Tips for Implementing Continuous Improvement

What is the Kaizen Approach?

“Kaizen” is a Japanese term that means “a good change” or “improvement”. Over the years, Kaizen became a popular term in CI as it was used by many major Japanese companies who practiced a CI culture.

Today, it’s one of the most effective continuous improvement approaches available. We cover Kaizen Events as part of both our Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt programmes.

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Tips for Implementing Continuous Improvement

• Aim for organisation-wide support
  Continuous improvement can be effective at a personal or team level. However, for maximum impact and transformational change, continuous improvement is best adopted at an organisation-wide level.
  
  When this happens, the entire culture of your workplace shifts to the positive, productive energy of CI.
• Acquire as many skills as possible
  While it seems a simple principle, to get the best results and move your CI process along at an efficient speed, it is essential to train in the methods and frameworks used to implement this game-changing tactic.
  
  Lean Six Sigma training and certification is our top tip for gaining as many useful continuous improvement tools and frameworks as possible.
• Train your team
  If it’s within your influence, encouraging as many people as possible to train in continuous improvement – usually starting with team training at a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt level – is a great way to fast-track your organisation’s continuous improvement culture-shift.
• Take time to tailor to your organisation
  Once you have completed training and gained the skills you need to implement CI, we recommend allocating time to translate the tools and principles to make them relevant to your workplace.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
  As you undertake your continuous improvement journey, communication skills will provide an excellent support system for keeping everyone engaged and on board