Why is continuous improvement so important

Whether your business is a startup or a multinational corporation, understanding the importance of continuous improvement is a key component of Lean and Agile methodologies. Using it at a small scale can help your team operate more effectively. Implementing it at a large scale, as a top priority, can help your business stay ahead of the competition.

The most successful companies are never satisfied with the status quo. They constantly have their eye on the next innovation, the next level of performance. They know the importance of continuous improvement in all areas of the business. Even if things are going really well, people at successful organizations are looking at what could be improved upon so that they can perform better. They are finding ways to work smarter, not harder, in order to be more efficient and profitable. The most successful companies are always innovating and developing new ways to deliver top-notch quality to their customers.

Sure, some people have a natural drive to keep improving their skills and the results they produce at work. But many people prefer to stay in their comfort zones, never questioning the way things are done. Companies must communicate the value and importance of continuous improvement and build it into every aspect of the business as a disciplined strategy. They must train their employees to study internal processes and create ways to make them more efficient.

They must study their successes and failures regarding their customers and act based on those learnings to go above and beyond customer satisfaction. Lean is a mindset that helps you make smarter decisions about how to invest your time, energy, and money. By encouraging teams to identify, prioritize, and intentionally complete work items one at a time, Kanban can help combat the damaging effects of multitasking in a hyper-stimulated world.

The practice of continuous process improvement, or Kaizen, was developed to improve Japanese manufacturing processes through lowering costs and improving quality. Some companies may practice it as its own concept, but you will mostly find it integrated in companies operating within Lean and Agile methodologies. The concept of continuous improvement is an important element found in both Lean and Agile practices. In the Seven Principles of Lean Development , continuous improvement is weaved throughout.

Continuous improvement has always been an important methodology for businesses looking to remain competitive; but now more than ever, it has become essential to face the challenges presented by the novel coronavirus.

There is always room to make something better. Continuous improvement is all about the unyielding pursuit of that better place, outcome, or result on an ongoing basis.

This may be the case, but frequently, changing circumstances can cast a spotlight on processes that seemed to be A-OK, but turned out to be anything but. A classic example is the toilet paper shortage that affected supply chains nationwide — and around the world — in the early days of the coronavirus crisis. Of all the sections of the grocery store, one you could almost always trust would be plenty stocked was the toiletry aisle. But due to a surge in panic buying — prompted by erroneous fears that grocery and corner stores would suddenly close — shelves were bare for weeks on end.

Initially, the assumption was the shortage would be short lived, as nothing would suggest the virus increased toilet paper usage. But the scant supply continued to roll from one week into the next. Of course, the easiest way to correct an imbalance where demand is greater than supply is to produce more, but as the New York Post reported , the U.

Great teams make things happen. And part of making things happen is adjusting your approach based on new information. The Clever PM has been a B2B product manager for over 10 years in a variety of industries, and is a passionate advocate for agile, effective Product Management.

This blog is devoted to providing tips, tricks, and hacks to make people better, more clever Product Managers. More Posts - Website. Follow Me:. What is Continuous Improvement? It will not manage itself. Edward Deming The fundamental basis of any continuous improvement practice lies primarily in the concept that every process, procedure, or check that has been developed by a person has been done at a given moment in time, based on their knowledge of the system or the output at that point.

Why is Continuous Improvement Important? A thirty minute meeting at the end of each sprint that is solely focused on: What went well? What can we improve? What are we going to try next sprint? Of course, there are a few ground rules that have to apply: No blaming.