Not all small and medium-sized companies determine and/or invest time in explaining the good practices that their employees should follow. And in these cases, how is it possible for an SME to be more competitive? Think that great results start with small changes that can be implemented throughout the company’s organization and work. And this happens every day. In fact, when you are asked ‘How is your business doing?’ you would probably like to answer ‘Getting better every day’, right?
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Well, that is precisely the meaning of the kaizen method, a Japanese movement that all SMEs should take into account to be more productive and orient our products or services more efficiently. A work methodology that we should incorporate into our company’s practices. For this reason, we answer the following questions:
<strong>1. What does the kaizen methodology consist of? According to the kaizen method, all employees of a company are responsible for identifying failures and suggesting improvements…</strong>.
<strong>2. How to implement the kaizen method in your SME? Discover the 5 fundamental steps that will help you to incorporate this system into your company’s work methodology…</strong> <strong>3.
<strong>3. Why this system can help your business? The kaizen philosophy which also translates to “beneficial change” can help an SME to be more productive and profitable…</strong> <strong>3.
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<h3 id=”1″>What does the kaizen methodology consist of?</h3>.
In the 1950s, Japan was forced to invest in process improvement and innovation in order to reach and surpass the results of its competitors in Western countries. As a result, the work philosophy called kaizen was born. Today, the efficiency of Japanese work environments is the envy of many companies. This country is a pioneer in many sectors worldwide. In short, its work philosophy is a benchmark.
Many Japanese companies are an example of ‘continuous improvement’ and this is precisely the meaning of kaizen: KAI (change) and ZEN (improve). And what exactly does this philosophy consist of? <strong>The kaizen method promotes teamwork to identify inefficiencies in order to improve productivity and work efficiency in the company</strong>. The idea of this methodology is that workers make small changes and improvements that lead the business to success.
That is, we must not forget that this is a method that starts from the collaboration of all employees. Workers should follow the good practices that kaizen includes, the basis of this methodology, which is known as PDCA circle.
<p style=”text-align: center;”><img style=”width: 1018px;” src=”https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2074697/Ciclo%20PDCA.jpg” alt=”PDCA cycle” width=”1018″ /></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Plan (Plan)</strong>: one of the most important phases in every project is the definition of clear and achievable goals or objectives, analysis of the current state or possible problems and determination of a plan of action to be executed in the next phase.</li><li>
<li><strong>Do</strong>: in order to identify problems, it is necessary to document the actions taken. When we execute our Inbound Marketing strategies, for example, before creating content we take into account a planning. That is, we execute the strategies in stages based on an execution calendar that works by priorities.
<li><strong>Check</strong>: each defined stage needs to be checked. Analyzing your strategy or your SME’s optimization plan after a certain period of time is the only thing that can help your employees to identify failures and inefficiencies.
<li><strong>Act (Act)</strong>: apply corrective actions at each stage and then follow up to measure results.
</ol>
And is that the PDCA circle or Deming cycle, as it is also known, is a strategic spiral to continuously improve the quality of our strategies, services and / or products.
<h3 id=”2″>And how to implement the kaizen method in your SME?</h3>.
The kaizen method is a practical and relatively simple system, but to implement it you must first take into account 5 fundamental steps:
<h4>1. Focus on the customer</h4>.
To apply the kaizen method, an SME must be clear that its goal is to meet the expectations of its customers.
<h4>2. Organization of the work environment</h4>
As we have already mentioned, all workers are essential to implement this method. For this reason, it is necessary that the work environment is well organized. On the one hand, employees must organize effective work teams that fulfill specific tasks, but at the same time work towards common goals.
<h4>3. Continuous communication</h4>
In these work environments, there must be internal communication that allows all employees to be aware of the progress of projects. By working towards common goals, solving problems and inefficiencies and finding solutions is easier. This also strengthens work teams, who establish better bonds.
<h4>4. Constant innovation</h4>
The organization of the work environment and continuous communication allows your SME’s employees to suggest improvements. Ideas that simplify procedures or specific tasks, even from other work teams; resources and tools that can benefit the company, etc.
<h4>5. Internal training</h4>
Through training, not only more skills and independence are acquired, but also more motivation and satisfaction with the work performed. It is important for an SME to be able to train its talents not only in the culture and philosophy of the company, but also in new techniques that can be implemented little by little to improve its competitiveness.
<h3 id=”3″>Why this system can help your business?</h3>.
The kaizen method is a philosophy of life that can not only help us to be better at work, but also in our personal life. As we have mentioned, at the work level, the idea is to continuously implement affordable changes to improve the productivity of the employees of your SME, for that reason, there must be an openness to change from the direction of your business. And if there is, this methodology can help your SME to:
<ul>
<li><strong>Increase the performance</strong> of more motivated workers, thanks to training and a favorable working environment.</li> <li><strong>Increase the performance</strong> of more motivated workers, thanks to training and a favorable working environment.
<li><strong>Increase the quality level of your products or services</strong>, with more productive talents in the company.</li> <li><li><strong>Increase the quality level of your products or services</strong>, with more productive talents in the company.
<li><strong>Improve the satisfaction of your customers</strong>, who will get a better service and/or products and will speak better of what you offer.
</ul>
