achieve better results.
Training materials for new staff.
Clarity across the organization of how things are handled by 'other' departments.

Any true business process work starts with answering some basic questions:

Where do you want to go?
What changes do you want to see happen?
What progress/accomplishment do you want/need?

Once the end point is decided then one can map out various optimized ways to get from Point A which is your current state of affairs to Point B, which is your expected goal. This then allows for a more optimized business process approach. As they say, if you don't know where you want to go, then any path will take you there. But to figure out where one would like to be, it is imperative that one has a clear understanding of where one currently is. Now that you have defined your current scenario and figured out where you would like to see yourself in a certain defined time-period, then you can start the process improvement and optimization with several proven styles and techniques to get you to your point B with a very structured and efficient method.

Many a times, it is people working together in a seamless manner following a well-defined process and utilizing the most appropriate technology which allows for the best quality outcome.

Sandhya has helped businesses to optimize their current processes and identify gaps and breaks which have prevented them from optimal function. By suggesting solutions and workaround-s, she has helped address those gaps and bring about process efficiency. This has resulted in overall increase in efficiency and productivity along with workforce and customer satisfaction. This has led to an improved bottom-line by better utilizing and leveraging current resources of Human Capital and Technology Systems.

#ProcessModelling #BPM #BusinessProcessMapping #BenefitsofBPI #ROI #BPI #BPR #ProcessMapping #LearningandDevelopment #CorporateTrainingTV #Leadership #Management #Coaching #Mentor

Uncertain times for Oil Companies

5/21/2018

Hopefully OPEC will decide to extend cuts till end of 2018 as it is currently priced in as market sentiment. Otherwise, we could see strong crude price pullback, which in turn could deal another blow to already struggling Oil companies.

Some food for thought:

When oil prices crashed to almost $35 a barrel towards end of 2014, oil companies struggled to stay afloat. Many oil juniors went out of business and the big corporations slashed their workforce to cut costs. But simply trimming off workers is never a true solution, since quality and efficiency suffers!

It is better to take a "Lean" look at your organization. Lean principles focus on eliminating waste, reducing costs and increasing profitability. Lean implementations do not need to be hugely expensive or organization-wide. it is surely helpful when entire organization commits to a "reduced-waste with increased efficiency" operating model, but the reality is that each individual department will have its own way to contribute towards the organization's overall vision and goals. Using Lean-Kaizen, we can make a small change for lasting effectiveness and best of all, it does not have to be a multi-million dollar investment.

If you are interested in learning more, feel free to contact me. I do offer a complimentary initial consultation…

Upcoming OPEC meeting: uncertain times for Oil CompaniesPicture

#CrushingCrudeRally #OilandGasCompanies #RevivingOilEconomies

Conducting a Continuous Improvement Venture

3/6/2018

Continuous improvement is the continuous effort to develop goods, services and developments in order for an organization to excel and become better. It covers various processes involved ranging from customer service to financial and commercial processes. It works by continuously making minor adjustments and improvements frequently instead of a large change less frequently.

To do so, there needs to be consistent and careful observation and regulation of procedures, equipment, approaches, resources and money in order to increase an organization’s effectiveness. Continuous improvement is a managerial aspect that is then distributed throughout the organization. Each individual has a responsibility and a role in making beneficial changes. It is optimal for employees to join and share ideas to come up with methods of improvement in the workplace.

One of the best ways to encourage this is to host meetings where the objective is to simply make it the best experience for the customer and how to deal with the stages along the way.

There are four main stages of continuous improvement. The first is planning, which means noting that there is a need for change. The second is to starting doing, which can imply making necessary yet smaller changes. Then data is used to check the result that were brought on by change and assess with the impact was and whether it was beneficial. Once the change has been deemed successful, then the method for change can be applied to the bigger picture. If the change is not beneficial, then the steps start all over again.

It is beneficial to the individuals that are involved in an organization that takes continuous improvement seriously. Employees enjoy being taught new skills, working on old ones and being given the opportunity to grow and make more meaningful contributions. When continuous improvement is involved it reflects on both personal and corporate performance. It encourages communication and creativity for the better good of the company.

Other aspects of continuous development include offering training. Whether the training sessions are annual, monthly or so on, individuals within an organization should be given access to develop and modify their skills. When the organization chooses to invest their employees, and help them in their field, the employees develop a sense of loyalty and trust in the company. This often causes them to work harder and put more into a company, for the better good of everyone involved.

Sandhya U Bhat MSc, CSSMBB, CSSE has developed several new (under patent filing) and enhanced existing strategic methodologies to improve technology and human capital utilization, produce greater ROI on investments and streamline service delivery. She is an acclaimed author, speaker, a sought after thought leader and an avid world traveler.

#Lean #BRM #CustomerSatisfaction #CRM #LeanSixSigma #LeanforCustomerSatisfaction #LearningandDevelopment

What is Quality?

12/15/2017

What is Quality? include the voice of your customer in the voice of your process for continued customer satisfaction and increased profitabilityPicture

What is Quality? Different experts have varying answer for this question. Here is what some of them say…

Deming: "Quality is defined from the customer’s point of view as anything that enhances their satisfaction".

Juran: "Fitness for use. Those product features which meet the needs of customers and thereby provide product satisfaction. Freedom from deficiencies".

ASQC: "The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs".

COPC: "Quality is defined as knowledge of agents that would enable them to provide accurate and consistent solution to the customer at the very first attempt”.

ISO: "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics, of a product or service, fulfill requirements”.

Even though the actual definition of quality varies by different experts, the bottom-line is very much the same- meeting customer’s expectations.

Customer should always be at the core of any business- internal functional groups and/or mandatory service organizations (Police and Fire Departments, Universities) tend to forget it many a times, since they know they will be funded and around for a long time, irrespective of their service quality.

As we get more advanced in our Continuous Improvement careers, it is easy to lose sight of the what is truly meant by quality. We get ensnared in what is expected of us from management, meeting project timelines and other budgetary constraints.

But when we shift our focus to “Quality” then it is easy to meet all those other obligations- since at the very essence Quality is to develop process parameters that will include the voice of the customer, i.e. customer expectations. And when we do that, we easily ensure that all the management requirements, budgetary needs and other organizational constraints have been built into the Voice of our process while meeting our customer’s requirements and surpassing their expectations.

Continuous Improvement when done correctly not only recovers it's own project cost in the shortest timeline. It ensures success in reaching organizational goals and vision. By including the voice of your customer in the voice of your process, you can ensure continued customer satisfaction and increased profitability. Continuous Improvement helps businesses to maintain the cutting edge, which is almost mandatory in today’s globally competitive scene.

#QualityProfessional #Management #LeanSixSigma #Kaizen #QualityManagementSystem #LeadershipSkills #LeadershipCoaching #ManagementTraining #BecomingLeader