Are you choosing to be reactive or proactive?
Continuous improvement is a process, a mindset, and a set of tools. It’s organization-wide and specific to each individual. At its core are the people who do the work. Through sustained, system-wide improvement, teams can deeply understand and solve problems, while thriving through crises. Two experts in continuous improvement, Dr. John Toussaint and Dr. Christina Dixon join us again to discuss the biggest obstacles to sustaining improved results over time, and how to prioritize improvement as the real work to be done.
This episode answers questions such as:
- How are organizations using continuous improvement to eliminate gaps and disparities in student achievement?
- Why is an improvement culture so beneficial during a crisis?
- Should organizations start an improvement journey now?
To hear the first part of Janet’s interview with John and Christina, listen to episode #142: The 5 Behavioral Traits for Sustaining Improvement.
Featured Episode Resources
Busting Through Barrierse
The most successful organizations encourage communication and information sharing outside of specific teams and departments. Barriers can be the result of teams in different locations, hierarchies in the workplace, excessive workloads, comfort zones, and lack of organization wide transparency. To bust through the existing barriers in an organization, enlist the help of a problem-solving barriers team.
How Do We Know if it's an Improvement?
Before we implement initiatives or changes, it can be useful to engage in a process to clearly define the need for improvement or the problem to be solved. When we talk about improvement and innovation, we aren’t just talking about big insights that change the world. Improvement also happens when we make small changes. Improvement is eliminating unnecessary hassle, solving problems, and creating better outcomes.
Where's the Noise?
Over time, an organization collects initiatives. The hustle and bustle of our daily tasks makes revisiting and analyzing the value of these initiatives and strategic actions a low priority and a step most teams neglect, often for years. We keep doing what we've always done because it was once communicated as a top priority. To identify and reduce distractions, identify: where is the noise?
Short Cycle Scorecard Tool
A scorecard with key measures is a useful tool for managing strategy and performance – determining what’s working well, what’s not working, and where we need to improve. We use the results on the scorecard to determine how well a specific team is executing to the plan to achieve results. We also review and use this tool to identify areas for improvement.
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The challenges of 2020 may keep us at a physical distance, but we are here with you and we have other ways for you to connect with your leadership community. Our listeners can engage with our coaches and expert guests every week at virtual roundtable discussions.
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