Make your work work better with management expert Jan Gillett
11 March 2014 by Infinite Ideas in Business and finance
Develop a process that puts the customer at its heart and you will find yourself with a business that’s streets ahead of the competition.
Pre-order now!
It may sound simple but as business management expert Jan Gillett points out it is essential that businesses do not get distracted from the big picture – creating a product or service that provides what the customer wants – by all manner of day to day management tasks.
This is particularly true now the economy is picking up. Companies have been so intent on keeping their heads above water that they haven’t felt able to take a long view of their business. But this is not a strategy that can pay off indefinitely. As Gillett says, “Organisations that focus on the owners, treat customers with disrespect and try to cut costs and get away with it are not rewarding environments in which to work, and apart from lucky times when they can dominate customers they are not very successful either.”
Many just don’t know where to start and while investment in generic tools or practices will get you so far, true business success can only be achieved when all key personnel take time to understand the way the business works and engage staff and stakeholders in a programme of change. In other words they have to think about how the work works.
Anybody familiar with the work of Dr W. Edwards Deming will realise that this idea is not new. His work based on these principles, his System of Profound Knowledge, formed the foundation of manufacturing success in Japan during the 1950s and has gone on to help businesses worldwide, and in a broad range of sectors, achieve long-term success. What is surprising is how few businesses have really tried to get to grips with Deming’s ideas. Perhaps it is down to our quick-fix culture – it’s true that this method requires more engagement than some ‘off the peg’ solutions. But it also delivers far greater rewards.
Over the last 30 years Gillett has worked with many clients through Process Management International, but is aiming to introduce a new wave of businesses to Deming’s revolutionary ideas with his book, Making your work work. Gillett provides all the ideas and methods managers at any level need in order to improve the performance of their department, division or company, and demonstrates how to use them. With the economy currently in recovery this could be the perfect opportunity for British companies to push themselves to the fore and emerge as market leaders.
About Jan Gillett (FCMI)
Jan learned from Dr W. Edwards Deming when leader of a quality transformation across 2000 people, when CEO of a textile services group in the 1980s. He experienced the remarkable benefits to be had when focusing the work on the customers, involving everyone in learning how it flows, and getting the results on target with minimum variation. Between 1990 and 2009 he built and co-led Process Management International Ltd, helping clients across the world to achieve better results by transforming their approach to their strategy and everyday work; as deputy chairman he retains a strong link with the company. He is co-author of Working with the Grain: Uncommon Sense for Leaders.
Making Your Work Work – Everyday performance revolution | Jan Gillett | 216 x 135mm | 17th March 2014 | 224 pages | ISBN: 9781908984203 | Paperback | £18.99 | BIC code: KJ – Business & management
Contact at Infinite Ideas Richard Burton: richard@infideas.com
Author web site: http://www.pmi.co.uk