Do you follow up on others to ensure that
activities they are responsible for are being done in a timely manner so you
can get your primary work done?
Any time we “check” on something, we are
doing so because a Break Point exists.
Do you ever need to “fight a fire”?
Every “fire” exists because of a Break
Point, Moment of Truth or Business Rule.
What about meetings? Do you have meetings
in order to get everyone “on the same page”?
Many meetings exist solely to coordinate
and communicate the actions that need to be taken in response to “break downs”
from Break Points and Moments of Truth.
How many actions do you take to confirm
something got done, has been completed or to check on something to make sure it
is in a particular place, with a particular person, etc?
Actions taken to confirm other actions are
behaviors that arise from failures that have occurred in the past (we have
learned our lesson) at Break Points and Moments of Truth.
How many times have you had to fill out one
or more forms to “document” the fact that something got done?
Documenting normal work is a behavior
spawned by process failure at one or more Break Points as a means to “reduce”
the number of failures that don’t get “caught.” (This is called fixing the
effect – which always leads to the creation of more Causes of Work.)
Remember, any place that a hand-off occurs
for any interaction between any combination of people and systems, a Break
Point exists.
What do you need to know to put this
strategy to work for you?
It’s simple. You are only five steps away from
identifying the causes of work in your organization then eliminating them. You
need to have a target, Break Points identified, Actions identified, Cost/Benefit
Assessment and your Cost Reduction Plan.
