Improve My Business

Watching our great moving team from Bouffard Transfer, I learned that improvement principles are, indeed, universal.

1. Think outside the box
2. Plan the work, then work the plan
3. Take care of the big things and the little things will take care of themselves.
4. Work smarter, not harder.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX - the refrigerator box, that is…

The frig won’t fit through the door — our obvious choice:  remove the door (frig door or front door, your pick).  The non-obvious choice:  rotate the frig 90 degrees, where it passes through with 1/4″ to spare.

PLAN THE WORK, THEN WORK THE PLAN

The really heavy office credenza needs to take 3 right-hand turns to get into the office — so our guys figured out how it needs to be laid out in the office before ever starting, and then oriented the heavy dang thing  once at the beginning, so it ends up where it needs to be without further fussin’.

TAKE CARE OF THE BIG THINGS, AND THE LITTLE THINGS TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES

When loading the truck, it’s loaded with an eye to what can be stacked on top of what, and what can’t.  We thought we were done, when one of the movers noticed that there was a bit of room at the very top of the truck asked if we’d like our closets moved also [they have rope strung across the top so we can move them on hangars].  We all trooped into the house, where my family each grabbed 8-12 hangars’ worth of clothes and trooped outside.  I was surprised that the movers weren’t right behind us — until I saw that they were carrying 35-40 hangars’ worth - on each hand.   JUST when we thought the truck was full of big things and we were done, we were able to load in another 4 closets’ worth of stuff - and save ourselves countless car trips to do it ourselves.

WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER

The moving guys worked very hard, no doubt about it.  But they also worked smart - lots of verbal cues to make sure that nothing was scratched as it was carried down the curved staircase [watch the top left; bannister on bottom right; tilt up/back/left/right more]; that the guy at the bottom knew when he was on the last stair of the staircase [3 left; 2 left; 1 left; done]; and they weren’t afraid to ask for help if they needed it [did I mention the heavy credenza?].  Working smarter ensured that they had a happy customer, healthy crew, and were able to get to another job when done with ours.

Technorati Tags: improvement, principles of improvement, working smarter

We are moving tomorrow.  Movers will arrive at 8 am and carry all the big heavy pieces of furniture and the multiple boxes we’ve accumulated.  Moving is much more than shifting locations for things, though.  Moving implies change - the new rooms aren’t exactly the same as the old rooms.  The stuff I’m bringing may be inadequate, or may be superfluous.  Decisions have to be made constantly - pack or toss?  File or throw?  Save or discard?  Where to put this?  How to set this up?

In a perfect world, I would have had unlimited time to casually yet thoroughly sort through my stuff, culling filing cabinets, purging irrelevant or outdated reference materials and coursework, and generally being a Lean Queen.  Ummm, we’re not in a perfect world.  I’m tossing as much as I can, but also know that most of the culling and sorting will happen AFTER the move given the time constraints I’m working under (I keep telling myself that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel, and pray that it’s not a freight train bearing down on me…)

Some decisions are easy - the desk will go next to the door, away from the windows, so I don’t have to worry about TX sun beating in on me directly.  It will be sideways, so a quick glance to my right will show me the beautiful canyon outside (I think there’s a family of cardinals living nearby since they zip past the window all the time in a streak of red…)

Other decisions are not so easy - some are philosophical:  What do I want to accomplish by the move?   and some are tactical:  How should I set up the printing peripherals to maximize their usage and eliminate the spaghetti tangle of cords?

Either way, it’s a great opportunity to start fresh without the restrictions of “it’s too hard to rearrange” - now to make it better - one idea at a time!  Wish me luck!

When I ask someone what they understand what the term ‘improvement’ means, I often get back the response “make it better and faster”.  However, improvement needs to be defined up front, before the project starts in order to ensure that customer needs are met.  As an example, a call center may want to improve their customer satisfaction rating — and this may mean that we need to slow down the customer interface process in order to improve customer perception of satisfaction.  A customer will tell you that it’s annoying at best, and irritating or aggravating at worst, to be rushed off a call without having your questions answered in a way that you understand; by instructing customer service representatives to slow down, actively listen to the customer and respond accordingly, and query for any other concerns prior to terminating the call, customer satisfaction can often be improved.  This does not mean “better and faster” in this case; it only means “better”.

Technorati Tags: customer satisfaction, customer service, improvement

Since the last Friday of May (5/30) saw me attending my son’s Middle School Graduation, this post is a day or two late…

What’s your most embarrassing moment?

Recently, I had a pretty severe one — in Shanghai!

Good news: “Western” toilets (as opposed to a hole in the floor)

Bad news: I came out of the bathroom a la Rachel from Friends, with my skirt tucked firmly into the TOP of my pantyhose - giving all the Chinese a view of my butt!