The Art of Improvement

After implementation, the process starts again to create the continuous improvement cycle. It is essential for the organization that all of its parts have the same momentum and drive and are aware of individual roles in the improvement cycle. Their assessments, their improvement area identification and their actions define an elaborate continuous improvement in which the organization as a whole flourishes and excels.

The picture on the right depicts the structure of the program.
In more detail, the program can be broken down as follows:

Part 1: Introduction to Continuous Improvement

• General introduction
• Introduction to Continuous Improvement; a variety of tools
  • Identification of methodologies
  • The Improvement Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act)
• Implication session:
  • What can we learn from all of these methods?
  • Inventorization assignment
  • Characterizing the organization
  • Step 1: the need and area for improvement

Part 2: Applying and creating your own methodologies

• Defining the Continuous Improvement cycle
• How are we doing?
  • Step 2: assess current performance
    • Research and analysis of the organization’s environment to discover the cause of current performance
    • Assessing current performance
  • Implication session step 1 and step 2:
    • Inventorization assignment
  • Discussion and definition
  • What to improve and for whom?
    • Step 3: Defining the improvement objective
    • Step 4: For whom?
      • Stakeholder analysis
      • Obtaining commitment
    • Implication session step 3 and step 4:
      • Inventorization assignment

Part 3: Measuring success

• How to measure the success of the improvement process?
  • Step 5: Define and organize diagnostics
    • Benchmarking, Types and the Improvement Cycle (PDCA) Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) and the change environment
  • Implication session step 5:
    • How we know when we are improving?
    • Inventorization assignment

Part 4: Effective implementation

• Step 6: generating solutions to accomplish the improvement objective
  • Solutions to generate improvement
  • Assessing and evaluating available solutions
  • The Evaluation Matrix
• Best Practice:
  • Case examples
  • Tips and tricks
• Step 7: planning for success, the implementation plan
  • Avoiding the pitfalls
• Step 8: defining and applying controls for new levels of performance
• Implication session:
  • How to achieve improvement?
  • Inventorization assignment

Part 5: Embedding Continuous Improvement in the organisation

• Stakeholder management approaches
  • Step 9: identify and overcome resistance to change
    • Project management for continuous improvement
    • How to embed the continuous improvement methodology?
  • Implication workshop:
    • Defining the projects, plan for execution and control
    • Applying Ishikawa, Lean, 5W1H for effective processes

The objectives of this course for participants are:

• Understanding the tools to achieve continuous improvement
• Analysis of environment and processes
• Understanding, defining and maintaining quality standards
• Skills/competencies to continuously improve their work and activities
• The essence of quality control and auditing practice
  • Identifiable results through precourse inventorization and KPI definition
  • Participants interact with and learn from each other, generating integrative sales and business development approaches and higher effectiveness and organizational consistency