There’s always room for improvement, no matter what industry you’re in. That effort will always help your business stay competitive and reach new heights. And if you agree with this mindset, then Operational Excellence might be for you.
What is Operational Excellence (OpEx)?
Operational Excellence is the continuous effort to improve the workplace by focusing on problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership. That leads to companies continuously improving, delivering value to their customers while keeping their employees positive and empowered.
Operational Excellence Vs. Continuous Improvement
So from reading the definition, you might think that Operational Excellence sounds familiar to continuous improvement. While there are a lot of similarities between them, they are two different things. Continuous improvement focuses more on the actions that help improve business processes.
However, operational excellence is much bigger than that. Instead of focusing on the effort, operational excellence is more of a mindset! It follows multiple principles that help your company make sustainable improvements. And instead of focusing on a specific process, operational excellence focuses more on changing the work culture.
So to put it simply, continuous improvement is the action you take to improve, while operational excellence is the mindset and principles needed to make continuous improvement happen.
10 Principles of Operational Excellence
Principle #1 – Respect Everyone in the Workplace
If you want to improve anything in your company, you need to have good teamwork with your employees. So how can you create an environment that encourages collaboration? Well, it’s by showing respect to everyone. That means both the executive-level employees to the lower-level ones. And you can do that by involving everyone in the improvement. That way, they feel heard and will be more willing to help each other out.
Principle #2 – Lead With Humility
Showing respect is just the beginning of good teamwork. Another aspect you should consider is how you lead your team. So instead of having a strict structure, you should instead lead people with humility. You can do that by constantly asking for suggestions for improvements and then listening to them. Then you should also acknowledge and solve the issues.
Principle #3 – Seek Perfection
Have you heard of the expression that perfection is impossible to achieve? While that might be true, it doesn’t mean you should stop striving for it. Instead, you and your team should go out of your way to become better. With this type of mindset, you’re always getting closer to perfection, which in return will help you find long-term solutions and simplify your workflow without sacrificing the outcome.
Principle #4 – Embrace Scientific Thinking
To implement operational excellence, you need to start thinking like a scientist. That’s because innovation comes from constant learning and experimentation. So whenever you hit a roadblock, try to think of creative solutions and see if it helps. And also, be sure to encourage your employees to experiment with new ideas. Not only will your organization solve problems quickly, but your employees will feel satisfied as their work means something.
Principle #5 – Focus on the Process
When it comes to improving your workflows and processes, there’s one thing you shouldn’t do, blame your employees. In most cases, people aren’t the roots of the issue! Instead, it’s the process. So when you hit a roadblock, don’t put your anger on your employees; instead, look at the process and try to see where you can make adjustments.
Principle #6 – Assure Quality at the Source
Do you want to know how you can get the best outcome? Well, it’s by making sure that each part of your workflow is done as well as possible. So whenever you or your team sees a mistake, they should stop what they are doing and fix it when it occurs. This way, it won’t become a bigger problem and affect other parts of the workflow!
Principle #7 – Flow and Pull Value
What is meant by this principle is that when doing anything, your workflow should provide the maximum value possible while minimizing waste. So, for example, in product creation, you should make sure that your team uses the maximum amount of the materials while having waste as little as possible. That helps your company to lower the product cost, which increases profits.
Principle #8 – Think Systematically
Improvements aren’t made equal. That means some changes will result in minor improvements while others can have a massive impact. So how can you differentiate the two? Well, it’s by thinking systematically. So whenever you’ve chosen to improve an aspect of your business, you should first look at the bigger picture and specuöate how much impact it will create for the entire organization.
Principle #9 – Create a Constancy of Purpose
It’s one thing to have your goals and objectives clearly thought out. The other thing is keeping them in mind whenever you’re doing work. So one thing you should do is constantly remind yourself and your team about your organization’s objectives. That helps you and your team adjust their actions to get closer to your company’s goals and vision.
Principle #10 – Create Value for Your Customers
For operational excellence to work, your objective should always be to bring value to your customers. However, for this, you need to know what is valuable to your target market. So for this, you need always do market research to understand your customer’s expectations and needs. That’s the only way your business can stay afloat for years to come.
Conclusion
And that’s operational excellence! So if you want to implement it in your organization, follow all the ten principles, and you should then start seeing your business thrive!
