No Time Like The Present

If this equal opportunity recession has had any impact on your business at all (and I suspect that it has), you probably are finding that you have some excess capacity.  Most likely, you’ve dealt with that by reducing headcount or at least reducing hours of operation.  If you’ve been seriously impacted, you are probably selling excess equipment.

However, before you let every useful person go, why not reallocate the resource to examining your processes?  All work is a process so, unless you have the leanest organization in the history of TPS, you have some improving to do.  Start with having a team look at your most expensive cost center.  There are probably a dozen or more pieces of low-hanging fruit that you can pick.  Make sure the team has clear goals and expectations.  Give them the leadership they need, but don’t smother them.  Also, commit the resources needed for them to be successful.  Remember, this is about getting ready for your future; you know…the turnaround that will happen.  It will happen, trust me.  Once the team has finished, move on to another cost center and do the same.  The momentum will build and, before you know it, continuous improvement will be part of your culture.  Then when you do pick up, you will have a leg up on your competition in terms of cost and service level.  You and your customers will be smiling.

If you don’t think you have the talent in-house, there are a number of places you can turn.  There are traditional consulting firms, accounting firms and Lean experts.  Another choice is the rapidly growing are of Business Coaching.  They typically partner with you for the long-term and help you avoid adding headcount while still getting the advice and assistance that you need.  However you get the help, just do it!

Why wait to improve your business?  Get your business back in shape.  There’s no time like the present.