In the words of Albert Einstein: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance, you must keep moving”. This is true in business too – progress requires consistent effort and ‘movement’ towards a common vision. It takes an entire organisation to achieve improvement over time, a seemingly simple idea that can yield immense benefits for a business.
There is comfort in what we know and change is often tough for people to work around, especially in a professional environment. Companies tend to rely on the ‘status quo’ to keep things going and to keep productivity levels up, but there are several reasons why this doesn’t work anymore.
Competition is stronger than ever before
Healthy competition is a good thing and pushes us beyond our comfort zones, which is often where the ‘magic’ happens. However, it also means that we aren’t the only ones offering a service, product or feature and as such, continually improving and innovating is a must.
It’s a global marketplace
For most businesses, it’s not just local competition that needs attention, but foreign competition is just as rife. More and more borders are becoming transient and markets can catch you by surprise. If you don’t watch what’s going on in the world and prepare for it, you won’t be prepared for it when it arrives.
Information is everywhere
Consumers are connected 24/7 and they have access to information at their fingertips. This means that you’re targeting smart consumers who know what they want and why. They will not hesitate to find it despite previous loyalties towards your brand. It’s therefore important to use the speed of information flow to your advantage and not rest on your laurels.
Dynamics are changing
Intelligent and flexible companies are reaping the rewards of innovation by continuously pushing their own boundaries despite challenging market conditions. It’s often these companies who stand for more than their services, products or features. They believe that the customer is at the heart of everything that they do and they strive to improve with this in mind – all while winning the loyalty of their customers.
To be clear, continuous improvement isn’t new and it’s also not about finding a method that works for your business and sticking to it blindly. It’s about evaluating and re-evaluating where you are and how you need to operate today to affect positive change, tomorrow. Therefore, formalising a continuous improvement strategy throughout the business is important and not only helps to futureproof your company, but also gets your workforce on the same page, it influences mindset, makes people accountable and reinforces the importance of striving for this.
In order to be agile and nimble to create an environment that encourages continuous improvement you need to have the right tools in place. Reach out to us and we can share some insights on what best practices and tools to use.