See if you recognize this all-too-familiar workplace scenario.

An employee questions why a report requires information nobody uses.

The answer: “That’s how we do things here.”

Another person asks why three approvals are needed for a routine purchase.

Same answer.

Sometimes there are good reasons for sticking to “tried and true” routines. Sometimes, though, it’s a sign of hardened rituals that have outlived their usefulness.

When that happens, people give up trying to improve outdated practices – and the company loses out on potentially huge savings and gains.

Nearly every process made sense when it was created. But customers change, technology advances, and new people bring new insights and techniques with them. Meanwhile, the old way of doing things maintains a relentless grip on how work gets done. What once assured a predictable, efficient process is no longer keeping up with the pace of change – and it strangles people’s natural instinct to find better ways of doing things.

Here’s a major blind spot that many companies miss. Big gains can come from small improvements that accumulate over time. You don’t need big ideas to make a big difference on the bottom line. What’s more, it’s the people doing the work who usually see those small problems and opportunities better and faster than their managers.

Tapping that talent, though, doesn’t happen through occasional encouragement. It takes imbedded processes for Systematic Continuous Improvement (SCI) that give people a productive space to challenge old assumptions and propose better ways forward.

One proven process is a 60-minute team improvement huddle held on a regularly scheduled basis where ideas are recorded, assigned, tested and tracked through completion. Over time, employees stop giving up and start asking different questions:

“Why do we still do it this way?”

“What if we tried taking another approach?”

“How much time and material would we save if we make a small change in the process?”

Want to learn how to improve outdated practices that have become entrenched in your organization?

Begin your improvement journey today!

Getting better at getting better.