Management Operating Systems
– and use that control to improve performance on an ongoing basis
Business process reengineering
Implement change within complex processes
Create large-scale visual representations of entire processes to help employees who perform individual steps or groups of steps in a process understand how they fit into a larger framework. Seeing steps upstream and downstream can inform work priority, quality, speed etc., relating to customer (downstream) and supplier (upstream) requirements. As BPR can be labor-intensive, we work with our clients only in conjunction with MOS methods to ensure that change can be effected quickly and with surgical precision.
Metrics, data & target setting
Reveal theoretical maximums to avoid covering up potential addressable waste
Understanding what defines success and measuring progress against that standard is a fundamental principle of good management. However, KPIs are taken for granted, often overlooking if the metrics of the KPIs still make sense. Suppose a machine or process will not exceed a given throughput by design, it’s often found that the ‘limit’ stems from Production Engineering standards that have ‘fudge factors’ inbuilt. Going back to the first principles with KPIs and KOPs is a foolproof method of tracking down process issues, regardless of industry.
Behavioral change
Ensure permanent gains through permanent behavior change
The changes in which people perform their job functions can have huge positive impacts on business outcomes, especially if you can string together enough change from enough people (which eventually affects culture). We work with our clients to identify specific new behaviors that we wish specific employees (or groups of employees with the same job) to perform on a given frequency – then ensure the change happens permanently. Without these permanent changes to behaviors, humans will, by nature, revert back to well-established norms and comfortable ways of working, which will, in turn, return the enterprise to prior levels of performance.
Meeting management
Show the workforce how to understand & manage the process
Our clients typically do not come to us seeking help with meeting management, however, they almost exclusively come to us seeking improved outcomes from their business processes and are sometimes surprised by the fact that we will include in our program a focus not just on the process, but on how processes are controlled:
Once our clients have seen the change this kind of focus can produce, they are a life-long convert!
I.T. Systems Configuration
Avoid divergence between real-world process needs and pre-programmed system needs
Our clients typically don’t seek our assistance with I.T. systems configuration since many reputable companies solely focus on that. Instead, we work with our clients to make their real-world processes work and eliminate the workarounds and divergences that they see (or don’t see) that are often potential sources of error or productivity loss. If we can make small changes (or turn on / off certain features within systems), our clients often reduce field-based workarounds that staff have introduced to solve real-world problems of divergence.
Roles & Responsibilities
Reduce & eliminate poor job performance
Poor job performance can often stem from ambiguous, imprecise or unclear expectations. Focusing on organizational design and effectiveness helps align individual jobs or job types with functional or process needs. We work with our clients to release untapped organizational potential or make radical changes to the organizational design to increase productivity. We work to ease the ongoing burden on HR in terms of clarifying success with individuals or teams (so that they can be recognized and rewarded) and provide the specific basis for performance intervention if necessary.
Client Success
We focus on getting the right data to the right people at the right time – and teaching our clients how to use it
Our approach is simple and straightforward and doesn’t fail.
