1. Form a "Operational Excellence Group.

"
A specific 'task force' created to drive the business improvement project is one of the
common factors in successful business improvement.
Setting up regular meetings and bringing in the right team members are critical to
engaging those who are needed to bring about change.
Setting up an Operational Excellence Group, whether you are a small or large organization
on, has significant benefits when driving the change initiative.
For process and flow technologies, National Oilwell Varco established a 'Operational
Excellence Group.' They quickly realized that their challenge was not only practical, but
also cultural, and they expanded the scope of their project to address this as well.

2. Create an Action Plan for Implementation.

This isn't going to win any awards for originality, but most home improvement projects
live and die during the planning stage. A company must do the following in order to be
ready for implementation:

• Determine the Nature of the Issue

• Determine what needs to be changed.
• Determine what the organization requires to make the change a success.
• Investigate, customize, and compare the necessary tools/methodologies/software
e companies for the business.
• Consider whether you have the time/resources to truly make your implementation
a success; if you don't, you shouldn't even start.
Skanska UK identified three changes that would revolutionize the way they ran their
business when developing their action plan.
They would put in place:

• One management system with policies, processes, and procedures that are shared
by all operating units.
• A single certification (LRQA)
• A platform for common business process management
Skanska UK quickly identified that all of their processes fell into one of these categories
after listing areas of their business:

• Supporting processes, health and safety, and procurement are examples of

functional areas.
 • Project management processes that are carried out on a daily basis are referred
to as project controls.
• Sector – processes designed to meet specific needs, such as gas or highways.
This provided them with the structure and vision they needed to know what needed to
be done and what they needed to achieve real change, resulting in Skanska UK receiving
a British Quality Foundation UK Excellence Award.

3. Ensure Key Stakeholder Participation

Whether or not a business improvement initiative is successful is often determined by
whether or not it is supported by a change in the company's culture. As a result, many
of the ten approaches taken by the most successful companies in business improvement
are to enable and support cultural change.
Nothing is more critical than ensuring key stakeholder engagement. Your success is
dependent on obtaining early buy-in from senior management and key stakeholders. No
one else in your organization will support your business improvement initiative if they do
not openly support it.

4. Put in place a unified management system that is useful,

usable, and used.
Many businesses implement a Business Management System, which does not help them
improve their operations. Sometimes it's just to check a box or get an accreditation.
Successful businesses, on the other hand, recognize the importance of their BMS in
enabling business improvement and select one that:

• Supports their specific goals and objectives.

• Is user-friendly and adaptable, facilitating cultural change.
• All members of staff have easy access to it.
• Provides a single, standardized source of process control that ensures consistency,
clarity, and uniformity at all times.
The Homeserve team required a Business Process Management Solution that would allow
them to easily map their customers' journeys and allow all employees to see and
understand their end-to-end process.
The team's primary requirement was a centralized source of information that all staff
could easily access in order to view the entire customer journey and find the information
- processes, policies, scripts, and forms - that they required to do their job. The goal was
to provide all customers with the same level of ease, regardless of who they spoke with.
They discovered a management system with Triaster that would allow them to upload
new scripts for colleagues, provide easy navigation, colors and illustrations to provide a
better user experience, and process flows that were simple to understand and supported
consistent business outcomes.

5. Implement a Multi-Pronged Communication Strategy

Another important strategy for achieving cultural change is to inform everyone about
what you are working on and, more importantly, why you are working on it. This requires
more concentration and effort than might be expected. You can't just explain it to
everyone once and expect them to understand. Information must be explained several
times and in multiple ways. Triaster customers have successfully supported business
improvement initiatives with launch events, training days, stationary, posters (you name
it) to support their business improvement projects.
The most successful improvement projects we surveyed documented that holding follow-
up events every 3-6 months will ensure that your employees understand that the new
initiative is here to stay and that they should get up to speed.
Equifax launched their Process Library with a great name, 'HUB,' and brand, and they
supported it with events, printed materials, and branded giveaways.

6. Employ a Simple Business Improvement Methodology.

If you are part of the operational excellence group, you may have time to learn a complex
improvement methodology, but the more people involved with the change, the more
people you will have to communicate change to.
People are all unique. They each have their own distinct background, technical
knowledge, and prejudices. It is necessary to employ an improvement methodology that
is easily communicated and free of jargon (their pickup must be as effortless as your put
down).

7. Document the Present 'State of Affairs'

To make any meaningful changes, you must first understand the current state of the
process. Then you'll be able to see if there are any major process breakdowns and if the
take holders have any suggestions for how to improve the process.
This leads to the development of a consistent 'best practice' for all future employees who
perform that task.
Creating process maps has always been at the forefront of successful improvement
initiatives, but standardizing their use and gaining organizational buy-in has always been
the stumbling block to the open pastures of operational excellence.
Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill's processes and controls were in text-based documents in
2012. There were numerous documents scattered across various Networks, some of
which were in the United States (USA) and others of which were specific to the Ampthill
site in the United Kingdom (UK).
Because this was a large task, the process and compliance team needed to:

• Determine which documentation was applicable to the Ampthill site and prioritize
it for process mapping.
• Create a "Process Library" that will serve as an "one stop shop" for all policies,
processes, and procedures.
• Create maps that provide a clear visual representation of their processes.
• Create maps that include process linkages and interactions that are both visible
and easy to follow (end-to-end business processes).

8. Develop Consistent Best Practices

Your company's ability to continuously improve is dependent on your employees' abilities
(both individually and corporately) to embrace the new program and consistently
implement any agreed-upon best practices program.
Sungard Availability Services developed their Process Library 'ASK PAT' with the goal of
reducing errors, risks, and supporting the provision of a standardized practice from within
the organization in order to provide a more consistent standard of service to Sungard's
customers.
Having a single target operating model has also enabled Sungard AS to obtain a single I
SO20000 Certification in the United States, India, and the United Kingdom.
Service Management benefits from a clear definition of the process to provide new
hardware because of their standardized system within an easily accessible Process Library
(ASK PAT), and staff expectations can be set based on the service's performance
expectations.
Sungard AS can now specify requirements and standards for consistent use across the
business - with the agreement of stakeholders - because all processes, policies, and work
instructions are now in ASK PAT.
9. Make any largescale changes available for
sharing and access.
As previously stated, your business management system should be the single source of
accessible information for your company. Some of the most successful businesses we've
worked with have chosen to open their management system to customers or even create
cross-functional, cross-organizational management systems that allow communication to
flow not only within the organization, but also from outside.
The issue at Interserve was process accessibility. Interserve required access to a single
management system that was centralized with best practice tools, templates, and
processes that simplify and improve the way Interserve mobilizes their contracts.
The Defense Team at Interserve also shares their Process Library with their customer,
the Ministry of Defense. The MOD was able to observe their supplier's processes and
share their own with Interserve. Processes are now cross-functional as well as cross
organizational.

10. Strive for Constant Improvement.

The conclusion of any business improvement initiative should always be the beginning of
the next. The newly implemented change becomes routine, and the next most significant
business improvement initiative should begin. Continuous Improvement is the key to a
company's long-term success.